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Field Demonstration of Heat Technology to Mitigate Heat Sinks for Drywood Termite (Blattodea: Kalotermitidae) Management

SIMPLE SUMMARY: The West Indian drywood termite, Cryptotermes brevis poses a significant economic threat in Hawaii, the southeast portion of continental United States, and throughout tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. Heat treatment is among the nonchemical options to manage them. A typical...

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Autores principales: Tay, Jia-Wei, James, Devon
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8707951/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34940178
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects12121090
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author Tay, Jia-Wei
James, Devon
author_facet Tay, Jia-Wei
James, Devon
author_sort Tay, Jia-Wei
collection PubMed
description SIMPLE SUMMARY: The West Indian drywood termite, Cryptotermes brevis poses a significant economic threat in Hawaii, the southeast portion of continental United States, and throughout tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. Heat treatment is among the nonchemical options to manage them. A typical heat treatment may not be able to provide a complete kill of drywood termites due to the presence of difficult-to-heat areas. To mitigate this effect, studies were conducted in drywood termite-infested condominiums in Honolulu, Hawaii, where either a standard heat treatment performed by a heat remediation company or improved heat treatment methods were used. For improved treatments, heated air was directed into the drilled bases of infested cabinets for better heat penetration. Eight temperature sensors showed that sufficiently high heat was recorded at difficult-to-heat areas, including inside thick wooden cubes, for 120 min, with target temperatures of above 46 °C or 50 °C capable of killing drywood termites. A pre-treatment and a 6-month posttreatment inspection were performed to monitor termite inactivity using visual observations and by recording the numbers of spiked peaks on a termite detection device. The data showed no termite activity in improved heat treatment condominiums at 6-month posttreatment. Guidelines for the improved heat treatment are proposed. ABSTRACT: With heat treatments to control drywood termites (Blattodea: Kalotermitidae), the presence of heat sinks causes heat to be distributed unevenly throughout the treatment areas. Drywood termites may move to galleries in heat sink areas to avoid exposure to lethal temperatures. Our studies were conducted in Crytotermes brevis-infested condominiums in Honolulu, Hawaii to reflect real-world condominium scenarios; either a standard heat treatment performed by a heat remediation company, or an improved heat treatment was used. For improved treatments, heated air was directed into the toe-kick voids of C. brevis infested cabinets to reduce heat sink effects and increase heat penetration into these difficult-to-heat areas. Eight thermistor sensors placed inside the toe-kick voids, treatment zone, embedded inside cabinets’ sidewalls, and in a wooden cube recorded target temperatures of above 46 °C or 50 °C for 120 min. Pre-treatment and follow-up inspections were performed at 6 months posttreatment to monitor termite inactivity using visual observations and by recording the numbers of spiked peaks on a microwave technology termite detection device (Termatrac). In improved treatment condominiums, significantly higher numbers of spiked peaks were recorded at pre-treatment as compared to 6 months posttreatment. Efficacious heat treatment protocols using the improved methods are proposed.
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spelling pubmed-87079512021-12-25 Field Demonstration of Heat Technology to Mitigate Heat Sinks for Drywood Termite (Blattodea: Kalotermitidae) Management Tay, Jia-Wei James, Devon Insects Article SIMPLE SUMMARY: The West Indian drywood termite, Cryptotermes brevis poses a significant economic threat in Hawaii, the southeast portion of continental United States, and throughout tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. Heat treatment is among the nonchemical options to manage them. A typical heat treatment may not be able to provide a complete kill of drywood termites due to the presence of difficult-to-heat areas. To mitigate this effect, studies were conducted in drywood termite-infested condominiums in Honolulu, Hawaii, where either a standard heat treatment performed by a heat remediation company or improved heat treatment methods were used. For improved treatments, heated air was directed into the drilled bases of infested cabinets for better heat penetration. Eight temperature sensors showed that sufficiently high heat was recorded at difficult-to-heat areas, including inside thick wooden cubes, for 120 min, with target temperatures of above 46 °C or 50 °C capable of killing drywood termites. A pre-treatment and a 6-month posttreatment inspection were performed to monitor termite inactivity using visual observations and by recording the numbers of spiked peaks on a termite detection device. The data showed no termite activity in improved heat treatment condominiums at 6-month posttreatment. Guidelines for the improved heat treatment are proposed. ABSTRACT: With heat treatments to control drywood termites (Blattodea: Kalotermitidae), the presence of heat sinks causes heat to be distributed unevenly throughout the treatment areas. Drywood termites may move to galleries in heat sink areas to avoid exposure to lethal temperatures. Our studies were conducted in Crytotermes brevis-infested condominiums in Honolulu, Hawaii to reflect real-world condominium scenarios; either a standard heat treatment performed by a heat remediation company, or an improved heat treatment was used. For improved treatments, heated air was directed into the toe-kick voids of C. brevis infested cabinets to reduce heat sink effects and increase heat penetration into these difficult-to-heat areas. Eight thermistor sensors placed inside the toe-kick voids, treatment zone, embedded inside cabinets’ sidewalls, and in a wooden cube recorded target temperatures of above 46 °C or 50 °C for 120 min. Pre-treatment and follow-up inspections were performed at 6 months posttreatment to monitor termite inactivity using visual observations and by recording the numbers of spiked peaks on a microwave technology termite detection device (Termatrac). In improved treatment condominiums, significantly higher numbers of spiked peaks were recorded at pre-treatment as compared to 6 months posttreatment. Efficacious heat treatment protocols using the improved methods are proposed. MDPI 2021-12-05 /pmc/articles/PMC8707951/ /pubmed/34940178 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects12121090 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Tay, Jia-Wei
James, Devon
Field Demonstration of Heat Technology to Mitigate Heat Sinks for Drywood Termite (Blattodea: Kalotermitidae) Management
title Field Demonstration of Heat Technology to Mitigate Heat Sinks for Drywood Termite (Blattodea: Kalotermitidae) Management
title_full Field Demonstration of Heat Technology to Mitigate Heat Sinks for Drywood Termite (Blattodea: Kalotermitidae) Management
title_fullStr Field Demonstration of Heat Technology to Mitigate Heat Sinks for Drywood Termite (Blattodea: Kalotermitidae) Management
title_full_unstemmed Field Demonstration of Heat Technology to Mitigate Heat Sinks for Drywood Termite (Blattodea: Kalotermitidae) Management
title_short Field Demonstration of Heat Technology to Mitigate Heat Sinks for Drywood Termite (Blattodea: Kalotermitidae) Management
title_sort field demonstration of heat technology to mitigate heat sinks for drywood termite (blattodea: kalotermitidae) management
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8707951/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34940178
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects12121090
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