Journal of Entomological Science (2001) 36, 229-236

Lara Maistrello, Gregg Henderson and Roger A. Laine (2001)
Effects of nootkatone and a borate compound on Formosan subterranean termite (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) and its symbiont protozoa
Journal of Entomological Science 36 (3), 229-236
Abstract: Wood treated with disodium octaborate tetrahydrate, with nootkatone, a natural extract isolated from vetiver oil, or with both nootkatone and disodium octaborate tetrahydrate was tested for effects on Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki and its hindgut flagellates. Results demonstrated that after 7 d disodium octaborate tetrahydrate-treated wood induced high termite mortality and almost complete loss of flagellates, confirming the toxicity of borates to these termites. Wood treated with nootkatone alone or with the nootkatone-borate mix was consumed in significantly lower amounts than the control, and termite survival was comparable to results obtained for starved termites. A significant progressive reduction in the total number of protozoa was observed for all groups, including the controls. We conclude that nootkatone acts as feeding deterrent, inducing starvation that results in almost a complete loss of Pseudotrichonympha grassii Koidzumi, the most important flagellate species for cellulose digestion in this termite.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Database assignments for author(s): Lara Maistrello

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
control - general

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Coptotermes formosanus