Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, 50 Evans Road, Salisbury, QLD, 4107, Australia.
Centre for Timber Durability and Design Life, University of the Sunshine Coast, 41 Boggo Road, Dutton Park, QLD, 4102, Australia.
J Therm Biol. 2022 Feb;104:103199. doi: 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2022.103199. Epub 2022 Jan 25.
West Indian drywood termites (Cryptotermes brevis, Blattodea: Kalotermitidae) are an important invasive termite in many countries including Australia where they are spreading across two eastern states. Fumigation is often used to eliminate infestations, but it is costly, has negative environmental effects and does not prevent reinfestation. Heat treatment has been suggested as an alternative. Many insect pest mitigation strategies recommend 30 min exposure at 56 °C, but this may be difficult to achieve in structural applications. The potential for heating at lower temperatures was explored to determine the effect on termite survival and gut fauna. Exposure to 40 °C up to an hour did not kill the termites; however, 1-h exposure at 45 °C was lethal. Exposure for little as 3 min at 50 °C or 2 min at 55 °C was lethal. Protozoa levels were lower in termites that survived shorter exposures, but there appeared to be some recovery over time. The results suggest that short term exposures to 50 or 55 °C could be used to eliminate infestations, creating an opportunity for localized spot heating as a mitigation measure.
西印度干木白蚁（Cryptotermes brevis，直翅目：白蚁科）是许多国家（包括澳大利亚）重要的入侵性白蚁，它们正在向澳大利亚的两个东部州蔓延。熏蒸通常用于消灭虫害，但成本高，对环境有负面影响，而且不能防止再次虫害。热处理已被提议作为一种替代方法。许多害虫防治策略建议在 56°C 下暴露 30 分钟，但在结构应用中可能难以实现。本研究探索了在较低温度下加热的可能性，以确定其对白蚁生存和肠道动物群的影响。暴露在 40°C 下长达一小时不会杀死白蚁；然而，45°C 下暴露 1 小时是致命的。50°C 下暴露 3 分钟或 55°C 下暴露 2 分钟就会导致死亡。在较短暴露时间下幸存的白蚁中的原生动物水平较低，但随着时间的推移似乎有所恢复。结果表明，在 50 或 55°C 下进行短期暴露可能用于消灭虫害，为局部点状加热作为一种缓解措施创造了机会。
