Termiticidal Effects and Morpho-Histological Alterations in the Subterranean Termite () Induced by Biosynthesized Zinc Oxide, Titanium Dioxide, and Chitosan Nanoparticles.

Recently, nanoparticles have been widely used in agricultural pest control as a secure substitute for pesticides. However, the effect of nanoparticles on controlling the subterranean termite () has not been studied yet. Consequently, this study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of some nanomaterials in controlling . The results showed that zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs), titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiONPs), and chitosan nanoparticles (CsNPs) biosynthesized using the culture filtrate of () had an effective role in controlling . Moreover, the mortality rate of after 48 h of treatment with ZnONPs, TiONPs, and CsNPs at a 1000 µg/mL concentration was 100%, 100%, and 97.67%, respectively. Furthermore, using ZnONPs, TiONPs, and CsNPs on resulted in morpho-histological variations in the normal structure, leading to its death. X-ray diffraction, UV-vis spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, energy dispersive spectroscopy, and the Zeta potential were used to characterize the biosynthesis of ZnONPs, TiONPs, and CsNPs with strong activity against termites. Overall, the results of this investigation suggest that biosynthesized ZnONPs, TiONPs, and CsNPs have enormous potential for use as innovative, ecologically safe pesticides for control.