Abstract
Termites are serious pests of the built environment. Damage and repair costs each year amount to more than US$ 22 billion worldwide. Several species in Kalotermitidae, Termopsidae and Rhinotermitidae are important pests. Knowledge of these termites' life-cycles and their nest-building behaviour is desirable for effective pest management. We combined two techniques used in the medical sector - ...
Abstract
Termites are serious pests of the built environment. Damage and repair costs each year amount to more than US$ 22 billion worldwide. Several species in Kalotermitidae, Termopsidae and Rhinotermitidae are important pests. Knowledge of these termites' life-cycles and their nest-building behaviour is desirable for effective pest management. We combined two techniques used in the medical sector - endoscopy and computer tomography - to directly observe the nest construction behaviour of one pest species, Cryptotermes secundus Hill (Kalotermitidae), within soft wood. Endoscopy uses a small light to illuminate nest interiors. Spiral computer tomography uses an X-ray beam that scans the object of interest in a spiral along one of its axes. After processing, these volumetric data provides sectional images of the scanned wood. From these we were able to construct three-dimensional models of the gallery and chamber system. We then used these models to make quantitative measurements of colony nest structure. These techniques could help to continuously monitor wood consumption rates of termite colonies and could therefore be useful in termite management. [math mode missing closing $]
Altmetric