Jump to content

  • Chat
  •  
  •  

Welcome to Formiculture.com!

This is a website for anyone interested in Myrmecology and all aspects of finding, keeping, and studying ants. The site and forum are free to use. Register now to gain access to all of our features. Once registered and logged in, you will be able to create topics, post replies to existing threads, give reputation points to your fellow members, get your own private messenger, post status updates, manage your profile and so much more. If you already have an account, login here - otherwise create an account for free today!

Photo

Chemist Sustaining a Termite Colony for Testing Purposes


  • Please log in to reply
2 replies to this topic

#1 Offline ChemistTermiteMan - Posted January 11 2023 - 4:12 PM

ChemistTermiteMan

    Newbie

  • Members
  • Pip
  • 1 posts

Hey guys,

 

I'm a chemist at a wood company and I'm attempting to colonize termites in a terrarium for use in eco-friendly termite repellent wood additives for use in products. I have a couple questions before I get started and in my attempts to answer them I stumbled upon your community.

 

It would be great to have a consistent contact for questions so if you consider yourself an expert, preferably one who is familiar with the practice of science, reach out and let's be friends if you are interested.

 

I did want to note that we are not using termiticides, but rather repellents that keep the termites from burrowing into wood structures, as opposed to attempting to kill the termites. Ideally, I am trying to raise a colony (is that the correct term?) that I am able to sustain, while running experiments to test strength of repellents.

 

Has anyone explored this type of test? Would using wood containing the repellent and determining which is more appealing be the right test, or would using something like sand as burrow material to see if burrows are deeper in untreated sand be more of an applicable experiment?

 

Thanks for the help and I'm excited to participate in discussion



#2 Offline VenomousBeast - Posted January 12 2023 - 4:21 AM

VenomousBeast

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 352 posts
  • LocationButler, Butler County, Pennsylvania
I would make your test as a natural as possible to get the best results. I would have a huge colony of termites that then have 2 seperate options for diet. One being the untreated wood and the other with the repellant. As far as I know, none of us have tried this type of test with our termites due to them being very chemical sensitive and we tend to be very affectionate of our termite colonies after we spend years trying. There aren't that many members on this forum that have had huge success with raising termites in general. I have raised a couple colonies of termites and currently have one, although it's taken a hit in numbers driving it back down to 500-600 workers. There's also the question of what species do you intend on raising for your experiment? For instance, drywood termites don't do too well in very moist woods, while Subterranean termites can eat both dry and wet wood as long as they have high humidity which they can create due to their mud tubes.
  • ANTdrew likes this

Keeps:

1:Pogonomymex occidentalis

4: Tetramorium immigrans

2 Reticulitermes flavipes


#3 Offline ItalianTermiteMan2.0 - Posted January 12 2023 - 8:53 AM

ItalianTermiteMan2.0

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 60 posts
  • LocationRavenna, Italy.

Greetings ChemistTermiteMan, first of all: do you already know  which genus (or genera) of termites you seek to house? For example Rhinotermitidae like Reticulitermes, Coptotermes and Heterotermes are ideal subjects for the kind of tests you want to carry out as they are quite easy to keep separate-piece nesters of extreme economical significance in many countries around the globe.

Regarding the tests themselves, i am not a researcher but as far as i know your first hypotesis (providing one or more colonies with different treated/untreated wood samples to observe their response to them) is the standard procedure employed to explore the effects of wood treatments (or simply wood species) on termites. 

 

If you have further questions ask away and i will asnwer as best as i can  :)


  • OiledOlives likes this




1 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 1 guests, 0 anonymous users