Potential Use of Botanical Termiticide

Abstract

Termite is one of the most dangerous wood destroying insects and life crop plantations. Termites are commonly controlled using synthetic chemicals which can cause environmental hazzards. However, there are various environmentally methods for controlling termites, including the use of plant extracts and essential oils derived from plants such as orange, clove, and citronella oils. Orange oil has been used quite intensed in the USA, though many questioned concerning the long lasting effect of the oil. The paper is aimed to present general view on the potential use of botanical termiticides and its possible strategy to develop. Various kinds of termites can be found in different ecosystems in Indonesia, such as urban forest trees, plantations, and soils. Synthetic termiticides can be applied as whole treatment and localized treatment. Although the whole treatment is more expensive, but it is more effective because it uses fumigants such as chemicals (sulfuryl fluoride and methyl bromide) or heat. However, these chemicals are known to be ozon depletors. In contrary, the localized treatment is cheaper, but it is less effective and require repetead aplications. The key success in all treatment of termites in any structures is early detection of termite infestation such as signs of damage wood, fecal pellets, and discarded wings. Various plant extracts and essential oils show termiticide activities against different kinds of termites comparable to synthetic termiticide. For example, a formulated botanical pesticide containing clove and citronella oils is effective against dry-wood termite (Cryptotermes cynocephalus). Application of 5% of the formula kill the termite and protect the treated wood almost complete (score 9,8 out of 10) indicating that the formula is potential to be developed. This formula and other potential botanical termiticides need to be evaluated and improved to become more feasible both practically and economically. A main limitation for developing of botanical termiticides is its mass production and its price which can compete with the synthetic ones