Study on the distribution, damage status and management strategies of the main species of wood-feeding termites in Zhenjiangarea,Jiangsu
Author of the article:HUANG Hai-Di1** TIAN Jie1 XIE Rong-Rong2 SUN Jian-Zhong2***
Author's Workplace：1. Zhenjiang Institute of Termite Control, Zhenjiang 212000, China; 2. Biofuels Institute of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
Key Words：wood-feeding termite, molecular identification, distribution, damage management
Abstract：[Objectives] This paper attempts to investigate the distribution, damage status and the associated management strategies for the main species of wood-feeding termites occurred inZhenjiangarea. [Methods] This research project dividedZhenjiangarea into three main distinctive ecological areas, which include commercial residential area, industrial area and landscape area, in accordance with the population density as well as the characteristics of local landscape/industrial distributions. Through a systematic investigation and data collection in two years from 2012 to 2013, 185 termite samples were eventually collected from three clarified ecological areas, which were identified by modern molecular biology techniques, combining with traditional morphological classification. Depending on the severity of termite damage in the fields, the termite damage in an ecological area were further divided into three categories: the most serious area, serious area and less serious area, so as to determine the termite damage degree and its distribution in an ecological area. [Results] This study identified the 185 termite samples into 2 termite families covered 4 genera of 7 different species in total, which were Odontotermes formosanus Shiraki, Macrotermes barneyi Light, Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki, Reticulitermes chinensis Snyder, Reticulitermes aculabialis Tasi et Hwang, Reticulitermes Labralis Hsia et Fan, Reticulitermes flaviceps Oshima. According to the damage incidences and their spatial distribution of these identified termite species, the damage caused by these local wood-feeding termites distributed widely inZhenjiang, but with a different degree of occurrences in each region. In the downtown ofZhenjiangcity, the termite occurrences and their damages were the most densely distributed. In general, Reticulitermes chinensis Snyder and its damage were commonly found in all ecological regions, indicated the widest distribution. Among the three different ecological regions, the most serious damage were found to concentrate in the commercial residential area, where the Reticulitermes sp. dominated most damages for wood structures and trees; The serious damage areas, as the second rank of the termite damage, were concentrated in the landscape area, and O. formosanus was the dominant occurrence species; The less serious areas were generally occurred in the industrial area with two common occurrence species, Reticulitermes sp. and O. formosanus. According to the occurrence frequency of these wood-feeding termite species surveyed from 2009 to2013 inZhenjiangarea, the termite damage incidences occurred in every single month in a year, but with a main damage period lasted 4-6 months and generally peaked in May. [Conclusion] Through the systematic investigation, we identified the local 7 termite species, and characterized their distributions, and the associated damage status, occurrence time patterns in different ecological areas inZhenjiangarea. On this basis, the paper analyzed and discussed the prevention and control strategies towards these wood-feeding termites, which would certainly enhance our capability for an efficient termite management in a specific ecological area inZhenjiangarea.