Subterranean termites derivatives

Meepagala K, Osbrink W, Sturtz G, Lax A, Plant-derived natural products exhibiting activity against Formosan subterranean termites Coptotermes for-mosanus), Pest ManagSci 62 565-570, 2006. 

Damp-wood termites do not require contact with the soil. Their infestation is even more devastating than the damage created by subterranean termites. This species derives moisture from numerous sources and has been found on the upper floors of masonry structures where there were plumbing or structural leaks. 

Numerous plant species have been reported to be resistant to attack from subterranean termites. Many of these plants and extracts derived from them were tested for leads as potential natural product basexl pesticides. Forty plant and tree extracts reported to be active against termites displayed poor activity against the Formosan subterranean termite at rates < 0.5% wt/wt. Most naphthoquinones were active with a non-polar substitution in the 2-position. Anthroquinones generally had little termiticidal activity. None of the plant extracts or natural products tested were sufficiently active to be considered useful for control of the Formosan subterranean termite without structural modification. 

In the middle of the 20th century, the synthetic development of DDT and other chlorinated hydrocarbons (C.H.), increased insecticidal activity well beyond that of most natural products. Problems arose with bioaccumulation of C.H. residues in the food chain, human fat tissue, mother s milk, as well as the development of insecticide resistance. It became obvious there were limitations to synthetic technology as well. The modification of a natural product, for example, from chrysanthemum flowers and their pyrethrum extracts (7) to pyrethroids such as allethrin, resmethrin, permethrin (2), and deltamethrin created a model in which insecticides are created from the skeleton of insecticidally active natural molecules. Thus, the avermectin, abamectin, ivermectin family of pesticides originated from compounds produced by the soil bacterium, Streptomyces avermitilis (5), and the commercially successful chloronicotinyl insecticides, though not derived from nicotine, are chemically related 4). Both pyrethroids and chloronicotinyls are currently used commercially as termiticides. We have previously provided a detailed review of natural products as pesticidal agents for control of the Formosan subterranean termites, Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki (5). 

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