BIOLOGICAL CONTROL Virulence of Bacteria Associated with the Formosan Subterranean Termite (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) in New Orleans, LA

Examination of Formosan subterranean termites, Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki, for possiblebiological control agents revealed thepresenceof 15bacteria andone fungus associatedwith dead termites from New Orleans, LA, USA. All but one of the bacteria species were gram-negative bacteria. Bacterial isolates from dead termites were primarily Serratia marcescens Bizio that caused septicemia in C. formosanus and also appeared to contain proteolytic enzymes. Multiple strains of S.marcescenswere isolated. Six of the eight strains of S.marcescenswere red, probablynot pathogenic in humans, and candidates as biological control agents for C. formosanus. Bacteria isolated from termite substrata includedCorynebacteriumurealyticumPitcher,Acinetobacter calcoacet/baumannii/ Gen2 (Beijerinck), S. marcescens, and Enterobacter gergoviae Brenner. Some of these bacteria are potential human pathogens. Forced exposure bioassays demonstrated that the T8 strain of S. marcescens killed 100% of C. formosanus by day 19.