Lack of Transfer of Permethrin Among Nestmates of Reticulitermes flavipes in Laboratory Trials

The movement of some soil termiticides among subterranean termites from exposed to naive individuals has raised some interesting questions. Thus far, the only compounds specifically examined for transfer have been termiticides with delayed action, non-repellent active ingredients. We hypothesized that movement of pesticide is possible even for traditional fast-acting repellent termiticides, when applied a t concentrations that do not immediately kill the exposed individuals. A simple donor-recipient experiment examining the possibility of transfer of permethrin (as PreludeB) among nestmates of Reticulitennesflavipes (Kollar) was performed to test this hypothesis. Results indicated that permethrin is not passed among termites in laboratory settings at the rates used, suggesting that delayed-activity and non-repellence may be necessary traits for the transfer of a termiticide.