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Research in Biological Control of the Formosan Subterranean Termite Cai Wang Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected]

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Research in Biological Control of the Formosan Subterranean Termite Cai Wang Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, Howangcai@Gmail.Com Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2014 Research in Biological Control of the Formosan Subterranean Termite Cai Wang Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the Entomology Commons Recommended Citation Wang, Cai, "Research in Biological Control of the Formosan Subterranean Termite" (2014). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 598. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/598 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. RESEARCH IN BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF THE FORMOSAN SUBTERRANEAN TERMITE A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Entomology by Cai Wang M.S., Chinese Academy of Science, 2010 B.S., Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 2007 August 2014 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my sincerest appreciation to my major professor, Dr. Gregg Henderson, a very important person in my life. I am very impressive for his meticulous attitude for scientific research. I benefited greatly from his valuable and illuminating suggestions for my research. It is also very touching for Dr. Henderson’s patience for my preliminary and sometimes “crazy” ideas. Also, he always could “see” what I ignored. For example, when I unintentionally talked about an observation that soldier and worker termites run in different directions after disturbance, he immediately pointed out the potential value to continue studying this and gave me valuable suggestions in the experiment. This small project of termite escaping behavior (though not included in this dissertation) has become my most favorite, and probably best, study during my Ph.D. training. Discussions with Dr. Henderson always helped me to think more critically and in a more scientific way. In addition, Dr. Henderson is an enthusiastic and strict teacher, with every class was carefully prepared and well organized. I learned a lot from his class Insect Behavior. Also I was very lucky to be a teaching assistant in his class Insects in the Environment, and learned how to communicate with students. I hope I could “transmit” his enthusiasm and responsibility in the class to my own students in the future. I also appreciate my graduate committee members, Drs. Fangneng Huang, Michael Stout, Binghao Luo and Jim Chambers. I did all molecular works, such as DNA extraction and PCR, in the labs of Dr. Huang and Dr. Luo. In my future career, I will never forget Dr. Huang’s advices to “work hard”. Drs. Stout is always willing to share his professional ii knowledge with me to improve my experimental design and manuscript writing, which is much appreciated. Dr. Bal K. Gautam and Mr. Xuan Chen are not only my help friends but also good teachers. We had cooperation in many projects and published some scientific papers together. During this process, I learned a lot of useful and interesting knowledge and skills. Also thanks goes to Jie Chen and Dependra Bhatta for their general help. The weekly (actually several times a week) lunches with Ying Niu and Lijie Song bring me many good memories. I am also cherishing the wonderful days with all of my friends in the Department of Entomology and in the LSU. I appreciate the strong support come from my families. My father and mother are always encouraging me to study whatever I am interested in, rather than just choosing a major that would bring more economic benefits. Although my father passed away more than twelve years, I always remember his expectation and trust for me. I know that my mother and many brothers and sisters in the church are praying for me every day. For people who love me and helped me, there is one sentence in my head at the moment: “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all (2 Corinthians 13:14)”. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................... ii LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................... ix LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................. x ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... xiii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 1 1.1 Formosan Subterranean Termite ................................................................................. 1 1.2 Control of Termites with Chemical Pesticides.............................................................. 2 1.3 Overview of Biological Control of Termites ................................................................ 3 1.4 Termite Disease Resistance ......................................................................................... 3 1.5 Delivering of Termite Pathogens ................................................................................. 4 1.6 Prospect for the Biological Control of Termites ........................................................... 5 1.7 References ................................................................................................................... 5 CHAPTER 2. SURVIVAL RATE, FOOD CONSUMPTION AND TUNNELING OF THE FORMOSAN SUBTERRANEAN TERMITE (ISOPTERA: RHINOTERMITIDAE) FEEDING ON BT AND NON-BT MAIZE .................................. 11 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 11 2.2 Materials and Mathods .............................................................................................. 13 2.2.1 Termites ........................................................................................................... 13 2.2.2 Bt and Non-Bt Maize Hybrids .......................................................................... 13 2.2.3 Experimental Design ........................................................................................ 14 2.2.4 Substrate and Bioassay Arena .......................................................................... 14 2.2.5 Wood Block and Filter Paper ............................................................................ 15 2.2.6 Maize Leaves, Stalks and Roots ....................................................................... 15 2.2.7 Bioassays and Data Recording ......................................................................... 15 2.2.8 Statistical Analysis ........................................................................................... 16 2.3 Results ...................................................................................................................... 16 2.3.1 Survival Rate ................................................................................................... 16 2.3.2 Amount of Food Consumption ......................................................................... 17 2.3.3 Tunnel Length .................................................................................................. 17 2.3.4 Consumption Pattern and Tunneling Behavior of Termites Feeding on Maize Materials ................................................................................................................... 20 2.4 Discussion ................................................................................................................ 22 2.5 References ................................................................................................................. 24 iv CHAPTER 3. EVALUATION OF THREE BAIT MATERIALS AND THEIR FOOD TRANSFER EFFICIENCY IN THE FORMOSAN SUBTERRANEAN TERMITE (ISOPTERA: RHINOTERMITIDAE) ................................................................................ 28 3.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 28 3.2 Materials and Methods ............................................................................................. 29 3.2.1 Termites ............................................................................................................ 29 3.2.2 Maize Cobs, Wood Blocks and Cardboard ........................................................ 30 3.2.3 Consumption Bioassay ..................................................................................... 30 3.2.4 Nile Blue A Transfer Bioassay ......................................................................... 31 3.2.5 Donor and Recipient Bioassay ......................................................................... 32 3.2.6 Data Analyses .................................................................................................. 33 3.3 Results ...................................................................................................................... 33 3.3.1 Survival Rate of Termites in Consumption Bioassays ....................................... 33 3.3.2 Consumption
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