Aqeel Abd-ulrazak Qraidi; Ghassan A. Mashhoot; Aqeel Alyousuf; Muslim Ashor Al-etby
Volume 25, Issue 2 , June 2025, , Pages 71-87
Abstract
The termite Microserotermus diversis Silvestri is one of the destructive pests that invade fruit tree trunks, including date palms, in central and southern Iraq. This necessitates the development of environmentally safe control methods. This study aimed to assess behavioral control methods against the ...
Read More
The termite Microserotermus diversis Silvestri is one of the destructive pests that invade fruit tree trunks, including date palms, in central and southern Iraq. This necessitates the development of environmentally safe control methods. This study aimed to assess behavioral control methods against the termites infesting date palms. An alcohol extraction process isolated components from the female glands for chemical analysis using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The effectiveness of these extracts in attracting male alates was evaluated in the laboratory to identify the optimal concentration for attracting males for mating. The most effective concentration (150 microliters) was loaded onto two types of polymer-carriers: cellulose fibers and paraffin wax. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis confirmed no chemical reactions between the polymers and pheromones, indicating physical mixing only. Field trials were conducted in a termite-infested palm orchard (1 hectare) in Amara, southern Iraq, from late March to early April 2024. Traps containing cellulose-based pheromone carriers demonstrated the highest attraction for winged male termites, with an average of 8.667 males per trap after seven days. This study highlights the potential of pheromones as a targeted and sustainable approach for termite control.
Tara Esmail; Hardy Shekhany; Faraidun Faraj; Shaheen Mustafa
Volume 19, Issue 3 , September 2019, , Pages 72-79
Abstract
The current study investigated the sensitivity of different wood species to the termite, Microcerotermes diversus, in two different locations. The results showed that both softwood and hardwood of White Willow, Salix alba; Melia, Melia azedarach; pine, Pinus brutia and Mediterranean Cypress, Cupressus ...
Read More
The current study investigated the sensitivity of different wood species to the termite, Microcerotermes diversus, in two different locations. The results showed that both softwood and hardwood of White Willow, Salix alba; Melia, Melia azedarach; pine, Pinus brutia and Mediterranean Cypress, Cupressus sempervirens are highly susceptible to the termite invasion under physically infection conditions in Sami Abdulrahman Park, Erbil city, Iraq. Moreover, the sensitivity of the species to the termite invasion was significantly different under natural infection in Grdarasha after 22 weeks from early April to the end of September 2017. In addition, the White Willow (Salix alba) species showed more sensitivity to the termite infection in comparison with others species, where the mean of wood green weight, wood dry weight (before infection), wood dry weight (after infection) and specific gravity loss during the period of experiment of the White Willow were 2.2609g, 2.1584g, 1.5983g and 0.5139 respectively. Furthermore, Cupressus sempervirens was more resistant in comparison with other wood species to the termite in both locations where green weight of wood 3.010g and Dry weight of wood (after infection) 2.287g, Dry weight of wood (befor infection) 2.877g and Specific gravity 0.685. Generally, this study revealed that there is no definite association between both physical properties and moisture content of softwoods and hardwoods with termite preference.
