A K LEO T H E
MONDAY, APRIL 15 to TUESDAY APRIL 16, 2013 VOLUME 108 ISSUE 75
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Termite remedies developed on campus NOELLE F UJII Staff Writer Since 1970, the entomolog y department has conducted numerous experiments on termites as part of the Universit y of Hawai‘i Termite Project, and the work is continuing today. This project was started by Professor Emeritus Minoru Tamashiro. Tamashiro retired in 1987, and J. Kenneth Grace, interim associate dean and professor for research, was hired to continue the project. The project now consists of Grace, professor Julian R. Yates III, graduate student Reina Tong and technician Maria AiharaSasaki. The theme of the project is to find the least toxic but most effective methods for termite control. “We look for things that will hurt the termites but won’t hurt us,” Grace said.
D E V E L O PM E N T There are four termite-collection sites around campus with turned-over buckets that contain a block of wood that protrudes into the ground. Termites come and feed on the pieces of wood. The areas around the sites are where buildings are protected by insecticides or another treatment method sto keep the termites from getting into the building, but termites are still found in the ground. The funding for the work Grace has done for the past 20 years has come from grants from the federal government that are largely oriented toward fi nding new or better methods for termite control.
The group also works with private companies in trying to find new products that might be more effective against termites. This includes trying to help them develop a better way of testing and evaluating these preventive methods.
P ROMO T I N G P R E V E N T I O N The “Educate to Eradicate” program was started 10 years ago through the Termite Project. The program was created to teach science using termites and other insects and inform students on how to protect their homes from these pests. This program has been used to get information on termite prevention out to the community and increase science literacy. More than 30,000 classrooms have used this program in the state in kindergarten through 12th grade levels – more than 12,000 students. Tong assisted with the Termite Alate Project, part of the “Educate to Eradicate” program. This project was created by former graduate student Makena Mason and AiharaSasaki to fi nd a way to measure if the program was successful in termite suppression, and it was implemented from February 2011 to September 2012. In this project, light traps were given to schools to monitor swarming of Foromosan subterranean termites, one of the two main ground termites in Hawai‘i. “Some schools monitored traps at school as a class, while some high-school students took traps home to expand the geographic range of the study,” Tong said. “Students checked traps every school day from spring See Termites, page 2
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