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There are well over 2000 species of
termites in the world today and of
these, the Formosan subterranean
termite is the most destructive.
The Formosan subterranean termite,
native to mainland China, is
believed to have arrived in the USA
via Taiwan (formerly known as
Formosa) on military ships returning
from World War II. Docking in
Louisiana, Texas and South Carolina
ports, the Formosan termite found
near ideal conditions – warm, moist
with lots of its favourite food,
wood. In 1965, it was discovered in
a shipyard in Texas and colonies
were discovered in Louisiana where
the Formosan termite is particularly
prevalent.
Formosan termites are spreading and
are voracious. A single Formosan termite colony has a population of over 10 million and
devours more than 1,000 pounds of
wood annually. In the
U.S., Formosan termites inflict
damages estimated at more than $2
billion a year.
It is believed that their
distribution will probably continue
to be restricted to southern areas
below 35 degrees latitude because
their eggs will not hatch below
about 20° C (68° F).
© University of Hawaii Termite
Project
14 states now have Formosan termite
infestation with the most affected
being counties in the coastal
regions :-
Alabama counties:
Baldwin, Calhoun, Jefferson, Lee and
Mobile
California
counties: San Diego
Florida: Entire
state
Georgia counties: Chatham, Cobb,
DeKalb, Fayette, Gwinnett, and
Paulding
Hawaii: Entire
state
Louisiana parishes: Ascension,
Assumption, Beauregard, Calcasieu,
Cameron, East Baton Rouge, Iberia,
Iberville, Jeff Davis, Jefferson,
Lafayette, Lafourche, Orleans,
Plaquemines, Quachita, St. Bernard,
St. Charles, St. James, St. John,
St. Martin, St. Mary, St. Tammany,
Tangipahoa, Terrebonne, Vermillion,
Washington and West Baton Rouge
Mississippi counties: Adams, Amite,
Covington, Forrest, George, Greene,
Hancock, Harrison, Hinds, Jackson,
Jasper, Jones, Lamar, Lauderdale,
Lincoln, Madison, Marion, Pearl
River, Perry, Pike, Rankin, Smith,
Stone, Walthall, and Wilkinson
North Carolina
counties: Brunswick and Rutherford
South Carolina
counties: Beaufort, Berkeley,
Charleston, Dorchester, Orangeburg,
and York
Texas counties: Angelina, Aransas,
Bexar, Brazoria, Cameron, Collin,
Colorado, Dallas, Denton, Galveston,
Gregg, Henderson, Hidalgo, Harris,
Jefferson, Liberty, Nueces, Orange,
Polk, Rockwall, Smith, Tarrant, and
Travis.
There have been further outbreaks in
Arizona, New Mexico, Virginia,
Georgia and Tennessee
The Formosan termite
spreads naturally through swarming
but the
second most important method of
spreading the Formosan subterranean
termite is said to be infested
utility poles.
© University of Hawaii Termite
Project
The Formosan termite spreads
naturally through swarming but the
second most important method of
spreading the Formosan subterranean
termite is said to be infested
utility poles.
PPL Field Liners
protect Utility Poles from
Formosan termites by virtue of the
strength of the PPL Field Liner
laminate material and the presence
of an insecticidal layer within our
PP220DAB material. The effectiveness
of the PPL Field Liner has been
proved historically in trials, Field
Tests and in service in Africa and
tests are currently underway at
Mississippi State University and
the
University of Hawaii
to AWPA E1 standards and
beyond
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