TERMITE BAITS

Termite Baits1

B. J. Cabrera, N.-Y. Su, R. H. Scheffrahn, and P. G. Koehler.2
1. This document is ENY-2001, one of a series of the Entomology and Nematology Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and
Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Publication date: July 1998. First revision: February 2002. All graphics by B. Cabrera except Figure 1 by J.
Perrier, Ft. Lauderdale-REC. Formosan Subterranean Termite, ENY-216. Please visit the EDIS Web site at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu. Additional information
on these organisms, including many color photographs, is available at the Entomology and Nematology Department Web site located at
http://entnemdept.ifas.ufl.edu/
2. B. J. Cabrera, assistant professor, Ft. Lauderdale-REC, N.-Y. Su, professor, Ft. Lauderdale-REC, R. H. Scheffrahn, professor, Ft. Lauderdale-REC, P. G.
Koehler, professor/Extension entomologist; Entomology and Nematology Department, Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural
Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, 32611.
The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and
other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex,
sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service,
University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Larry
Arrington, Dean

Introduction
Up until the early 1990s, liquid termiticides were
the main treatments for subterranean termite
infestations. However, the development of termite
baits gave homeowners another option for controlling
subterranean termites. Baits are now widely used and
offer an alternative for those who may not want liquid
treatments applied to the soil around their homes.
Know the Enemy: Termites
Before we start, some background on termites
and termite behavior will help you understand how
baits work.

What Are Termites?
Termites are small insects that eat wood and live
in colonies. The colony is headed by a king and queen
who mate and produce more termites. Soldier
termites defend the colony against invaders and
predators. Worker termites search for food and are
responsible for feeding and taking care of the king
and queen, the young (larvae), and the soldiers.
Termites have microscopic organisms (called
protozoa) living in their digestive tract that help them
to digest wood. Termites are very important in nature
because they break down wood and return nutrients
to the soil. They become a problem only when they
attack our homes and structures.
Figure 1. Some members of a termite colony:
Reproductives (king and queen), Soldier, Immature (larva),
and Worker. (Drawing adapted from Su & Scheffrahn,
2000. Formosan subterranean termite. In: Featured
Creatures. http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/).

Termite Baits 2

Termite Behavior
Termites are highly social insects. Within the
colony hundreds, thousands, and sometimes millions
of termites work and live together. They feed and
clean each other and exchange liquid chemical
signals as part of their communication. They also
share droplets of fluid to keep themselves supplied
with the tiny organisms needed for digesting wood.
You will learn that termites feeding on a bait will
share it with their nestmates and end up destroying
their own colony.

Different Kinds of Termites
There are two main termites in Florida that infest
structures - subterranean and drywood. Subterranean
termites usually live underground where they tunnel
in the soil in search of wood. When searching and
feeding above ground they build mud shelter tubes.
These tubes have a branched pattern and can easily be
broken by hand. Live termites wil be seen inside
active tubes. Subterranean termites also cover the
wood they infest with soil and use carton - a
substance made from their droppings - as nest
material.
Drywood termites live completely inside dead
wood and never tunnel in the soil. They produce dry,
gritty fecal pellets that are often found scattered or in
piles near the wood they infest.
Correct identification of the termites infesting a
structure is extremely important because baits only
work against subterranean termites.

What is a Termite Bait?
A termite bait is usually a paper-, cardboard-, or
sawdust-like material containing the active ingredient
(or AI) that kills termites. The bait is kept inside a
plastic bait station. As termites feed on the bait, the
termite-killing AI gets into their bodies. The AI is
spread through the colony as the termites feed each
other. As more workers feed on the bait, more AI
gets into the colony. Eventually the amount of AI in
each termite increases until it kills them and the
colony dies or is reduced.

Bait Stations
There are two types of bait stations:
above-ground and in-ground. Above-ground stations
are installed directly over shelter tubes or infested
wood so that termites can begin to feed immediately
on the bait.
Figure 2. Above-ground bait station installed directly on an
active termite shelter tube.
In-ground stations are placed in the soil. Most
stations are cylindrical tubes with disk tops. The disks
makes the stations easier to find and keeps them from
sinking into the ground. The tubes have numerous
holes or slits through which termites enter to get to
the wood and bait inside.

What Makes a Good Bait?
Obviously, a good bait kills termites. It should
also taste good so termites will eat plenty of it.
Remember, the more bait that is eaten, the more AI
gets into the termites and is shared with the colony.
Effective baits should also have these qualities:
• The AI should work slowly. If not, the termites
will die before they can feed it to others.
• The AI should not make the termites sick or act
abnormally soon after they start eating the bait.
Abnormal termites are often avoided or cast out
of the colony by their nestmates. This would
prevent them from spreading the AI to others.
• They should not easily mold or decay. Termites
will not eat spoiled bait.

Termite Baits 3

How Do Baits Kill Termites?
The active ingredient is what actually kills
termites. Currently there are two types of AIs used in
termite baits: stomach poisons and insect growth
regulators. The two stomach poisons currently used
in baits are sulfluramid (sul-flu-ra-mid) and
hydramethylnon (hy-dra-meth-il-non). Insect growth
regulators are compounds that act like the natural
hormones that control development. They prevent
termites from forming normal cuticle (skin) during
the growth process known as molting. Noviflumuron
(no-vi-flu-mu-ron), hexaflumuron
(hex-a-flu-mu-ron), and diflubenzuron
(di-flu-ben-zu-ron) are the growth regulators used in
some baits.

How Do Termites Find the Bait?
Termite baits do not lure or attract termites.
Instead, termites must find the bait station as they
tunnel blindly through the soil in search of food. Thus
termite baiting is a "hit or miss" process. However,
studies have shown that subterranean termites dig a
network of branching tunnels. This allows termites to
completely search a given area. Eventually, they find
wood and other material to feed on. Termites can
begin feeding once they find a bait station. When a
station is "hit," bait is added for the termites to eat.
What Is the Procedure for Baiting?
Baiting for subterranean termites is a relatively
simple process. The pest management professional
(PMP) installs stations containing small pieces of
wood or similar material in the ground around the
base of the home. These are spaced from 6 to 20 feet
apart. Stations may also be placed in areas where
termites are likely to be such as near tree stumps,
wood used in landscaping, and in planting beds.
Multiple stations are used to increase the chances that
termites will find them.
Figure 4. Bait stations in the ground around a home.
Once installed, the PMP comes on regular visits
to check the stations for termites. If termites are
found, a bait is placed inside for the termites to feed
on. The PMP returns periodically to inspect and to
add or replace baits as needed. Baiting is stopped
when termites are no longer found in the stations. At
this point, the colony is considered to be reduced or
eliminated. Monitoring continues in case termites
return.
Figure 5. General procedure for baiting: A.) holes made
for the stations B.) stations are installed C.) stations
checked periodically for termites D.) bait added when
termites appear and as needed until termites disappear
from all stations.
Advantages/Disadvantages of Baits
Baits have many advantages over liquid
termiticides. However, they have some limitations.
Here are some points to consider when trying to
decide between using baits or termiticides:
Advantages
• very small amount of AI per treatment (less
than an ounce)
• baits are inside bait station and in the ground,
hard for children or pets to get to them

Termite Baits 4

• AI does not get into soil or water
• no odor
• no large holes drilled through walls or floors
• no chemicals left in soil after treatment is
finished
• colony is completely eliminated in many cases
Disadvantages
• several weeks to several months needed to take
effect, sometimes more than a year
• works only if termites find and eat the bait
• no chemical residues left after treatment to
protect from further infestations
• can be more expensive than liquid termiticides
What Bait Products Are Available
Now?
Currently there are six different subterranean
termite bait systems available for commercial use.
Several others are in development and should be on
the market within the next few years. Below are brief
descriptions of the baits now being used:

Sentricon®
This was the first termite bait available for
commercial use. It is marketed by Dow AgroSciences
as the Sentricon® Colony Elimination System.
Stations containing wood or wood-like monitoring
pieces are installed in the ground. When termites
appear, the pieces are replaced with Recruit™ bait.
For infestations in structures, above-ground stations
baited with Recruit AG™ are used. The active
ingredient in Sentricon® is hexaflumuron.
Sentricon® is the only bait product labeled for
stand-alone pre-treatment of structures. This means it
can be used as a preventive (pre-construction)
treatment without using a liquid termiticide.

Advance™
Whitmire Micro-Gen Research Laboratories, Inc.
manufactures and markets the Advance Termite Bait
System. The bait station holds two pieces: a block of
wood below and on top a cartridge containing
Puri-cell™, a textured cellulose material. During the
monitoring phase, the Puri-Cell contains no AI.
However, when termites are found in the station, the
"blank" Puri-cell is replaced with one containing the
active ingredient, which for this product is
diflubenzuron.

Exterra™
The Exterra Termite Interception and Baiting
System is made by Ensystex. The active ingredient in
their Labyrinth™ bait is diflubenzuron.
One big difference between the design of
Exterra's Quarterra bait station and its competitors is
the Quarterra station holds wood monitoring pieces
and bait at the same time. The wood fits into slots in
the inside wall of the station leaving the center of the
station empty. When termites appear, the shredded
paper-like bait is placed in this open space. The wood
is left in place so the termites can continue feeding
without interruption. This is a useful feature because
sometimes termites will abandon a station if they are
disturbed. Because of this design, the Exterra station
has a larger diameter (about four inches) than
competing brands (two to two-and-a-half inches).
Above-ground stations are also available for direct
application to termite-infested areas in or on a
structure.
Exterra also makes bait bags. These are used in
hard to reach areas or places where plastic stations
will not fit.

FirstLine®
Baiting is one part of FMC's FirstLine® Termite
Defense System. For infestations in or on a structure,
a localized treatment with liquid termiticide or
above-ground FirstLine® Termite Bait stations is
used. Around the structure, SMARTDISC™ Locators
and monitoring stations are placed in the ground to
detect termites. If they are found, the monitoring
station is replaced with a FirstLine® GT Plus Termite

Termite Baits 5

Bait station. The bait is corrugated cardboard that
contains sulfluramid as the active ingredient. FMC
also makes the Defender™ unit. This is a large bait
station (about six inches in diameter) that can hold
any combination of four wood monitor pieces and
bait tubes.

Terminate™
This is a bait product made by Spectracide that
homeowners install and monitor themselves. The
other five termite bait products can only be applied by
licensed pest control operators. The Terminate™ bait
stations are smaller than professional brands and lack
a disk top. The AI is sulfluramid.
Spectracide does not guarantee termite control
when Terminate is used by itself. According to the
label, a liquid termiticide must be used with the bait
for complete control.
Buying and using do-it-yourself termite bait
products generally IS NOT RECOMMENDED.
Effective termite baiting requires training,
experience, and an understanding of termite biology
and behavior.

Subterfuge®
This product is manufactured by BASF
Corporation. One difference between the
Subterfuge® bait system and the others is no wood or
cardboard monitor is used. Baits are added when
stations are first placed in the ground. This way,
termites can begin feeding on the AI as soon as they
find the bait. BASF does not make an in-ground
station but any approved commercially-available
station that the bait cartridge will fit in can be used.
The bait is a dry material that looks like fine,
shredded sawdust. The AI is hydramethylnon.

Is Baiting More or Less Expensive than Using Termiticides?
Generally, termite baiting is more expensive.
The price of a bait treatment includes an installation
fee, sometimes the cost of the bait and stations, plus
the service of having the pest management
professional (PMP) perform routine inspection of the
bait stations both during and after baiting. A liquid
termiticide treatment generally costs less because it
usually is done in a single visit.

So What's Better, Baits or Liquid Termiticides?
This is the most common question asked by
homeowners. Unfortunately, there isn't a simple
answer. Baiting and liquid termiticides both have
certain advantages and disadvantages. One may be
more practical than the other in some situations (for
example, liquid termiticides are necessary when
immediate control is needed for real estate
transactions). Two big factors to consider when
choosing between the two are cost and time. Baiting
can be more expensive and take longer for control,
but it is closely watched by the pest management
company. Baits also may eliminate the colony while
studies indicates that liquid termiticides do not.
Personal feelings toward insecticides may also be a
factor. Baits would be ideal for those who do not
want liquid pesticides used around their home (see
the last section of EDIS publication ENY-210
"Subterranean Termites"
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/IG097 for additional
information on whether to use baits).