Termite Control: Transfer Effect Versus Domino Effect

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Termite Control: Transfer Effect Versus Domino Effect
Why is Termidor Better than Premise?

Subterranean Termites swarm and travel every spring to reproduce and spread according to noted Entomologist Gregg Henderson. Dr. Henderson PhD is a leading authority in the field of Entomology and often contributes both to publications and speaking engagements at industry conferences as you can see from how often his name is on the schedule in the link to the 2014 National Conference on Urban Entomology. Entomology is the study of insects in general, but Dr. Henderson has become a highly quotable image in the industry specifically with termites. He recently led a research on the Transfer Effect vs. the Domino Effect.

The "transfer effect" is the industry's preference and the reason for the research. It is the effect that comes from the use of the termiticide Termidor. The "domino effect" of a termiticide, referred to as Premise, is an extremely similar pesticide for killing termites. Nevertheless, as Dr. Henderson and his associates noted, more pest control companies choose Termidor over Premise in spite of it being a much older termiticide. The researchers wanted to know why the industry didn't switch over to Premise. From previous researches, they found out that Termidor was more efficient. But they wanted to understand why it was transferred by termites more often than Premise, resulting in more deaths.

Both kinds of termiticide are liquid-based sprays that are meant to thrill the termites' central nervous system then cause the termite to die of over-excitation. It's kind of like providing the termites crack. They then spread the love around the nest and a growing number of termites are affected by the toxin. Both are essentially odorless and undetectable to the termite. So the termite picks up the toxin and spreads it to its friends back at the nest. Hence, the names "Transfer Effect" and "Domino Effect." Though both kinds of termiticide work with the exact same physiological pathway, it had previously been found out that Termidor did spread around the colony more and kill a considerably larger portion of the nest.

But why? Premise works too swiftly. According to the research, within 9 hours of exposure, the initially affected termites stop moving around and start "resting." Their antennae will start to droop and they stop interacting, and they dig less. Simply put, they start to look ill. Since they look ill, the rest of the colony avoids them. As a result, the "domino effect" doesn't occur to very many in the colony.

Termidor, in contrast, showed more thrilled termite workers; they are moving more, digging more, and interacting normally. Simply put, these guys look like they're not just healthy workers, they're the "life of the party" workers. They appear to have the most energy. This makes it easy for them to essentially make friends and influence other termites. Then, after spreading Termidor around the colony, the initially-infected termites go from hyper to dead. So yes, Termidor is better than Premise. See the full clinical research article to learn more: Transfer Effect vs. Domino Effect.

Dr. Henderson concludes the article with a final thought. These termiticides work best when put as near the nest as possible; near the established termite traffic areas. Licensed Termidor Technicians at Magic Pest Control can offer a complimentary termite inspection and make sure that, if there are indications of a termite colony, Termidor is being put appropriately.