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Author: Blumenfeld, Alexander
Email: alex93@tamu.edu
Phone: 951-532-0000
Organization: Rollins Urban & Structural Entomology Facility, Texas A&M Univer
Address:
Rollins Urban & Structural Entomology Facility,
College Station,
TX,
77843
Abstract Title: OPPORTUNITIES FOR TERMITE INVASIONS: INTRODUCTIONS OF EXOTIC TERMITES TO THE USA BASED ON PORT OF ENTRY DATA. Alexander Blumenfeld* and Ed Vargo, Rollins Urban & Structural Entomology Facility, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX.
Abstract Text: Port of entry data have been an important source of information for the introduction and spread of invasive species. Starting in the early 1900s, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) began publishing annual reports of plant pests intercepted at USA ports of entry. Then, in 1985, the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service established the PestID database to house records of intercepted plant pests. Over the last 20 years, numerous studies have utilized the database to analyze interception trends of various insect pests; however, termites have largely remained free from scrutiny. Given that invasive termites now cause greater than $1 billion dollars in damages annually within the USA, this lack of scrutiny is worrisome. Additionally, these studies have neglected to include interception records contained within the USDA annual reports published before the creation of the database. After synthesis of records in the published annual reports and PestID database, termite interceptions at USA ports of entry from 1923 to 2018 were analyzed. In total, 2212 termite interceptions were identified, originating from 117 countries. The five most common countries of origin were Mexico (369), Honduras (108), Costa Rica (103), Colombia (87) and Brazil (79). 33 of the 50 states had at least one interception event, with Texas ranking third at 279 interceptions, behind California (330) and Florida (485). 94 species were intercepted, with the three most common being Cryptotermes brevis (90), Nasutitermes corniger (74) and Coptotermes formosanus (64), all of which have become established in the USA, and only N. corniger not yet established in Texas. Further analysis of interception data like this will guide us to a better understanding of the sources and spread of invasive termites in the USA.
Conference
Year: TIPPC_2018
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
Presenter Type (Student or Regular): Student
Session: 4. Research
Submission Date: 2018-10-15
