Termite Treatment - Baiting

Termite bait toxicants are deliberately slow-acting (delayed). What is the primary reason a bait is designed this way rather than to kill on contact?

• So foraging workers survive long enough to carry and share the active ingredient with nestmates through trophallaxis, spreading it through the colony ✓
• So the bait remains legal for sale to homeowners under federal pesticide law
• So the active ingredient breaks down before it can contaminate nearby soil and groundwater
• So a single bait station can protect the structure without any follow-up monitoring
• So the bait works equally well on both drywood and subterranean termites

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An in-ground termite bait station combines a slow-acting insecticide with a food substrate the foraging termites will eat. What material makes up that food matrix, and what is a recognized practical limitation of baiting compared with a liquid termiticide?

• Borate salts; baiting protects the structure faster than any liquid treatment
• A petroleum-based gel; baiting requires no monitoring once the stations are installed
• Powdered fipronil dust; baiting works only on the swarmer (alate) caste
• Cellulose (a structural component of wood); baiting is relatively slow-acting and the stations must be monitored over time ✓
• Diatomaceous earth; baiting kills the colony within 48 hours of installation

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