Population Survey of Subterranean Termite Coptotermes curvignathus (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) on Infested Pine Boards

Background and Objective: So far, no scientific papers have reported on the termite population of subterranean termite Coptotermes curvignathus especially when they attack the wooden components in the building. This information is crucial for termite control such as system development, specifically capable of non-destructively detecting and predicting a termite population. A study was conducted to determine the termite population on the various volumes of pine boards. Materials and Methods: In this study, the exhaustive trapping technique was applied to the termite colonies. Thirty boards, infested with termites, were collected, after which the volumes were measured and dismantled carefully to determine termite population. A statistical analysis of linear regression is used to analyze the relationship between board volume (x) and termite population (y). Results: This survey showed that the board infested by C. curvignathus was dominated by termite workers (75.21±6.5101%) compared to termite soldiers (24.79±6.5101%). Based on the numerical analysis, the linear regression model (y = 40.09368+0.55031x) provides an overview of the number of termites present for a feeding test and provides an analysis of the extent to which the design of detection system will be able to predict a termite population. Conclusion: This research showed that the larger the board volume, the larger the termite population, since the larger board has an abundance of food sources containing large amounts of cellulose. This cellulose attracts termites to live inside it and also stops the process of further foraging.