Formosan Subterranean Termite
Back to top
Scientific Name:
Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki, 1909 (ITIS)Common Name:
Formosan subterranean termite (FST), ground termitesPhoto:
Formosan Subterranean Termite, Adults, worker (top), soldier (bottom) - Gerald J. Lenhard Native To:
East Asia (Lax and Osbrink 2003)
Date of U.S. Introduction:
1960s (Messenger et al. 2002)
Means of Introduction:
Arrived accidentally on ships from the Pacific (Messenger et al. 2002)
Impact:
Damages landscape trees and causes significant structural damage to buildings (Lax and Osbrink 2003)
Images
-
Google.
-
University of Georgia. Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health.
-
Australian Plant Biosecurity Cooperative Research Centre. Pests and Diseases Image Library.
Videos
-
Google. YouTube; AIRLAB TV.
Selected Resources
The section below contains selected highly relevant resources for this species, organized by source. To view all related content for this species, click on "View all resources for species" in the top left of this page.
Partnership
IUCN. Species Survival Commission. Invasive Species Specialist Group.
CABI. Plantwise Knowledge Bank.
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Galveston Bay Estuary Program; Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC).
State and Local Government
County of Los Angeles (California). Agricultural Commissioner. Weights and Measures.
Academic
University of Georgia. Extension.
Bulletin 1209.
University of Florida. Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension.
Electronic Data Information Source Publication #ENY121
Louisiana State University Agricultural Center. Research and Extension.
North Carolina State University. Cooperative Extension.
Citations
- Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Coptotermes formosanus. [Accessed Sep 10, 2014].
- Lax, A.R., and W.L. Osbrink. 2003. United States Department of Agriculture—Agriculture Research Service research on targeted management of the Formosan subterranean termite Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae). Pest Management Science 59(6-7):788-800.
- Messenger, M.T., N.Y. Su, and R.H. Scheffrahn. 2002. Current distribution of the Formosan subterranean termite and other termite species in Louisiana (PDF | 103 KB). Florida Entomologist 84(5):580-587.