Demonstration Project Reporting Detection of Subterranean Termite (Blattodea: Rhinotermitidae) Infestation and Spray Polyurethane Foam

Abstract

Pest management professionals (PMPs) conducting inspections in the southeastern United States encountered Spray Polyurethane Foam (SPF) insulation in attics and crawlspaces as promoted by the Spray Polyurethane Foam Alliance (SPFA), http://www.sprayfoam.org/, and approved in building codes (American Chemical Council 2009, https://polyurethane.americanchemistry.com/Resourcesand-Document-Library/10525.pdf. Last accessed 15 July 2021). PMPs began cancelling pest control contracts with customers who retrofitted existing structures using SPF because the insulation prevented visual inspections for termites and other wood-destroying organisms. The Georgia (USA) Structural Pest Control Commission (GSPCC), therefore, issued a Public Notice to inform consumers of the benefits and risks of SPF applied to homes (GSPCC 2018, http://agr.georgia.gov/ Data/Sites/1/media/ag_plantindustry/structural_pestcontrol/structural_pest_control_ commission/files/Notice-18-04-Spray-Foam-Insulation-and-Pest-Management.pdf. Last accessed 15 July 2021). Media coverage resulting from the notice prompted a meeting of stakeholders in January 2019 for the purpose of discussing termite inspections, SPF, and consumer education (PCT February, October 2019, http:// magazine.pctonline.com/article/february-2019/foam-friend-or-foe.aspx and http:// magazine.pctonline.com/article/october-2019/update-spray-foam–termite-protection. aspx. Last accessed 15 July 2021). Subsequent to those events, a termite swarm was reported in the River Basin Building on the University of Georgia campus in Athens on 30 April 2019. A visual inspection found an infestation of Reticulitermes virginicus (Banks) (Blattodea: Rhinotermitidae) in the crawlspace. The River Basin building, a cinderblock structure, was constructed on a concrete slab with a crawlspace (approximately 36 m) in the northeast corner defined by a wall approximately 2-m high with wood