Nov. 17, 1923 
Termites of the Canal Zone 
301 
Injury is more common in the new soil of recently cleared woodland con¬ 
taining old decaying stumps, wood, or much leaf mold. It is not desir¬ 
able to use animal manure where damage by termites is serious. 
In the case of species of termites of this family which are not wood¬ 
boring but which are subterranean in habit and injure vegetation and 
build mounds in fields which it is desired to cultivate, their galleries 
should be fumigated with sulphur or arsenic or a combination of the two. 
There are several effective machines on the market which generate fumes 
of these poisons in a brazier and force them into the termite galleries 
by means of a pump. Another method is to fumigate by termitocid 
cartridges which generate volatile arsenical combinations that enter the 
galleries under great pressure. Termites can also be controlled by 
placing poisoned bait in their burrows or nests or by poisoning the soil 
with poisonous solutions or salts. 
Much injury to living vegetation by either class of subterranean ter¬ 
mites can be prevented by clean cultivation. 
NONSUBTERRANEAN TERMITES 
Termites that do not live in the earth—namely, such species as Kalo- 
termes, Neotermes, and Cryptotermes, can not be combatted as can the 
subterranean species by shutting them off from their supply of moisture 
in the soil. They infest even dry wood directly through crevices, cracks, 
or decayed places and require little moisture. Of course their breeding 
places in decayed wood should be destroyed. Where these species are 
abundant, windows and doors in buildings should be screened, especially 
during the period of swarming or flight. In unscreened buildings the 
lights should be put out during the swarm. Since species in these genera 
swarm at night and are attracted to lights in large numbers, the winged 
adults can be caught by placing under the lights large shallow recep¬ 
tacles full of oil or water. 
The unprotected woodwork of buildings should be impregnated with 
chemical wood preservatives. If a coating of the brown creosote or 
earbolineum is not suitable in the case of interior woodwork impregna¬ 
tion of the wood with a 6 per cent solution of zinc chlorid or a 1 per 
cent solution of bichlorid of mercury is recommended. A 2 per cent 
solution of sodium fluorid is effective, as is also impregnation with chlo¬ 
rinated naphthalene. The best method of treatment when using the 
soluble wood preservatives is by the “open tank.” 
Possibly the chlorinated naphthalene is the best treatment for furni¬ 
ture. Wood must be impregnated before it is made up into furniture 
if it is to be effectively protected; no known solution applied externally 
is satisfactory. 
Much of the damage caused by white ants to furniture and interior 
woodwork in the Tropics is due to the improper construction of build¬ 
ings. All wood in contact with the ground should be thoroughly im¬ 
pregnated with coal-tar creosote. 
LITERATURE CITED 
(1) Banks, Nathan. 
1918. THE TERMITES OR PANAMA AND BRITISH GUIANA. In Bui. Amer. MUS. 
Nat. Hist., v. 38, p. 659-667, illus., pi. 51. 
( 2 ) — 
1920. A REVISION OF THE NEARCTIC TERMITES, WITH NOTES ON BIOLOGY AND 
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION BY THOMAS E. SNYDER. U. S. Nat. MUS. 
Bill. 108, 228 p. t 70 fig., 35 pi. 
