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The Urban Entomology Program focuses on
the study of termites, which have caused extensive damage
to housing stock in the Greater Toronto Area. The program
has developed new, environmentally friendly methods of controlling
termites, tested termite-resistant building materials, identified
new termite species, investigated the biology of termites,
and studied termite intrusions into buried nuclear waste.
Since its introduction to Toronto from
the United States in 1938, the eastern subterranean termite
has spread to more than 1,000 city blocks. These cellulose-digesting
insects damage wood frame structures and represent a growing
threat to the housing stock in the Greater Toronto Area,
since termite damage can be severe enough to cause structural
failure.
The cost of traditional soil barrier methods
of control is expensive, typically more than $1,500.00 per
property, and the large amounts of toxic pesticides used
for such treatments pose environmental and health risks.
In addition, such property-specific approaches do nothing
to address the spread of the infestation throughout urbanized
areas. As termites spread, they wreak havoc on property
resale values, and lower the property tax revenue base of
municipal governments.
In 1985, Toronto City Council resolved
to establish a chair in Urban Entomology at the University
of Toronto. With sponsorship from the Ontario Ministry of
the Environment, the Ontario Ministry of Housing, Canada
Mortgage and Housing, and several termite-infested municipalities,
the Urban Entomology Program (UEP) was created in the Faculty
of Forestry in 1987. In 2002, the program moved from Forestry
to the Centre for Urban and Community Studies.
Research conducted by the UEP has led
to the development of termite control methods that are more
effective and more environmentally friendly than traditional
methods. Two physical barrier systems that do not use pesticides
– sand barriers and copper sheet metal shields –
have been used in new housing built in termite infested
areas of Toronto.
The most significant innovation has been
the development of the Trap-Treat-Release (TTR) system.
TTR involves trapping thousands of termites, treating them
with minute doses of topically-applied, slow-acting chemicals,
and releasing them back into the parent colony, where they
transmit to other termites, leading to the death of the
colony. The TTR system has been patented and UEP is now
pursuing Canadian registration and commercialization.
UEP’s other activities include:
Research on termite biology, control,
ecology, and systematics, including the use of the entomopathic
fungus, Metarhizium anisopliae, as a biocontrol agent
tests of termite-resistant building materials
Studies of the risk of bio-intrusion by
termites into buried nuclear waste at the Nevada Test Site
Research on the systematics of North
American termites, which has led to the discovery of 15
new termite genera and more than 60 new termite species
Studies on termite digestive processes
For further information:
Dr. Timothy G. Myles,
Director
455 Spadina Ave, Suite 400
Toronto, Ontario M5S 2G8
416-978-5755; t.myles@utoronto.ca
http://www.utoronto.ca/forest/termite/termite.htm
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