Orlando Guerreiro

Cryptotermes brevis (Isoptera: Kalotermitidae) in the Azores: Lessons After 2 yr of Monitoring in the Archipelago

ABSTRACT. The dispersal flights of West Indian drywood termite, Cryptotermes brevis (Walker) (Isoptera: Kalotermitidae) were surveyed in the major cities of Azores. The sampling device used to estimate termite density consisted of a yellow adhesive trap (size 45 by 24 cm), placed with an artificial or natural light source in a dark attic environment. In addition, data from two other projects were used to improve the knowledge about the geographical distribution of the species. The level of infestation in the two main Azorean towns differed, with high levels in the houses of Angra do Heroísmo, whereas in Ponta Delgada, there are fewer houses with high levels of infestation. The infestation in Ponta Delgada shows a pattern of spreading from the center outward to the citys periphery, whereas in Angra do Heroísmo, there was a pattern of spreading outward from several foci. The heavy infestation observed in Angra do Heroísmo and the clear increase of infestation levels observed from 2010 to 2011 is a reason for concern and calls for an urgent application of an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) control strategy.

Potential Distribution and Cost Estimation of the Damage Caused by Cryptotermes brevis (Isoptera: Kalotermitidae) in the Azores

ABSTRACT In the Azores archipelago, a significant proportion of buildings are infested with the urban exotic drywood termite Cryptotermes brevis (Walker), causing major economical and patrimonial losses. This work aims to understand the potential spread of this termite species in the Azores and estimate the costs for both treatment and reconstruction of infested buildings in the entire archipelago. A maximum entropy niche modeling process was used to determine the potential occurrence of the species on each island. Different scenarios were built using independent global and regional incidence and environmental data. Both projections reveal the same pattern. Generally, the probability of occurrence is higher near the coast line, where, in Azores, the majority of the towns and villages are located. We also predict that the infestation has potential to spread to yet unaffected towns and islands. It is estimated that the cost of treating all currently infested buildings in the archipelago is 51 million, while reconstruction of the same buildings would rise the costs to 175 million. We predict that the absence of a control strategy will cause a further expansion of the pest to more localities in the Azores. An estimate to future scenarios implies higher costs, with treatment and rebuilding values rising up to eight times the current values.

Towards an Agent Based Modeling: The Prediction and Prevention of the Spread of the Drywood Termite Cryptotermes brevis

We present initial efforts made to model the spread of the drywood termite in Angra do Heroismo, Azores, using an agent based modeling approach. First we describe how a simple Cellular Automata (CA) model was created in Netlogo to simulate the spread of the species based on simple assumptions concerning the ecology of the species. A second step was taken by increasing the complexity of the initial CA approach, adding new specific characteristics to each cell, based again on ecology of the species and its behavior towards the environment. Finally, we add agents to the model in order to simulate the human intervention in fighting back the pest. This new model has become a two-level Agent-Based model. We also evaluated the costs of this intervention. These efforts were supported by field research which allowed a continuous cross-checking of the results obtained in the model with the field data.