Characteristic of Termite inhabits in South Korea and the control

한국 서식 흰개미의 특성과 방제

There are about 2,000 species of termite in the World, but one species of termite inhabits in the southern part of Korean peninsula. Termites are social insects that live in colonies. The colonies are composed of king, queen, soldiers and workers. Termite food consists of cellulose obtained from wood. Protozoa in their digestive tracts convert the cellulose into usable food. Korean termite is a subspecies of Reticulitermes speratus Kolbe, Rhinotermitidae. It's subterranean termite and the scientic name is R. speratus kyushensis Morimoto. The subterranean termite must nest in the soil in order to survival, and infest soft-wood which contact with the soil near the nest. There are several ways which subterranean termite infestations can be noticed. Atcertain times of the year during daylight hours, king and queen termites emerge from the colonies. The propose of these flight is to establish new colonies. The termite is a decomposer of biological ecosystem, but an invader in the preservation of cultural properties as like wood buildings. There are serveral control methods for the prevention of wood building from termite's damages. Those are biological control, ecological control, physical control and chemical control. Ecological and Physical control are the best methods in the new constructing wood-building. Fumigation which is a method of chemical control, is the best method for the building damaged by the termite. After the fumigation, we have totake wood & soil treatments for the building and nearby in order not to be reinvaded by the termites.