Results of major research in Louisiana show that under the right operational conditions, the Sentricon^® System can eliminate subterranean termites from an entire area and then stop them from coming back.

Dr. Nan-Yao Su of the University of Florida-Fort Lauderdale and his team used the 32-acre Louis Armstrong Park near New Orleans for their multiyear project to see if area-wide (AW) termite control was possible. Installation of Recruit^® HD termite bait with Always Active^™ technology began in September 2010 in 13 bait stations. Additional stations were baited in October 2011. Despite issues resulting from Hurricane Katrina and limited access to areas of the park due to construction, the center area of the park was termite-free by July 2012, and by December 2012, no termites were active anywhere in the park.

The team then monitored to see how soon re-infestation would occur. Five months later, smaller and less aggressive colonies from the park border areas made their way to bait stations in the park. The bait stations then were baited and these colonies were eliminated within two months. For the following year, the park remained termite-free, suggesting that stations along the park borders had eliminated Formosan colony activity for perhaps 100 meters around the park.

In July 2014, two new colonies were discovered in the park, one Formosan and one Eastern subterranean. These colonies were believed to have originated from alate pairs in the spring of 2013 or 2014.

For Certified Sentricon Specialists^™, the findings support promotion of the Sentricon System for:

• Proven colony elimination, with an average (mean) time to elimination of 2.5 months
• Proven effectiveness against the difficult Formosan subterranean termite species
• The ability of the Sentricon System to provide protection from invasion of new termite colonies and the need for homeowners to keep their protection in place
• Leaving Recruit HD in place even after a colony has been eliminated (as long as more than half the bait remains) because termites invading the area will feed on this bait, even if it had been fed on by a different termite species (no bait shyness)
• CSSs to be able to sell and service large area accounts with confidence because of the once-per-year label service options for Recruit HD termite bait

Su’s research has been accepted for publication in a scientifically reviewed journal.