Auburn, Sept 6---Local businesses and homeowners may be unwittingly contributing to the spread of a destructive termite that already has been spotted in five Alabama counties.

In August, for example, one Lee County company was selling surplus utility poles – a fact that sparked the immediate concern of Dr. Xing Ping Hu, an Alabama Cooperative Extension System entomologist, who fears the poles may have harbored colonies of Formosan termites, considered the world’s most destructive termite.

Formosan termites can infest the central, untreated portions of creosote-treated telephone poles. Railroad ties and telephone poles are the two most common means by which Formosan termites are spread throughout the United States.

What concerns Hu most of all is that the poles were being sold and transported out of Lee County, a Formosan termite-infested area.

"Selling surplus poles without termite inspection could provide a highway that helps the Formosan termites munch their way across Alabama and neighboring states," Hu says.

After learning of the surplus polls, Hu contacted Dr. Jeff Clary, Lee County Extension coordinator, in hopes of arranging a local inspection of the poles. As it turned out, the poles already had been sold and were headed in all directions in local trucks.

Formosan termites are the most destructive and the most difficult to control termite in the world, Hu says. Even worse, the termites generally are able to infest dwellings long before people are even aware of them.

That probably explains why the termites reached epidemic levels long before they were spotted in the United States. It also explains why Hu is determined to keep poles and other materials from being sold and shipped from infested areas.

It is believed the first Formosan termites were brought to the United States in wooden shipping crates sometime after World War II. The termites were not positively confirmed in the United States until 1965.

"The crates probably were used for building or landscape materials or ended up buried in landfills," Hu says. "Unfortunately, the dirt provided a haven for this subterranean termite."

Since then termites have spread to Alabama and 13 other Southern states. Formosan termites already have become well established in Alabama since their debut in 1987.

Hu has identified well-established Formosan termite colonies in five Alabama counties, "from the far south all the way to the northeast corner of the state."

As weak fliers, Formosan termites ironically have depended on humans for their rapid spread. In addition to ocean-going ships, other sources also contribute to the termites’ spread.

Prime sources include railroad ties, utility poles, topsoil, landscaping timbers and plants transported over long distances.

Very few things are immune to the termites’ spread. They have been shown to penetrate cement, lead, asphalt, plaster and mortar. Rubber, plastic and even brick also have failed to provide a barrier.

"The termites have even been known to pass through styrofoam, PVC pipes, electric power lines and even thin sheets of soft metal in order to reach food and moisture sources," Hu says.

Unfortunately for homeowners, even though termites feed voraciously and build big colonies, they’re not likely to be noticed until it’s too late.

Formosa termites have reached epidemic levels, resulting in more than $2 billion annually in damage and control measures.

Unlike other Southeastern states, Alabama has no program in place to research this pest and to educate Alabamians about its destructive potential.

"Unfortunately, the termite is here to stay," Hu says. "And the only hope of managing it is through research and educational efforts, coupled with a community effort aimed at slowing their spread to new sites and reducing the risk of future eruptions."

One effective approach would involve establishing a program that enables researchers and Extension personnel to track and document the spread of this destructive pest.

Alabama remains the only state with severe Formosan termite infestation that has not established such a program.

For now, the best control is prevention.

"We want people to be careful about buying or transporting materials and topsoil from areas that have Formosan termite infestation," Hu says.