This review focuses on the study of subterranean termites as structural and building pests especially in Asia Tropical countries. Since wood is one of the oldest, most important and most versatile building materials and still widely utilized by home owners in the region. Subterranean termites have long been a serious pest of wooden construction and they are still causing an important problem in most of tropical and subtropical regions. This termite group is build shelter tubes and nest in the soil or on the sides of trees or building constructions and relies principally on soil for moisture. Subterranean termite damage on building and other wooden structure cause costs associated with the prevention and treatment of termite infestation. Termite control, thus, is a realistic problem not only for human life but also for conservation of natural environment. All countries especially Asian countries are now seeking for the safer chemicals or the more effective methods for termite control. A huge amount of research in recent years has been devoted to termite control technologies to reduce environmental contamination and the risk to human health.

Larval surveillance is the central approach for monitoring dengue vector populations in Indonesia. However, traditional larval indices are ineffective for measuring mosquito population dynamics and predicting the dengue transmission risk. We conducted a 14-month ovitrap surveillance. Eggs and immature mosquitoes were collected on a weekly basis from an urban village of Bandung, namely Sekejati. Ovitrap-related indices, namely positive house index (PHI), ovitrap index (OI), and ovitrap density index (ODI), were generated and correlated with environmental variables, housing type (terraced or high-density housing), ovitrap placement location (indoor or outdoor; household or public place), and local dengue cases. Our results demonstrated that Aedes aegypti was significantly predominant compared with Aedes albopictus at each housing type and ovitrap placement location. Ovitrap placement locations and rainfall were the major factors contributing to variations in PHI, OI, and ODI, whereas the influences of housing type and temperature were subtle. Indoor site values were significantly positively correlated to outdoor sites’ values for both OI and ODI. OI and ODI values from households were best predicted with those from public places at 1- and 0-week lags, respectively. Weekly rainfall values at 4- and 3-week lags were the best predictors of OI and ODI for households and public places, respectively. Monthly mean PHI, OI, and ODI were significantly associated with local dengue cases. In conclusion, ovitrap may be an effective tool for monitoring the population dynamics of Aedes mosquitoes, predicting dengue outbreaks, and serving as an early indicator to initiate environmental clean-up. Ovitrap surveillance is easy for surveyors if they are tasked with a certain number of ovitraps at a designated area, unlike the existing larval surveillance methodology, which entails identifying potential breeding sites largely at the surveyors’ discretion. Ovitrap surveillance may reduce the influence of individual effort in larval surveillance that likely causes inconsistency in results.

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The sterilization process using gamma irradiation is a crucial component in a program using sterile insect technique (SIT) to control Aedes aegypti. Unfortunately, there is no efficient standard protocol for sterilizing mosquitoes that can produce a high level of sterility while maintaining mating ability and longevity. Therefore, we conducted a study of the critical factors necessary to develop such a standard protocol. In this study, male Ae. aegypti pupae, as well as adults aged 1 d and 3 d, were irradiated using a Gamma-cell 220 irradiator doses of 0, 20, 40, 60, 70, 80, and 100 Gray (Gy). In addition, male Ae. aegypti in the pupal and adult stage aged 1 d were irradiated at a dose of 70 Gy at various temperatures. Changes in emergence rates, longevity, sterility, and mating competitiveness were recorded for each combination of parameters. Results showed that an increase of irradiation dose leads to a rise of induced sterility at all developmental stages, while simultaneously reducing emergence rate, survival, and mating competitiveness. Higher temperatures resulted in increased levels of sterility, reduced longevity, and did not affect the ability to mate. This study found that an irradiation dose of 70 Gy at a temperature between 20.00 and 22.30°C administered in the pupal stage induced a high level of sterility (around 98%), while maintaining mating competitiveness and longevity.

Pratiknyo H, Ahmad I, Bambang Heru Budianto BH. 2018. Diversity and abundance of termites along altitudinal gradient andslopes in Mount Slamet, Central Java, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 19: 1649-1658. A study on diversity and abundance of termites along analtitudinal gradient and the different slope was done in plantation forest of Mount Slamet. This research aimed to define the speciescomposition along the altitudinal gradient and slope and to define the environmental factors affecting it. The sampling of termites wascarried out following standardized belt transects (100 m x 2 m) laid vertically on the altitude of 700 up to 1300 m asl on four slopes.Each 100 m length of the belt transects was divided into 20 sections (5 m x 2 m), and termites were taken in each section from the trees,branches, barks and the ground. Data of termites composition were analyzed for diversity index (Shanon-Wiener, H') and dominationindex (Simson, D); the correlation among environmental factors with the family were analyzed by multivariate correlation, and then aCanonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) was used to define the most associated environmental factor to the diversity and abundanceof termites. A total of 7349 individuals belonging to 11 species in nine genera, five subfamilies, and two families were recorded. Fourwood feeder species were Schedorinotermes javanicus, Macrotermes gilvus, Odontotermes javanicus and Microtermes insperatus, whilehumus feeder was Capritermes samarangi, Procapritermes stiger, Nasutitermes matangensis, N. matangensiformis, Bulbitermes spp.,and the soil feeders were PeriCapritermes javanicus and P. dolichocephalus. Based on the Shanon-Wiener index, the Western Slopewas the highest in diversity with five main environmental factors (altitudes, maximal rainfall, N content, manure application and lightintensity) the most influencing while the CCA ordination showed that the canopy closure and light intensity were the most associatedfactor to the diversity and abundance of termites. In conclusion, the slopes