Termidor
WHAT MAKES TERMIDOR DIFFERENT?
JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING, INCLUDING THE 'TRANSFER EFFECT'.
It all begins with fipronil. Fipronil is the active ingredient in Termidor, and it works quite differently from other termiticide active ingredients. It also manages termite colonies in 3 months or less (that's significantly better than the best bait system). Here's why:
Termites don't know it's there
Many termiticides are repellents. This means that they keep termites away from a treated area, rather than killing them.
But if there's a gap in the treatment - maybe someone digs up a flowerbed and breaks the line of defense - the repellent effect fails and the termites get through. It happens frequently, and your only recourse is to have your house retreated.
Termidor is non-repellent. Termites can't smell it, see it or feel it. Since they don't know it's there, they forage freely in a treated area. The '100% effective' results begin here.
Kills individual termites two ways
First, and like other leading liquid termiticides, Termidor is lethal to termites when they ingest it (since they don't know it's there, they ingest it readily). Secondly, and unlike all other termiticides, Termidor is lethal by contact. This means that termites don't even have to ingest it to die from its effects.
'Transfer Effect' controls the whole colony
Termites are social insects who live in large, underground colonies. They feed each other primarily by passing food from mouth to mouth. They groom each other. They contact each other as they forage for food.
And Termidor takes advantage of this social behavior.
As well as eating Termidor, a termite will also unknowingly pick it up and carry it back to the colony on its body. Thus, every other termite it contacts, feeds or grooms will itself become a carrier, contacting and infecting others.
But because the fipronil in Termidor is slow-acting and allows the termite to continue its normal routine, it remains active long enough to transfer the termiticide to a large number of other termites in the colony before dying itself.
This combination of ingestion, contact, and 'transfer effect' (which is unique, and puts Termidor in a category by itself) routinely provides 100% termite control. No exceptions.
Can be 2-6 times faster than a bait system
Termidor's unique 'transfer effect' manages termite colonies a lot faster than bait systems. Typically, a Termidor treatment will provide 100% control of termites in 3 months or less. Baits can take from many months to several years to control the colony.
And remember: termite bait is not added to a monitoring station until termite activity is actually observed at that station (even when the bait active ingredient is added it's often a slow-acting insect growth regulator).
As well as taking time, this also leaves the possibility of termite damage to the structure being baited, even though no termite activity is seen at the outlying stations.
How the 'Transfer Effect' works
Once a termite has ingested or contacted Termidor treated material with its body, it becomes a 'carrier'. Every other termite it contacts will be infected...
...which in turn infects every other termite it contacts. But Termidor works slowly, letting termites contact many others before dying themselves.
And although the Termidor effect on individual termites is intentionally slow, the overall colony management is significantly faster than bait systems.
