In the 80s, I had a friend say that Dursban was the go-to chemical to kill termites. In the late 90s, I had an exterminator friend tell me that termites were now resistant to Dursban. In the late 2000s, I saw that Dursban was still selling like hotcakes at Home Improvement stores, and, IIRC, online references to home termite extermination just sings the praises of it.
So, what’s the SD?
Thanks,
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I have never seen any evidence that termites have developed resistance to Dursban (Chlorpyrifos), and I can’t think of any plausible mechanism by which they could. Resistance can only develop if it provides an animal with some sort of reproductive advantage, and the nature of Chlorpyrifos use in termite control fairly much precludes that. It’s conceivable, though unlikely, that some drywood termites may be resistant, but the majority subterranean termites doesn’t seem possible.
Thank you very much,** Blake!**
Like not being killed by a pesticide?
I know some mosquitoes have evolved resistance to DDT; what makes Chlorpyrifos and termites any different?
Termites are social animals, so you can’t just select for individuals, you have to select for colonies. While it’s easy to kill 999 mosquitoes and leave one resistant survivor, under what circumstances could you kill 999 entire colonies and leave one surviving colony?
Which has happened, given that termites exist, so it must be possible.
I don’t know. You tell me. How did the populations of social proto-termites evolve into termites, and why can’t environmental toxins play a role in a similar evolutionary process?