FAIRHOPE, Ala. — The city of Fairhope is sponsoring a seminar on Formosan termites on Thursday, July 14, from 9 am to noon at the Fairhope Public Library.  

“It’s been about six years since we discovered the first infestation in a tree in Fairhope,” said Jennifer Fidler, public works director. “Now, we are finding more and more. Last year, we found at least six city trees that were infected.”

The July 14 seminar is to help determine best management practices for the city and residents, Fidler said.

“Formosan termites have been a big problem in New Orleans for a couple of decades,” said Jim Horner, chairman of the Fairhope Environmental Advisory Board. “Our board met with scientists at the Southern Research Center, a division of the USDA, in New Orleans, and they made recommendations. For this seminar, we are bringing in two of the top experts from the New Orleans Mosquito and Termite Board and a scientist from Dow Agri Sciences. They’ll talk about what they have learned and what they are doing that can help us handle the problem here.”

A southern China import, the Formosan subterranean termite has spread from the east Texas/Louisiana area throughout the Southeast and as far away as California and Hawaii, according to a city news release.

In a report prepared for the city, Elaine Snyder-Conn, a FEAB member, noted that Formosan termites are considered the most formidable of more than 2,400 termite species worldwide.

 “A Formosan termite colony can chow through 1,000 pounds of wood per year, in contrast to our much meeker subterranean native colonies, which consume only about seven pounds of wood (invariably dead wood) in a year,” she wrote. “This species has been known to eat through lead, asphalt, plastic, plaster, mortar, rubber, thin sheets of metal, and plastic to get to underlying or overlying wood. Favored trees include citrus, oaks, willows, maples, crepe myrtles, and Chinese elm, but this invader has also been found in more than 49 plants—even in the tomato.”

Horner said there are both chemical and natural ways to prevent and treat for Formosan termites, which will be covered in the seminar.

“Basically, we hope to learn more about how to detect Formosan termites in trees or structures, how to treat for them, and then how to safely take down, transport and dispose of the infected wood,” he said,

For more information on the seminar, contact Fidler at 928-8003.