Efficacy of Salt Water, Lemon Juice and Vinegar, and Orange Oil as Isoptera Rhinotermitidae Insecticide.

Species of the order, Isoptera (termites), have always been a nuisance to humans, costing them tremendous amounts of damage. Because of this, exterminating termites is a common goal, but finding natural pesticides is quite a difficult task. For this reason, we have conducted an experiment using three organic materials: 50% lemon juice/50% vinegar, orange oil, and salt water to test their efficiency at killing termites, along with recording any behavior changes observed. The orange oil worked the best, exterminating every termite it came into contact with. The other two organic materials did not kill the termites at all, only causing hindrance to their movements. Due to the success of the orange oil as a pesticide for termites, we now have an interest to investigate deeper and test how well other concentrated oils would do as pesticides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]