Nationwide Termite Pest Survey Conducted in Taiwan as a Citizen Science Project

Abstract

Abstract Information regarding the species composition and dispersal flight season of termites is crucial for termite management. The major obstacles to collecting such information are a lack of access to private buildings and shortage of workers to monitor and report on termite swarming. To overcome these difficulties, we launched a citizen science project in which members of the public and pest management professionals were invited to collect termite samples. We created the website, Taiwan Termite Identification Service, on which populace could log the collection information, and ship termite samples to our laboratory for identification. We also established a Facebook group, called the “Termite Forum,” to publicize this project. A total of 3024 samples were collected from 2015 to 2020, and we identified the species of >93% of the samples. Based on 1499 samples collected from buildings, five structural termite pests were identified, and species composition in each county of Taiwan is available. According to 844 dispersal flight events, termite dispersal flight timing peak and degree of centralization were estimated using a Gaussian model. The collected data demonstrated that the invasive termite species, Coptotermes gestroi (Wasmann) (Blattodea: Rhinotermitidae), continued northward expansion. The first intercepted alate of Schedorhinotermes sp. (Blattodea: Rhinotermitidae) indicated that it may be a new invasive pest from Southeast Asia. This study reports on a successful case of a citizen science project where urban pest data were collected on a national scale.