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50ECOLOGICAL FIGHT AGAINST TERMITES IN THE CULTURAL- HISTORICAL MEMORIALS
Ganieva Z.
Senior Researcher, Candidate of Biological Sciences, Laboratory of Anti-parasitic preparations, Institute of Zoology Academy of Sciences Republic of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Khashimova M. Junior Researcher, Laboratory of Entomology, Institute of Zoology Academy of Sciences Republic of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Rustamov K.
Director of the Republican Center for Termite Control at the Institute of Zoology of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan
Xolmatov B.
Doctor of Biological Sciences, Director of the Institute of Zoology of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan
Mirzaeva G.
Senior Researcher, Candidate of Biological Sciences, Laboratory of Entamology, Antiparasitic, Institute of Zoology, Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Abstract
The article shows the harmfulness of termites to residential premises and cultural and historical monuments in Central Asia and the use of anti termite bait against termites created by scientists of Uzbekistan.
Keywords: Termites, ecological problems, entomopathogen, anti-thermite baits.
Among the all countries of the Central Asia, one of the most dangerous pests is considered termites, which induce great impairment to buildings and structures, in particular, cultural-historical memorials.
Termites are astonishingly sustainable social insects, their adaptive capabilities are not only preserved, but also improved over millions of years. From the side of biologists of various directions, interest in the life of termites is increasing, because termites are dangerous, being serious pests of structures, despite their use in the circulation of substances in nature in the conservation and multiplication of soil fertility. At the world level, the conducted research on termites aspire to studying the biology, ecology and distribution of termites and great attention is paid to the development of a scientifically-based control strategy to prevent their harmful-ness. In particular, at present, in world practice, due to the emergence of environmental problems, it is becoming increasingly difficult to conduct measurements against termites [1].
Researches and scientists of the Zoology Institute of the Sciences Academy of Uzbekistan are implementing many scientific projects in this field, including, the research on the development and application of effective methods to combat termites.
The Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers "On the Action Program for the Environmental Protection of the Republic of Uzbekistan for 2013-2017" contributes to the further expansion of the scope and improvement of the quality of work carried out in this direction. This program clarifies a number of tasks to further improve the environmental balance.
Nowadays about 3 thousand species of termites exist - these are insects living in a hot climate, feeding on plant debris and other cellulose-containing materials, furthermore, they play an important role in ensuring the stability of ecosystems. Large-scale development of steppe zones in Uzbekistan has led to a change in the
biology, ecology of termites and a change in their habitat.
The basic building materials are wood and clay in Uzbekistan and termites are easily adapted to this environment, owing to the similarity of these conditions to their way of life. Thus, termites began to settle closer to people, also adjacent to historical monuments and memorials of cultural heritage. This has led to an extension in the destruction by termites. Therefore, the fight against termites is one of the acute problems of science.
This is also pertinent to the Central Asian region, owing to the drying of the Aral Sea, a great number of environmental problems arise (drying, salinization of soils and etc), which leads to even more unexpected and severe conditions in these ecologically distressed regions. In recent years, the harmfulness of termites has been increasing from year to year in the regions of the Aral Sea basin (Karakalpakstan and Khorezm region). Scientists explain this process by means of several bio-tic, abiotic and anthropogenic factors. Millions of kilometers of soil became empty from great amount of water, giving rise to the level of groundwater. The region' s ecosystem is modifying, in particular, flora and fauna.
Separate termite families were first discovered in Uzbekistan in 1875. These are Turkistan's Ana-canthotermes turkestanicus Jacobs, 1904 and the large Caspian A. ahngerianus Jacobs, 1904. Land reclamations led to the rise of groundwater. Ahead of them, termites rose from the underearth. Every spring, families of tens of thousands of individual termites fly into the air. They can flap their wings for several hours, and if the wind also helps them, they travel tens and hundreds of kilometers. Termites of the genus Anacanthotermes are dry woody insects. Their favorite food is dry vegetation. In recent years, termites' attack on buildings and structures of cities and rural territories have increased dramatically and this creates a turbulent situation in the Central Asian republics, including Uzbekistan. [2].
In the territories of Uzbekistan, these insects pose a special threat on the wooden structures of historical monuments. According to the observations of experts, about 50 historical monuments in Khiva, about 30 thousand residential buildings in other regions of the country are suffered from termites. The fight against termites began in the 50s of the last century. However, the chemical methods used then caused serious harm to the environment. Moreover, at that time the environmental aspect of the problem was not taken into consideration.
The availability and abundance of food in residential buildings, some protection from abiotic and biotic environmental factors compared with their natural habitat causes the latter to migrate from their natural habitat to synanthropic territories. The social way of life, the high number, the complex relationship, the functional specialization of castes in termite mounds, good protection from external environmental factors, the availability and abundance of food in residential buildings, make them able to quickly restore the population from a negligible number of survivors after fighter measures.
According to statistics, in recent years, more than 15 thousand residential facilities have been infected with termites in Uzbekistan. The damage caused by
them is extremely large. Creating colonies in the building elements of residential and non-residential premises, they destroy historical monuments, industrial, hydraulic structures, housing stock, willingly eat paper, cardboard, fabrics, and other cellulose-containing materials [3].
For example, inside the fortress of the historical complex "Ichan Kal'a" in Khiva, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, there are 56 buildings and structures that are of great historical significance. In the construction of most of these buildings and structures, in addition to richly decorated wooden columns, wood materials were used. When examining the objects of the historical complex, clay sculptures were discovered, which indicated that they were infected with termites (Picture. 1)
The Science Academy has allocated funds for basic research, which confirms the seriousness of the problem of termite control. On the basis of the Zoology Institute of the Science Academy of Uzbekistan, the Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. 27, dated February 2, 2012 created the SUE "Republican Center for the Control of Termites of the SARU".
Picture 1 The damage of termites to the wood structures of the mosque "Juma" in the historical complex of
Ichan-Kal'a, Khiva, Uzbekistan.
Employees of the Entomology Laboratory and the Termite Control Center annually monitor termite infection in all regions of the Republic. Populations of Turkestan and large Transcaspian termites have increased dramatically in recent years. Termites are identified in 72 districts and cities of the republic. Cultural and historical monuments, civil and industrial buildings suffer, especially in rural areas. In the Republic of Karakalpak-stan and ten regions of the country, termites have already caused significant damage. In the Beruni and Khojeyli districts of Karakalpakstan, there are villages where all houses are infected with termites. Houses collapse, residents are forced to leave their homes. In Khiva, out of 56 historical monuments, termites have
undermined 31 ancient monuments. Almost all wooden piers are infected along the highway from Beruni to Nu-kus.
How to fight against termites? It is known that it is possible to reduce the number of their populations mechanically, physically or by spraying the surface with insecticides, but these methods are not very effective and do not give the desired effect.
In 2003, the US Department of Agriculture initiated a joint project with the Zoology Institute of the Sciences Academy of the Republic of Uzbekistan to develop a strategy to deal with termites in historical sites. Dr. Ashok Raina, of the US Department of Agricultural Research Service located in New Orleans, a Taiwanese
yellow-termite specialist, was responsible person for the project from the side of the United States of America.
For the first time in world practice, a laboratory led by prof. A.Sh. Khamraeva. As a result of joint efforts, in partnership with American scientists, high-tech technologies based on local resources were developed that are being successfully implemented in the field of protection of residential premises, cultural heritage monuments, buildings and structures [4].
For this, the properties of nutrients in the preparation of pathogenic and toxic food for termites were studied. For this purpose, 39 plants of the flora of the Republic were tested, including 5 species of plants attracting termites: sunflower (Helianthus annus L.), Russian broom (Sorghum saccharatum (L.) Pers.), Camel thorn (Alhagipseudalhagi (MB)). Desv.), White Corn (Sorghum vulgare Pers.), Wheat Stalks (Triticum L.). Among these plants, it was found that the sunflower stalk is especially effective in the preparation of a food substrate for pathogenic bait against termites.
When studying the food specialization of termites, it was revealed that several termite nests were directly connected to each other and as a result created one single colony. As you know, in public insects, including termites of the genus Anacanthotermes, there is a phenomenon of trophollaxis - the exchange of food between family members. The family of social insects is a single organism. It is laid, grows, reproduces and is regulated like any other living system. Features of the termite's nutritional profile suggest that slow-acting ter-mitocides and pathogens can be much more effective than fast-acting ones. When using such drugs, nutritions in the food chain can fall into the deep layers of the nest [5,6].
In addition, experimental laboratory studies on the transmission of the entomopathogenic fungus Beau-veria tenella in the food chain show that the infection caused by Beauveria tenella fungus in termites is trans-
mitted from patients to healthy through food by troph-allaxis, and it can spread throughout the colony. Transmission of the infection caused by the fungus through infected individuals reduces the rate of use of the ento-mopathogen biomass, and is aimed exclusively at the pest population, which reduces costs for termite control and contributes to the improvement of the environment. In this regard, the Beauveria tenella strain was used in the composition of the bait against termites based on a sunflower stalk (Helianthus annuus). In this case, the bait food eaten by one termite with a slowly acting toxic agent through the feeding chain causes poisoning of a wider range of castes in the population, and most importantly, those individuals that are deep in the nest and play a major role in the reproduction of termites (reproductive castes). [7.8].
Thus, an industrial design was developed - a cylindrical container (SARU patent №. SAP 2013 0098) and a utility model - Anacanthotermes termite exterminator (SARU patent №. FAP 2013 0080) (Picture 2).
Anacanthotermes - termite exterminator comprises a cylinder-shaped cardboard body with through holes uniformly formed on the surface. The body is filled with a mixture of crushed plant matter saturated with an entomopathogenic fungi preparation. As a result of the improvement of the termite exterminator, the attractive and pathogenic properties of its body and the vegetable feed enclosed inside it with a biological agent have increased.
Poisoned bait against termites, enclosed in a container, fortified at the sites of infection of wood structures with termites, within 3-6 months destroy the entire colony of termites. An industrial design and utility model are important for the biological method of controlling termites of the genus Anacanthotermes by poisoning the entire colony. The release of pilot batches of anti-termite baits began to be carried out on the created "ANTITERMIT" technological line. Production is simile, the cost of baits is low.
Picture 2 Installation of anti-termit baits a)In residential premises,b) In the historical complex "Ichan-Kal'a" - on the columns of the mosque "Juma"
Extensive tests of anti-termite baits have shown their high efficiency in the fight against termites in residential, public buildings and historical monuments. With the establishment of these baits in the mosque "Juma", which was heavily infected by termites, in the historical complex Ichan-Kal'a in the city of Khiva, Khorezm region, the historical monument was completely cleared of termites.
In order to tackle with the abovementioned issues, to implement the Program of Action for Environmental Protection of the Republic of Uzbekistan for 20132017, approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan; together with the science-production department for the protection and use of cultural heritage sites of the Ministry of Culture and Sports of the Republic of Uzbekistan and from the Science Academy of the Republic of Uzbekistan has assigned Agreement № 9, dated 05.24.2017, on the topic: "Development and implementation of environmentally friendly methods of preserving historical and natural cultural monuments from the damage by termites. "
In accordance with the identified problems, two tasks were solved:
1. to research the peculiarities of the biology and ecology of termites inhabiting the natural and cultural-historical memorials of the republic;
2. to create and put into practice the composition of poisoned baits against termites, a favorite food substrate and highly effective biological and other means;
In 2017, in the historical complexes, such as "Fayoz Tepa", "Al Hakim At-Termiziy", "Kokildor ota honokokhisi", "Kirk kiz" situated in Surkhandarya region, termites' infection was identified. Anti-termite measures were taken to eliminate them. In particular, in the historical complex "Al Hakim At-Termiziy" 4110 pieces of poisoning baits against termites were installed; in "Fayoz Tepa" complex - 2240 pieces, in "Kokildor ota honokokhisi" complex - 1750 pieces and in the historical complex "Kirk Kiz" - 1900 pieces were installed.
A positive result was obtained from the toxic effect of the poisonous baits, where anti-termite baits were previously installed in historical objects in Khiva, Khorezm region, monitoring termites showed that when examining the 21 premises of "Ichan-Kala" historical complex, including the "Kukhna Ark", "Pakhla-von Mahmud" complexes; in "Polvon Kori" trading house; madrasahs "Kozi Kalom", "Kutlug Murod Inok", "Abdullahon", "Muhammad Amin Inok", "Muhammad Rakhimkhon", "Allakulikhon", "Abdu-rasulboy", in the Tosh Hovli Palace and others, thus termites and their clay sculptures have not been identified [9].
All in all, details of the feeding characteristics of termites are described. The widespread use of pathogenic and toxic feeds as part of anti-termite baits has shown their high biological effectiveness in the fight against termites in residential premises, public buildings and historical monuments. Currently, scientists of the institute are conducting scientific research to further increase the effectiveness of anti-termite baits. The successes of science in this area contribute to ensuring environmental and socio-economic stability.
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