Australian Termite Species Identification

There are over 350 described termite species in Australia. Only a handful are economically important. Identifying the species matters because treatment strategy changes — Mastotermes requires double chemical rates, Schedorhinotermes is notoriously hard to bait, and Cryptotermes (drywood) is immune to soil barriers entirely.

Distinguishing Termites from Ants

Many homeowners confuse winged termites ("alates") with flying ants during spring swarming season. The three tells:

How to Spot Termites Before They Spot You

Termites keep to dark, humid, enclosed galleries because they desiccate rapidly if exposed to dry air. The evidence you see is always indirect — you will almost never see the insects themselves until the colony is well established. Here are the signs every Australian homeowner should know.

When to Get an Inspection

The Australian Standard for visual termite inspections is AS 4349.3:2010. An AS 4349.3 inspection covers:

• All accessible interior rooms, sub-floor, roof void, exterior, garden, fences and landscaping out to 30 m.
• Visual-only — non-destructive. Inspectors use torches, moisture meters, sounding rods, and increasingly thermal imaging and microwave moisture radar.
• A written report listing findings, any conducive conditions (leaks, garden beds touching wall, stored timber on soil), and recommended actions.

Inspection frequency: At least every 12 months in all Australian climates. In high-risk areas (tropical North Queensland, coastal NSW, termite-active suburbs of Perth) many pest managers recommend six-monthly inspections.

Cost guide (2026): A$250–500 for a standalone AS 4349.3 report, A$650–1,200 when combined with a building report at point of purchase.

Termiticide Chemistry — The Four Classes

There are four chemical classes currently registered by the APVMA for termite control in Australia. Each works on a different insecticidal target site (and therefore has a different IRAC Group number), each has a different residual life, and each has a different application niche.

Repellent vs Non-Repellent: Why It Matters

This is the single most important concept in modern termite control.

Repellent actives (bifenthrin, permethrin) create a chemical fence. Termites sense the treatment and turn around. Intact barriers work well, but any gap — a plumbing penetration, a crack in the slab, an area the rig missed — lets the colony find an untreated route straight past the barrier. The colony survives.

Non-repellent actives (fipronil, chlorantraniliprole, imidacloprid) are invisible to termites. Workers tunnel through the treated zone, pick up a lethal dose, and walk home before the chemical kills them. Grooming and food-sharing (trophallaxis) then spread the active through the whole colony — the Transfer Effect. A small gap doesn't defeat the treatment because termites don't try to avoid it; they die in or soon after the treated zone regardless of where they crossed it.

Termite Products in the Spray Hub Database

Five APVMA-registered products in the Spray Hub label database carry registered uses for termite control. Click any product to view the full label in the main app.

Termite Product Comparison

Side-by-side comparison of the five APVMA-registered termiticides in the Spray Hub database, plus reference rows for commonly encountered non-Spray-Hub products.

Which Product for Which Job?

AS 3660 — The Australian Termite Standard

AS 3660 is a four-part Australian Standard that defines how termite management systems are to be designed, installed, maintained and inspected. It is referenced directly from the National Construction Code, which means an AS 3660-compliant system is a legal requirement — not a nice-to-have — on new construction in designated termite-risk areas.

The Four Parts of AS 3660

What an AS 3660 Chemical Soil Treated Zone Looks Like

A compliant chemical soil treated zone is a continuous envelope of treated soil that a subterranean termite cannot cross without passing through the chemical. It has three physical components:

• Horizontal zone — under the concrete slab, at the founding level, treating the entire building footprint before the slab is poured. Application rate: 5 L of prepared spray per m² at the label concentration. Under concrete slabs, the label may specify 10 L/m² to account for increased depth.
• Vertical zone — a 150 mm-wide, 300 mm-deep trench around the external perimeter of the slab. Application rate: 100 L of prepared spray per m³ of soil. The trench is back-filled with the treated soil.
• Penetrations — plumbing pipes, electrical conduits, air-conditioning ducts, weep holes, control joints, expansion joints. Every penetration is a potential breach of the treated zone and must be individually treated.

A single untreated penetration defeats the entire barrier — this is why pre-construction treatment (where every penetration is accessible) is ten times easier to install correctly than post-construction remedial work.

Durability Expectations

AS 3660 does not guarantee a building is termite-proof forever — termites will eventually find a way into any structure. What the standard does is guarantee a minimum service life for the protection system:

Treatment Procedures

Three of the most common termite treatment jobs in Australia — pre-construction soil treated zones, post-construction remedial barriers, and wall-cavity foam treatment of active infestations. These procedures summarise APVMA label instructions for Surefire Termiticide and BASF Termidor Residual (both fipronil 100 g/L). Always read the full product label and follow the version current at the date of application.

1. Pre-Construction Chemical Soil Treated Zone (AS 3660.1)

Applied before the concrete slab is poured. This is the easiest and most effective application method because every penetration is accessible.

1. Plan the treated zone — mark the entire slab footprint, all pier holes, every plumbing and conduit penetration. Note the location of the damp-proof course and weep-hole inspection zone.
2. Mix the spray — 600 mL Surefire or Termidor Residual per 100 L water. Half-fill the tank, add the chemical, agitate for two minutes, then top up. Confirm spray water pH is 5 to 7 (fipronil hydrolyses outside this range). Add a non-ionic wetting agent for heavy clay soils.
3. Apply horizontal zone — uniformly spray the entire footprint at 5 L of prepared spray per m². Under areas that will have concrete over them, increase to 10 L/m². Do not apply to soils that are excessively wet or during rain.
4. Treat every penetration — apply an additional 100 L per m³ of soil around every pier hole, conduit hole and plumbing stack to a minimum depth of 300 mm.
5. Pour the slab — concrete must be poured within 48 hours of treatment (some labels allow 72 hours). Ongoing delays mean the treated zone may need reapplying.
6. Apply vertical zone — after the slab has cured, trench 150 mm wide by 300 mm deep around the external perimeter, treat at 100 L of prepared spray per m³ of soil, and back-fill treating the soil as it returns to the trench.
7. Fit the Appendix J notice — affix the durable termite management notice to the meter box listing product, APVMA number, date, applicator licence and inspection interval.

2. Post-Construction Remedial Soil Treated Zone (AS 3660.2)

Applied after the building exists. More time-consuming than pre-construction because external slabs, pavers and landscaping all have to be worked around.

1. Inspect and map — perform an AS 4349.3 inspection first to confirm active infestation, identify the species, and map every potential entry point.
2. Trench the exposed perimeter — 150 mm wide by 300 mm deep trench against the external wall wherever soil is exposed.
3. Drill and inject concrete/paver areas — where the perimeter is covered by concrete paths, driveways or pavers, drill 12 mm holes at 300 mm centres along the edge of the slab, 80 mm deep into the soil below, and inject the treated zone using rodding equipment at 100 L of prepared spray per m³ of soil.
4. Treat internal slab penetrations — drill around every plumbing penetration, bath trap, shower base, and service entry. Inject to establish a continuous treated zone under the slab.
5. Back-fill the trench, treating the returning soil. Plug every drilled hole with colour-matched cement grout.
6. Appendix J notice — fit a new or updated notice to the meter box listing this installation's product, date and applicator licence.
7. Book the 12-month inspection — the treated zone is only as good as its ongoing monitoring. Schedule the first AS 4349.3 re-inspection 12 months from today.

3. Wall-Cavity Foam Treatment of Active Infestation

When live termites are found inside a wall cavity, a foam treatment directly into the termite carton material (the mud-and-faecal construction inside the cavity) knocks down the active infestation. This is not a stand-alone treatment — a full AS 3660.2 soil treated zone must follow.

1. Confirm live activity — tap the skirting and listen for worker response, or use a non-destructive moisture meter to locate the carton.
2. Drill access holes — 6 to 8 mm holes through plasterboard into the cavity at 150 mm intervals along the affected area.
3. Mix foam — 6 mL Surefire per 1 L water plus approved foaming agent at 15:1 expansion ratio. Agitate until uniform foam.
4. Inject foam — hold the foam gun into each drilled hole and pump until foam just starts emerging from adjacent holes, confirming the carton is saturated.
5. Plug and patch — seal each drilled hole with premixed plaster patch and touch-up paint.
6. Install soil treated zone — within the next 7 days, install a continuous chemical soil treated zone per AS 3660.2 to prevent reinfestation. The foam treatment alone does not protect the building.

Baiting Systems & Non-Chemical Alternatives

Soil chemical treated zones are the most common Australian termite protection system — but they are not the only option. AS 3660 recognises three other approved systems: baiting, physical barriers, and reflective / laminate barriers.

Baiting Systems — How They Work

Monitoring stations (usually 200 mm timber inserts inside a plastic sleeve) are installed in the soil every 3 m around the building perimeter. Worker termites locate the timber, begin feeding on it, and recruit nestmates. Once feeding activity is confirmed, the timber is replaced with a matrix impregnated with an IGR (hexaflumuron for Sentricon AlwaysActive, chlorfluazuron for Exterra, novaluron for Trelona ATBB). Workers feed on the matrix and carry it back to the colony — because IGRs block moulting, the colony collapses over 6 to 12 weeks.

Key limitation: baiting systems require the termites to find the station. On a property with light or intermittent termite pressure, that can take months. For this reason most pest managers recommend baiting in combination with a soil treated zone — the barrier prevents entry, the baiting ring monitors for new approaches.

Physical Barriers

Physical barriers are non-chemical systems installed during construction. They rely on a gap too small for termite workers to pass through (less than 1.5 mm) or a material too hard for them to chew through.

Timber Pre-Treatment (Borates)

Borate-treated timbers (H2, H3 hazard-class treated framing) are not a termite barrier as such, but they make the structural timbers themselves unpalatable to termites. Used in combination with a soil treated zone or baiting system, borate pre-treated framing provides a belt-and-braces approach.

Bora-Care (Ensystex) is a post-construction disodium octaborate tetrahydrate solution applied directly to raw or painted timbers — popular in North Queensland for retrofitting protection into older unpainted framing exposed during renovations.

Standards, Licensing & Insurance

Termite work in Australia is heavily regulated. The following summary applies to Queensland but most states follow a very similar framework — check your state's Health Department and building regulator for local variations.

Standards

• AS 3660.1:2014 — Termite management for new building work.
• AS 3660.2:2017 — Termite management in and around existing buildings.
• AS 3660.3:2014 — Assessment criteria for termite management systems.
• AS 4349.3:2010 — Visual inspections of buildings for timber pests.
• National Construction Code (NCC 2022) Part 3.4 — Mandates termite protection on new construction in designated risk areas.
• Queensland Development Code P2.1.3 — State-specific implementation of NCC 3.4.

Licensing (Queensland)

• Queensland Health Pest Management Technician (PMT) licence — required to apply any Schedule 5, 6 or 7 pesticide for fee or reward. All fipronil, bifenthrin and imidacloprid termiticides are Scheduled. Renewed every 3 years, requires ongoing CPD.
• QBCC contractor's licence (class PE — Termite Management, Chemical) — required to install a soil chemical barrier as part of new construction work. This is a separate licence to the Queensland Health PMT and covers the building-work regulatory aspect.
• Mareeba Shire Council Environmental Health Officer approval — required for construction within the Mareeba Shire Specified Termite Management Area.
• Biosecurity Queensland reporting (13 25 23) — any suspected Cryptotermes brevis (West Indian Drywood Termite) detection must be reported within 24 hours. This is a notifiable biosecurity matter.

Insurance & Warranty

Some termiticide manufacturers offer a product warranty instead:

• BASF Termidor (Assure warranty) — up to A$2 million cover for re-treatment and repair costs on homes treated by an accredited applicator using Termidor Residual.
• Bayer Kordon (HomeSure warranty) — insurance-backed product warranty for the life of the reflective blanket.
• Most pyrethroid products — no manufacturer warranty, but the pest management operator typically offers a 12-month service warranty.

A product warranty requires strict compliance: accredited applicator, annual AS 4349.3 inspections, undisturbed treated zone. One missed inspection or an un-reported slab excavation can void the warranty.

Homeowner Prevention Checklist

Even the best chemical treated zone is only one layer of a defence. These habits reduce your risk by 50% or more — and most of them are free.

🏡 Around the House

• Keep a clear 300 mm exposed cement or masonry inspection band around the entire perimeter — never let garden beds or mulch creep up the wall.
• Maintain mulch and soil at least 75 mm below the damp-proof course so weep holes remain visible and inspectable.
• Avoid heavy organic mulch (wood chip, sleepers) within 1 m of the structure — fresh wood mulch is a known termite attractant.
• Keep firewood, construction off-cuts and untreated timber off the ground and at least 10 m from the house. Store on a concrete slab or metal rack.
• Remove tree stumps and dead trees within 30 m — these are common primary nest sites for Coptotermes and Nasutitermes.
• Store outdoor timber (barbecue tables, kids' cubby houses, sandpit edging) on pavers or concrete — never directly on soil.

💧 Moisture

• Fix dripping taps, hoses, air-con condensate drains and hot water overflows immediately. Subterranean termites need constant moisture to survive.
• Direct downpipe discharge at least 2 m from the foundation.
• Check sub-floor ventilation — blocked vents create damp sub-floors that attract termites. Clear vents of spider webs, mulch and paint overspray.
• Grade soil to drain away from the foundation. Negative slope within 1 m of the wall is a red flag for any building inspector.

🔍 Inspection Discipline

• Book an annual AS 4349.3 visual termite inspection with a licensed operator. Make it a calendar item you never skip.
• Walk the perimeter yourself every 6 months — inside and outside. Look for mud leads on piers, foundations, trees, fences and retaining walls.
• Tap and listen to skirting boards, architraves and window frames quarterly in termite-active suburbs.
• Photograph and report any signs to your pest manager before disturbing them.
• Keep all inspection reports, warranty paperwork and Appendix J notices together in a "house file" — they are needed on sale and for any insurance claim.

Frequently Asked Questions

Tap any question to expand the answer. These cover the most common homeowner questions we see — from species identification through to warranty and insurance.