The conidia of Metarhizium anisopliae ESC 1 treated on a sterilized soil showed termiticidal performance against workers of Coptoterms formosanus, which was found to last as long as one year by keeping the moisture content of the soil to be 25% at 28°C, although it did not show soil boring-prevention or repellent effect. When the conidia-treated soil was dried up to less than 5% moisture content, the conidia in the soil perished and the termiticidal performance declined rapidly. The termiticidal performance of conidia treated on unsterilized soil lasted for 4 weeks. These results in some laboratory tests suggested that practical use of the M. anisopliae ESC1 conidiatreated soil as a biological termite control was expected.

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