In this study, 454-pyrosequencing was used to evaluate the effect of two termiticidal baits, hexaflumuron and diflubenzuron, on the bacterial gut community in two Reticulitermes flavipes colonies and one Reticulitermes tibialis colony. Results showed two bacterial groups to be most abundant in the gut, the Bacteroidetes and Spirochaetes, both of which do not appear to be adversely affected by bait treatment according to analysis conducted to date. Other major bacterial lineages present included Actinobacteria, Fibrobacteres, Firmicutes, Fusobacteria, Proteobacteria, Tenericutes, TM7, Verrucomicrobia and unclassified species, which matches closely with other studies examining termite gut bacteria. Phylogenetic analysis examining similarity among treated groups versus controls showed a treatment effect in both R. flavipes colonies, but no effect on R. tibialis samples. Overall community analysis also showed treatment groups were separated by their collection location indicating a distinct bacterial community within a colony. Future analysis will focus on the types of bacteria affected by bait treatment and the role of these changes in overall termite fitness.

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