scholarly journals Influence of Dry Soil on the Ability of Formosan Subterranean Termites,Coptotermes formosanus, to Locate Food Sources

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (162) ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary L. Cornelius ◽  
Weste L.A. Osbrink
Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 591 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qinxi Xie ◽  
Zhengya Jin ◽  
Wei Lin ◽  
Kena Xue ◽  
Xuemei Chen ◽  
...  

Baiting is one of the main methods to control subterranean termites. Many previous studies showed that subterranean termites avoid making tunnels within dry soil and feeding on dry wood, which may decrease bait infestation and consumption in drought areas. Super absorbent polymers are a group of materials that can retain large amounts of water and improve the moisture content of soil and bait matrices, and therefore may attract termites. In the present study, choice tests were conducted in the laboratory to investigate the aggregation and feeding behaviors of Formosan subterranean termites, Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki, in response to the three super absorbent polymers—sodium polyacrylate (Na-PAM), potassium polyacrylate (K-PAM), and poly(acrylamide-co-acrylic acid) potassium salt (P(AM/AA))—that were either placed within soil or filled in the void volume of baiting containers. Under dry-soil (30%-moisture) conditions, termites consumed significantly more wood in the chambers where super absorbent polymers were buried than in the control chambers (super absorbent polymer was not placed within soil). In addition, Na-PAM placed within dry soil significantly increased termite aggregation compared with the control chambers. However, no aggregation or feeding preference was detected when super absorbent polymers were placed within wet soil (60%-moisture). Also, filling super absorbent polymers into the void volume of baiting containers did not attract termites, whether the soil was dry or wet. Our study showed that placing super absorbent polymers within soil around bait stations may increase bait consumption by subterranean termites in drought locations.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 158
Author(s):  
Nadzirum Mubin ◽  
Idham Sakti Harahap ◽  
Giyanto .,

Termites are social insects that play an important role in ecosystem. Habitat is a crucial factors determining diversity of termites. IPB University campus has quite diverse habitat types. In this research, we study the diversity and abundance of termite species around IPB University campus. Two methods used for data collection, i.e. baiting system with pine wood and transect survey within 10 x 10 m area. Six species of termites found belongs to two families, Termitidae (Macrotermes gilvus, Odontotermes javanicus, Microtermes insperatus, and Capritermes mohri) and Rhinotermitidae (Schedorhinotermes javanicus and Coptotermes curvignathus). The most diverse with the high abundance of these termites are found in the  rubber trees area, Faculty of Fisheries (FPI) and the forest behind the main administration building, Rectorate (REK) because this area provides an abundant source of cellulose as a food source for termites. While the building areas tend to have a lower diversity and abundance index because food sources for termites are not always available due to human activities. Non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis shows that the termites species composition is different between study area.


2006 ◽  
Vol 62 (6) ◽  
pp. 565-570 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kumudini M Meepagala ◽  
Weste Osbrink ◽  
George Sturtz ◽  
Alan Lax

Holzforschung ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 225-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Doi ◽  
Y. Kurimoto ◽  
W. Ohmura ◽  
S. Ohara ◽  
M. Aoyama ◽  
...  

Summary This paper deals with the results of choice feeding tests of two termite species, Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki and Reticulitermes speratus (Kolbe), with steam-treated and dry-heated samples of Japanese commercial woods. Some steam-treated species were heavily attacked by C. formosanus and R. speratus while all dry-heated samples were attacked not more than unheated controls except for the combination Japanese larch-R. speratus. The steam treatment in some wood species produced feeding attractants which were removed by hot water extraction. Termite species showed some differences in the susceptibility to these substances. Attraction of the termites to steam-treated Japanese beech was different from that to the steam-treated softwoods. These phenomena were discussed with references to heat treatment of wood as well as to termite attractive factors.


2008 ◽  
Vol 56 (11) ◽  
pp. 4021-4026 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kobaisy Mozaina ◽  
Charles L. Cantrell ◽  
Amelia B. Mims ◽  
Alan R. Lax ◽  
Maria R. Tellez ◽  
...  

BioResources ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 2994-3005
Author(s):  
Kazushi Nakai ◽  
Tsuyoshi Yoshimura

African blackwood (Dalbergia melanoxylon) is known as an indispensable material for the production of musical instruments, e.g., clarinets, oboes, and piccolos. The authors focused on the biological performance of African blackwood and other local Tanzanian species in order to collect preliminary data for developing further uses for these local timbers. Five local species, including African blackwood, were exposed to both subterranean termites (Coptotermes formosanus) and two wood decay fungi (White rot fungus (Trametes versicolor) and Brown rot fungus (Fomitopsis palustris)) according to Japanese standard test methods. African blackwood heartwood had high durability against both termite and fungal attacks, as well as the highest air-dried density of all test species. Some species also indicated a higher durability, even though they had a lower density than African blackwood heartwood. The authors showed the importance of heartwood extractives in terms of biological performance for the local Tanzanian timbers. The authors findings suggested that African blackwood heartwood was clearly useful as a high-durability material in addition to current major applications. The potential of the other local species was also suggested in terms of further timber utilization. These results presented fundamental information about sustainable forest management based on the effective utilization of local timbers.


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