Tropical wood resistance to the West Indian drywood termite Cryptotermes brevis: If termites can't chew…

Pest Management Science
Lírio CosmeRaul Narciso C Guedes

Abstract

The importance and impact of invasive species are usually considered based on their economic implications, particularly the direct damage that they cause. The West Indian drywood termite Cryptotermes brevis (Walker) is an example and is a concern in structural lumber, furniture, and other wood products. Despite its importance, its tropical wood preferences and the wood physical characteristics contributing to resistance have not been investigated to date. Here, we developed wood testing units to allow the X-ray recording of termite colonization and then subsequently tested tropical wood resistance to the termite through free-choice and no-choice bioassays using these wood testing units. The relevance of wood density and hardness as determinants of such resistance was also tested, as was termite mandible wear. The wood testing units used allowed the assessment of the termite infestation and wood area loss, enabling subsequent choice bioassays to be performed. While pine (Pinus sp.), jequitiba (Cariniana sp.) and angelim (Hymenolobium petraenum) exhibited the heaviest losses and highest infestations; cumaru (Dipteryx odorata), guariuba (Clarisia racemosa), and purpleheart (Peltogyne sp.) showed the lowest losses and infestations;...Continue Reading

References

Dec 7, 2006·Biology Letters·Judith Korb
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Sep 29, 2011·Annual Review of Entomology·Michael K Rust, Nan-Yao Su
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Nov 13, 2014·Molecular Biology and Evolution·Thomas BourguignonTheodore A Evans
Oct 5, 2016·Nature Communications·Corey J A BradshawFranck Courchamp

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Citations

Mar 28, 2021·Current Opinion in Insect Science·Theodore A Evans

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