The Consumption of the Fungus-infected Wood by Termite, Coptotermes formosanus SHIRAKI

Abstract

The pine wood blocks decayed by 7 brown rot fungi, the decayed and ether extracted blocks and the sound wood blocks were set on the nest of the termite, and the weight loss (%) of each test piece was calculated. The ratio of the weight loss (the decayed wood/the sound wood, the decayed and ether extracted wood/the sound wood, or the decayed wood/the decayed and ether extracted wood) were also calculated. The higher the degree of decay on the test pieces was, the higher the weight loss of the decayed blocks by termites was, and in some pieces the weight loss reached near 100%. The wood consumption of the decayed and ether extracted blocks by termites mostly ranged 30% to 60%. In both the decayed blocks and the decayed and ether extracted blocks, the consumption of sapwood by termites was generally higher than that of heartwood. Judging from the ratio, both the decayed blocks and the decayed and ether extracted blocks were eaten more than the sound blocks. The higher the weight loss due to decay was, the higher the ratio of the weight loss of the decayed blocks to that of the sound wood was. The ratio of the weight loss of the decayed and ether extracted wood to that of the sound wood, for the most part, ranged from 1 to 3.