Feeding rates and survival of live wood termites in woody plants.
Thirugnanasuntharan K.
Author Affiliation: Tea Res. Inst. Sri Lanka, Talawakele, Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka Journal of Tea Science 56 : 67-82
Abstract : The feeding rates and survival of the tea pests Glyptotermes dilatatus and Postelectrotermes militaris were studied in the laboratory on 5 parts of tea stems, 12 types of tropical wood and 3 of common wood. Workers of G. dilatatus were collected from the field in Sri Lanka and experiments were carried out at 21-25°C and 95-98% RH. Feeding rates were positively correlated with survival. The development of neotenic reproductives was observed only in P. militaris on tea stems. P. militaris was more successful in terms of breeding and colony maintenance than G. dilatatus on tea stems. For both species with tea stems, survival was highest in individuals provided with the trunk region. Of the tropical woods, P. militaris had greatest survival and feeding rates on Durio zibethinus and Artocarpus integra [A. heterophyllus] and the lowest values were obtained with Mangifera indica [mango]. Teak (Tectona grandis) was fairly resistant to P. militaris, both in terms of feeding rate and survival. Pinus sp. was preferred to beech (Fagus sylvatica).