Nutritional ecology of the formosan subterranean termite (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae):: Feeding response to commercial wood species

The feeding preferences of the Formosan subterranean termite, Coptotermus formsanus Shiraki, were tested in three separate experiments on 28 different wood species. Experiment 1 was multiple-choice test designed to test relative preferences among 24 wood species commercially available in New Orleans, LA. Experiment 2 was a similar study designed to test relative preferences among 21 wood species shown or reported to be unpalatable to the Formosan subterranean termite. Experiment 3 was a no-choice test to examine the feeding deterrence of the 10 leat preferred wood species. Preference was determined by consumption rates. Birch (Betula alleganiensis Britton), red gum (Liquidambar styraciflua L.), Parana pine [Araucaria angustifolia (Bert.)], sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.), pecan (Carya illinoensis Wangeh.), and northern red oak. all of these species were significantly more preferred than southern yellow pine (Pinus taeda L.), widely used for monitoring. Sinker cypress [ = old growth bald cypress, Taxodium distichum (L.)], western red cedar (Thuja plicata Donn), Alaskan yellow cedar (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis D. Don), eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana L.), sassafras [Sassafras albidum (Nutt.)]. Spanish cedar (Cedrella odorata L.), Honduras mahogany [Swietenia macrophyla King), Indian rosewood (Dalbergia latifolia Roxb), Honduras rosewood (D. stevensonii Sytanl.), and morado (Machaerium sp.) induced significant feeding deterrence and mortality to C. formosanus. The last eight species produced 100% mortality after 3 mo.