[nafex] FW: Termites Go Hungry on Resistant Trees

["Lon J. Rombough" <lonrom@hevanet.com>]

This might be of interest to nut growers in the deep south.
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From: "ARS News Service" <isnv@ars-grin.gov>
To: "ARS News List" <ars-news@ars-grin.gov>
Subject: Termites Go Hungry on Resistant Trees
Date: Thu, Oct 12, 2000, 7:00 AM


STORY LEAD:
Termites Go Hungry on Resistant Trees
___________________________________________

ARS News Service
Agricultural Research Service, USDA
Jan Suszkiw, (301) 504-1630, jsuszkiw@ars.usda.gov
October 12, 2000
___________________________________________

Agricultural Research Service scientists in New Orleans, La., have
identified 30 types of commercial lumber that attract or repel Formosan
subterranean termites, painting a more complete picture of where this
invasive pest species is likely to turn up in processed wood.

In termite-plagued Louisiana, for example, builders could use the
information to select lumber--such as Western red cedar or Alaskan yellow
cedar--that's less apt to lure the insect into homes. Knowing which types of
hardwood or softwood species Formosan termites prefer could also improve the
effectiveness of bait products that kill the pests by luring them to
slow-acting toxins, according to Juan Morales-Ramos and Guadalupe Rojas,
entomologists at ARS' Southern Regional Research Center in New Orleans.

There, they designed a series of carefully controlled, replicated lab
experiments in which termite colonies were fed wooden blocks cut from 30
types of lumber. Wood that termites didn't like include old growth bald
cypress; Western red-, Alaskan yellow-, Eastern red-, and Spanish cedar;
mahogany; sassafras; and Indian-, Honduras-, and Bolivian rosewood. In fact,
eight of the wood samples actually killed termite colonies during 3-month
forced-feeding trials, probably because of noxious chemicals in the wood.

Wood that topped the pest's favorites in the studies included birch, red
gum, Parana pine, sugar maple, pecan and red oak. Each stimulated more
termite feeding than southern yellow pine, a control species the scientists
used, and a commonly used lumber tree in the South.

Southern yellow pine has also been used as bait to help monitor termites
foraging for food. This new information, along with ongoing field studies
with living trees, points to other, more attractive woods that should
improve such monitoring to control the pest.

The research is part of an ARS-led national campaign called Operation
FullStop to fight the termite, and minimize its damage. A longer article
about their bait and other Operation FullStop tactics is in this month's
issue of Agricultural Research magazine on the World Wide Web at:
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/oct00/termite1000.htm
___________________________________________

Scientific contacts: Juan Morales-Ramos and Guadalupe Rojas, Formosan
Subterranean Termite Research Unit, ARS Southern Regional Research Center,
La., phone (504) 286-4256 (Morales- Ramos), (504) 286-4382 (Rojas); fax
(504) 286-4419; jmorales@commserver.srrc.usda.gov,
rojas@commserver.srrc.usda.gov.
___________________________________________
This item is one of the news releases and story leads that ARS Information
distributes on weekdays to fax and e-mail subscribers. You can also get the
latest ARS news on the World Wide Web at
www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm.
* Feedback and questions to ARS News Service via e-mail: isnv@ars-grin.gov.
* ARS Information Staff, 5601 Sunnyside Ave., Room 1-2251, Beltsville MD
20705-5128, (301) 504- 1617, fax (301) 504-1648.




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