Response of Microtermes mycophagus (Isoptera: Termitidae) to twenty one wood species

Naeem Iqbal; Hafiz Azhar Ali Khan; Shafqat Saeed

doi:10.7717/peerj.1132

Response of Microtermes mycophagus (Isoptera: Termitidae) to twenty one wood species

PeerJ. 2015 Aug 18:3:e1132. doi: 10.7717/peerj.1132. eCollection 2015.

Authors

Naeem Iqbal¹, Hafiz Azhar Ali Khan², Shafqat Saeed³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Entomology, Bahauddin Zakariya University , Multan , Pakistan ; Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Ghazi University , Dera Ghazi Khan , Pakistan.
² Institute of Agricultural Sciences, University of the Punjab , Lahore , Pakistan.
³ Department of Entomology, Bahauddin Zakariya University , Multan , Pakistan.

Abstract

The responses of termite species to bait depend upon the quality of the food used in the stations. Woods are the most common food sources for termites but different termite species behave differently to different wood species and types. The knowledge of the preference status of different wood species to a termite species helps in effective monitoring and baiting program. The current study was carried out to evaluate the preference of 21 wood species to the termite, Microtermes mycophagus in the field by no-choice and choice feeding tests. The results indicated silk cotton tree and sacred fig woods as the most preferred wood species with mean mass losses of 71.21 ± 5.09% and 68.38 ± 7.27% in no-choice test and 95.02 ± 1.65% and 91.69 ± 2.07% in choice tests, respectively. White cedar was the least preferred wood species with mean mass losses of 7.49 ± 1.64% and 13.92 ± 1.89% in no choice and choice feeding tests, respectively. Based on present studies, sapwood of silk cotton tree and sacred fig may be used in effective monitoring and baiting program against M. mycophagus.

Keywords: Feeding response; Microtermes mycophagus; Monitoring and baiting; Sapwood.

Grants and funding

The authors received financial assistance for the publication fee from the University of the Punjab. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.