Treesearch

Acoustical emission (AE) equipment was used to detect drywood termites Incisitermes minor in ponderosa pine Pinus ponderosa blocks under laboratory conditions. Using a 60 kHz transducer, AE levels were recorded for 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20 termites per block. The association of AE and varying numbers of drywood termites best fit an exponential curve. These data suggest that the detection capabilities of AE increase with increasing numbers of termites. The implications of this finding to the potential use of AE in detecting termites under field conditions are discussed.

The potential use of termite-termite agonism in pest control is explored and evaluated. Intra-and interspecific en-counters among termites from different colonies are known to result in aggressive or avoidance behaviors in a variety of species. Recent studies suggest, however, that intraspecific confrontations only rarely evoke aggressive responses in several economically important termite genera in the United States (Coptotermes, Reticulitermes, and Zootermopsis). Thus the most promising applied use of natural agonistic behaviors among termites appears to be in research on individual-and...

Hydrocarbons in the cuticle of insects are essential in protecting them from desiccation. The vast variety of hydrocarbons synthesized by insects and the apparent species-specificity of cuticular hydrocarbon mixtures make them excellent taxonomic characters for separating species within termite genera. Hydrocarbon phenotypes of dampwood termites, Zootermopsis, correspond to species diagnoses. A morphological character, the subsidiary tooth of the right mandible, was found that correlates exactly with the hydrocarbon phenotypes of the three described species of Zootermopsis. Two distinct...

The risk of wildfire associated with development in the urban-wildland intermix is nationwide. To wildland fire agencies, providing fire protection for wildland residential development can be an exercise in frustration. Much of the problem is that few convincing ties have been made between community planning and wildfire. For three counties in California, the following were investigated in each: fire damage due to a recent wildfire, general plans, local planning regulations, and the real estate development process.

The Forest Service's research on decay fungi and decay caused by fungi is done mainly in two research work units at the Forest Products Laboratory. One unit, the Center for Forest Mycology Research, performs biosystematic research on root-rot and products-rot fungi in the genera Armillaria, Phellinus, and Phlebia and maintains the culture collection supporting this research and other research on decay fungi. A second unit, Biodeterioration Research, concentrates on studying the basic mechanism of wood decay.

New developments in wood-destroying organisms and in wood protection from the 20th annual meeting (May 1989 at Lappeenranta, Finland) of the International Research Group on Wood Preservation (IRG) are highlighted in the areas of biological control of fungi, dry rot, decay mechanisms and product problems, new techniques, insect problems and control, and developments in wood preservatives.

Given the banning of organochlorines for use as termiticides in North America, and with the possibility of such bans occurring in future in Australia and elsewhere, how do we as entomologists advise the pest control industry in termite control? A brief historical review of pesticide bans and the relevance of these bans to the present situation are discussed. Suggestions are offered for entomologists to pursue an integrated pest management approach to termite control based on sound ecological parameters and social priorities.

Examples of the need for nondestructive and remote sensing technologies for evaluating early stages of decay are presented. The need is critical to develop methods of analyzing internal decay, at the center of large wood members, and decay behind concealing coverings. Current technologies are reviewed and their inadequacies discussed. Acoustic emission and acoustoultrasonics appear to hold the greatest promise among existing technologies.

Termites have long been regarded as major pests of Australian forests. Drawing together research on termite ecology and mammal conservation, this paper argues that this perception is wrong; termites are a vital component of native forests.

What follows represents the minutes of the workshop on wood-destroying organisms held in Bend, Oregon, September 14, 1989. The theme of the workshop was the state-of-the art of control of wood destroying organisms and the needs for further research on wood-destroying organisms. The agenda for the session was organized by W. Wayne Wilcox and Michael I. Haverty.