Richard V. Smythe

Feeding and Survival Responses of Reticulitermes flavipes (Kollar) to Extractives of Wood from 11 Coniferous Genera

Woods unfavorable to Reticulitermes flavipes (Kollar) in a force-feeding test on heartwood blocks of 11 American coniferous genera included Port-Orford-cedar, eastern redcedar, western redcedar, baiacypress, redwood, and ponderosa pine. The same woods were not attacked in a choice test of all the woods except Port-Orford-cedar, which was omitted because of its toxicity. Only one of two sources of western redcedar was unfavorable in both force and choice tests; one source of western hemlock was not attacked in the choice test. In force-feeding tests on sawdusts, solventextracted sawdusts, and the corresponding wood extracts on filter paper, overall survival was best on test materials of Douglas-fir, subalpine fir, and western larch, followed by western hemlock and Engelmann spruce Many of the extracts prepared from the unfavorable woods contained substances detrimental to termite survival.

Effect of wood decayed by Lenzites trabea on the fatty acid composition of the eastern subterranean termite, Reticulitermes flavipes

Abstract Feeding on either sound wood or wood decayed with Lenzites trabea changed the fatty acid composition of whole body fat of Reticulitermes flavipes from that of termites fed on partially decayed field-collected wood. The major component of the fatty acids of all termite samples was oleic acid (45·5–66·5 per cent); the second most abundant component for the lipids of termites fed on the sound wood was linoleic acid and on the rotted wood, palmitic acid. Generally, palmitic and oleic acids were relatively lower and the remaining fatty acids higher for the lipids of termites fed on sound woods than for the lipids of termites fed on the decayed woods. The fatty acid compositions, of the termite lipid did not simply reflect the fatty acid compositions of the dietary lipid from the woods.

Effect of sound and Lenzites-decayed wood on the amino acid composition of Reticulitermes flavipes

Abstract In hydrolysates of the eastern subterranean termite, Reticulitermes flavipes, the most abundant protein amino acids (μmoles) were glycine, alanine, and glutamic acid; the least abundant were methionine and histidine. Sawdust from both sound and Lenzites trabea-decayed sapwood blocks of sugar maple, loblolly pine, and slash pine was force-fed to termites. A diet of decayed rather than sound wood had little effect on protein amino acid composition of the termites; glycine content varied the most. In contrast, diet affected the free amino acid composition. Except for glutamic acid, the major protein amino acids of the termites were not the predominant free amino acids. Tyrosine and histidine were relatively more abundant as free than as protein amino acids. Greatest differences in protein amino acid compositions of sound and decayed wood were in contents of glycine, leucine, lysine, and arginine.

Protein-bound amino acid content of normally and abnormally faunated Formosan termites, Coptotermes formosanus

Abstract In Coptotermes formosanus workers containing all (normally faunated), none (completely defaunated), or all but one species (partially defaunated) of their symbiotic protozoa, protein-bound amino acid contents changed little in 1, 3, 5, or 8 weeks after defaunation. There were few differences in the amino acid contents of the three termite groups at any one time. Thus, the termites may be able to maintain their protein levels without protozoa, dead protozoa probably do not furnish needed nitrogen, and symbiotic protozoa gave no evidence of the ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen.