Evidence of Subterranean Termite Feeding Deterrent Produced by Brown Rot Fungus Fibroporia radiculosa (Peck) Parmasto 1968 (Polyporales, Fomitopsidaceae).

Nadia Kamaluddin,Sakae Horisawa,Tsuyoshi Yoshimura,Ayuko Fukunaga,Shuichi Doi,Shota Nishizawa,Akiko Nakagawa-Izumi

doi:10.3390/insects7030041

Nadia Kamaluddin, Sakae Horisawa + Show 5 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/insects7030041

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Abstract

We found that decayed wood stakes with no termite damage collected from a termite-infested field exhibited a deterrent effect against the termite Reticulitermes speratus, Kolbe, 1885. The effect was observed to be lost or reduced by drying. After identification, it was found that the decayed stakes were infected by brown rot fungus Fibroporia radiculosa (Peck) Parmasto, 1968. In a no-choice feeding test, wood blocks decayed by this fungus under laboratory condition deterred R. speratus feeding and n-hexane extract from the decayed stake and blocks induced termite mortality. These data provided an insight into the interaction between wood-rot fungi and wood-feeding termites.

Highlights

Wood-feeding termites and wood-decaying fungi both degrade and digest wood for energy, suggesting an interaction between these two groups
Multiple colonies obtained from this location were used in all of the tests, except for the feeding test of n-hexane extract from wood decayed under laboratory conditions which were collected from a pine forest in Oarai City (Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan)
It was observed that termite damage was not detected on the fungus-decayed part of field stakes collected at the RISH field in Kagoshima Prefecture (Figure 1)

Summary

Introduction

Wood-feeding termites and wood-decaying fungi both degrade and digest wood for energy, suggesting an interaction between these two groups. Pine wood blocks infected with the brown rot fungus Gloeophyllum trabeum (Pers.) (Murrill, 1908) induce Reticulitermes flavipes (Kollar, 1837), R. virginicus (Banks, 1907), and Nasutitermes columbicus (Holmgren, 1910) to form aggregations [1]. Several studies have shown the termite feeding deterrence phenomenon in relation to wood decayed by fungi. Amburgey and Beal [4] showed that white rot-decayed southern pine stakes were not a preferred food substance for Reticulitermes flavipes (Kolar). Stakes of Pinus elliotti (Engelm), P. taeda L., and P. palustris sapwood infected with a white rot fungus were not damaged by termites, but damage was caused by light feeding. Grace et al [5] demonstrated that secondary metabolites released by the brown-rot fungus G. trabeum deterred C. formosanus feeding on filter paper

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