Abstract
Termites are a social group of animals. They found everywhere except Antarctica. Termites are the major pest of agriculture and damaging wood and wood products. The present study was conducted to evaluate the feeding behavior of termites under field conditions. Eight wood species include Mangifera indica (mangoes), Albizia lebbeck (albizia), Populus euramericana (popular), Melia azedarach (bead tree), Vachellia nilotica (kiker,thorny acacia), Eucalyptus camaldulensis (eucalyptus), Dalbergia sissoo ( shesham), and Eugenia jambolana (jamun) was offered to termites to feed under field trials. Wood species was cut into blocks (L×W×T =8×9×1 cm) and dry in the oven at 42oC for 72 hours. It was found that P. euramericana, M. indica and V. nilotica where the most palatable woods to termite as maximum feeding was noted for these two kinds of wood under field conditions. M. azedarach, D. sisso and E. camaldulensis were lest preferred woods to termite in choice and no-choice bioassays. M. azedarach, D. sisso and E. camaldulensis have a natural chemical which make the wood resistant against the termite attacks. Chemical extract from these resistant plants can be used in termite control are safer and hazardless for the environment.
Highlights
In the history of social evolution, termites were the first animal to live together in an organized colony (Wang et al, 2015)
The mean wood consumption values noted for P. euramericana was 28 g, M. indica 21 g, A. lebbeck 10 g, M. azedarach 1.34 g, E. jambolana 12.34 g, V. nilotica 26.6 g, E. camaldulensis 5.34 g and D. sisso 3.67 g
In a no-choice bioassay least feeding was recorded in M. azedarach (1.34 g) and maximum infestation observed in P. euramericana (28 g) (Table 2)
Summary
In the history of social evolution, termites were the first animal to live together in an organized colony (Wang et al, 2015). Termites live in groups belonging to the order Blattodea Infra order Isoptera) They have active bioreactors that can efficiently decompose lignocellulos (Brune, 2014), play a key role in the universal carbon cycle (Sugimoto et al, 2000). Termites (Blattaria: Termitoidae) are found to be common ecosystem engineers and are mainly distributed in tropical ecosystems They are principal decomposers in tropical forests and savannahs and play a central role in the physicochemical and biological transformation of organic materials and restructuring of soil components (Casalla and Korb, 2019). Odontotermes obesus (Rambur), Microtermes obesi, Odontotermes obesus (Rambur), Coptotermes heimi (Wasmann) (Holmgren) and Heteroterme indicola (Wasmann) are the well-known termite species in Pakistan and cause severe damage to wood and wooden structure. C. heimi (Wasmann) is distributed throughout Pakistan and destroy the woods and even standing plantations (Rasib and Hina, 2014)
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