Indonesia

Abstract

Subekti N. 2012. Biodeterioration of pine wood (Pinus merkusii) by soil termites Macrotermes gilvus Hagen (Blattodea: Termitidae). Bioteknologi 9: 57-65. Macrotermes gilvus Hagen plays important role on disintegration and decomposition process of organic materials such as woods and plant litter. The study aims to examine the biodeterioration of pine wood (Pinus mercusii) by M. gilvus termites and to find out the analysis of the wood chemical components. Surnuwat method (1996) was used to examine the consumtion level of M. gilvus termites. In finding out the alteration of pine wood, chemical component analysis and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) were used. The results showed that the single and doubles feed consumtion were susceptible to termites. The average pine wood consumtion of M. gilvus was 0.82 mg/day during five days observation. Meanwhile, the average weight reduction of double preference wood test in the colony was 57.95% for three months. The remains of wood chemical composition were 21.91% lignin, 60.92% holocellulose, and 43.64% cellulose. The decrease in the wood hardness and the charges in the wood physical characteristic and chemical composition caused damage to the cell walls and increased the consumtion preference of M. Gilvus.