ATTACK BY WOOD-DESTROYING INSECTS ON EIGHT COMMERCIAL TIMBER SPECIES

Abstract

The relative susceptibility ofthe heartwood (lleight species was studied hy exposingthem to a subterranean termite, the powder-post heel le, and the longhorn beetle. Bothgraveyard tests and laboratory methods were used. Observations were made on theweight loss of the till/bel' and on the mortality of the insects. The data were subjectedto analysis of variance, and means significantly different at the 5% level wereseparated hy Tukey's test. Finally, the timber species were ranked for resistance toinsect attack. The most resistance species were Eucalyptua grandis, teak and jak.followed bv Pinus cariboea, lunumtdella and mahogany. Rubber was the mostsusceptible species. Tualang till/bel' was unplaced in the overall ranking, because itwas omitted from one test, hut it would come near the lop.