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[en] Any means helpful for the promotion of termite feeding activity has potential for use in a matrix in termite bait application. Therefore, energy transfer by gamma irradiation is worthy of consideration for converting wood into termite-accessible material. Wood specimens gamma-irradiated at 100 kGy and at lower levels were tested for their degrees of polymerization (DP) of cellulose and biological resistance. The DP of cellulose adversely decreased with increased doses of gamma irradiation. Termite wood consumption rates, which were determined by laboratory tests using undifferentiated larvae (workers) of Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki, were significantly higher at 100 kGy than at other doses. On the other hand, the decay resistance of gamma-irradiated wood against the fungi Fomitopsis palustris (Berkeley et Curtis) Murrill and Trametes versicolor (L. ex Fr.) Quel did not vary by irradiation dose. (author)

[en] The effect of gamma irradiation at 100 kGy and at lower levels on termite resistance was examined in the laboratory by no-choice and choice feeding termite tests (Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki) using four wood species: sapwood of Cryptomeria japonica D. Don, and heartwoods of Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirbel) Franco, Larix kaempferi (Lambert) Carriere, and Chamaecyparis obtusa Endl. The wood consumption rates in C. japonica and P. menziesii specimens were likely to increase with increases in gamma-irradiation levels, whereas little effect of gamma irradiation was seen in L. kaempferi and C. obtusa. Similar results were obtained in the two-choice test. The current results indicated that in the two-choice test with C. formosanus, 100-kGy-irradiated C. japonica and P. menziesii, which are not rich in antitermite substances, were eaten more than other wood samples with or without gamma irradiation. However, only C. japonica showed significant difference in termite feeding activity. The mass loss in 100-kGy-irradiated C. japonica was significantly higher in the multichoice test