Farm Forestry New Zealand
PESTS AND DISEASES OF FORESTRY IN NEW ZEALAND
Glyptotermes tuberculatus, Otara 1995
Scion is the leading provider of forest-related knowledge in New Zealand
Formerly known as the Forest Research Institute, Scion has been a leader in research relating to forest health for over 50 years. The Rotorua-based Crown Research Institute continues to provide science that will protect all forests from damage caused by insect pests, pathogens and weeds. The information presented below arises from these research activities.
From Forest Health News No. 42, May 1995.
A few years ago colonies of Australian termites were being discovered quite frequently, but it seems that most of them have now been found. However there is still the odd colony about, and one was discovered lurking in the depths of Otara last month. This time it was Glyptotermes tuberculatus, a Kalotermitid that is probably best described as a dampwood species. It was in an Australian hardwood pole, and as is the nature of this group, had not spread any further.
No Aussie termites have ever been found that were not associated with the original piece of timber that they arrived in, and we have no evidence that they have ever succeeded in starting a new colony here. There are a number of ideas about why this is so, ranging from our damp winters to the spatial relationships of colonies of the same species. Whatever, it is just as well, as many of them are a lot more destructive than our own Kalotermes brouni (which occasionally gets into slightly damp building timbers and badly pruned pine trees).
Roger Crabtree
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(Scion is the trading name of the New Zealand Forest Research Institute Limited.)
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