Do termites kill trees?

Q.Q.

Just trying to be funny at the start no real critisium Ekka.

No just trying to show by the photos that termites out here will enter and eat the heart wood of a sound tree. Some of the previous posts doughted that. My guess is that it might be the same as trees, although the species are the same they may act differently in other regions. This isnt a real big area on rot or fungus as it is so arrid.

I also have noticed around town that alot of Silky Oaks will have termites and termite tracks on the out side but the heart wood is good. Different species again mabie, probly microcerotermes or hetrotermes.

The mud tunnel in the Box tree went about 5-6 meters from ground line.

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Q,Q's Tree & Garden Maintenance

FAMILARITY BREEDS CONTEMPT

shaun05

I am not sure how termites would cause the direct death of a tree? Indirectly they may weaken a tree and that may lead to failure. In addition, like many xyophagous insects there is a symbiosis with a fungi (usually gastrointestinal in Isoptera) but a number of arborists in Sydney have noted this leading to structural failure in Quercus robur in particular.

Termites may predispose trees to other problems but then so can smoking cigarettes (cigarette out the window, fire = scalded tree and possibly death).

Red Dot

Harlow to the world of Tree Assessors

I'm asking this question to myself before and ended up termites do have adverse effects on tree health and after much consideration, termites will be consider secondary 'attacker' to the tree subjected to different species. Anyone have list of harmful termites which affect tree health in south east asia- Tropical tree species. Trying to explore furher.

Thank you.

Red Dot

That is the questions we been asking around sometime. Personally, it depends on termites species. Over here, Macrotermes dont eat live wood. But for certain termite species ( Coptotermitinae) it further degraded wood as secondary infection especially tree in declining stage.

windthrown

But the termites do not have the smoking guns... lest they wood have wiped out all the trees on this planet long ago. Termites here only eat dead wood from what I have seen and learned. Also from physical anthropology, termites account for far more global boimass activity than any other animal species on earth, even humans. There are a >>>lot<<< of termites out there munching away all the time.

vabene.treecare

It surely doesnt help 'em, that's for sure

Cathmantoo

Hi, In Adelaide termites do kill trees. Perhaps mainly old trees stressed by drought, by concrete surrounds, etc, but I have seen very many prunus killed by termites in the last 10 years of drought. Termites love Prunus varieties, and they've got to eat to survive. Subterranean termites are pretty much everywhere in suburban adelaide. The biggest tree decline has been in the well-watered eastern urban areas where significant (?) Prunus trees reside.almonds are the first to go, yum yum. Of course they kill trees!! Well S A termites do! We have spent years trying to recover trees attacked by termites to not much grace.Go Mites. They are everywhere! Termites, the most successful insect population since federation! Cathmantoo.

Cathmantoo

HI Yes termites do kill trees here in summer dry blistering heat and soaking wet spring unusual rain. yes they like it here. Prunus especially, Almonds and Apricots yum yum.....they will kill a tree within 5 yrs. Cath.

KevinE

We removed a Platypus Euc just last week that was infested with termites. This was only discovered because one of the main leaders fell off it in a storm & exposed the inside of the lignotuber & they were crawling all around inside it. The tree looked healthy from the outside prior to that. I enter quite a few suburban backyards to prune stone fruit trees in winter & an alarming percentage of stone fruit trees here are either infested, or have been. I've noticed that the infested trees were usually suffering already before the termites showed up. Mostly from mechanically induced canker. A huge majority of my customers are elderly & most are widows. The husband has usually been "pruning" the fruit trees for years & has left branch stubs all over the poor thing. More often than not, these stubs are cut at 45% angles (why do they do that ???) The end result is a rotten tree full of white ants that they always seem to think that I can somehow fix

Eric Frei

So water runs off I think.

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Done it

Well, they didn't really kill this one but they sort of helped.

ONE of the last of the trees planted by the Macarthurs at Elizabeth Farm in the 1870s came crashing down on the historic property during high winds on Friday afternoon. Photos: Timber! Winds claim historic tree of Macarthurs at Elizabeth Farm - Environment - News - Parramatta Advertiser

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Eric Frei

Jeez, that tree had a very thin shell to live on.

There must have been some VTA clues. Imagine no clues, no dieback, no sap weeping, nothing .... and it's that hollow!

Makes you think twice about assessing old trees and investigating wall thickness.

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bigtre

Yes they do, over time depending on what type of tree.

Eric Frei

Termites caused fatal train crash | News.com.au

Termites blamed for train accident - World News, Breaking News - Kerryman.ie

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shaker

yes (formosan)termites introduced to the united states in the last half of the 20th century originating in southeastern asia will bore holes through the center of a tree and can be hard to kill, holes half to be drilled above the soil and termiticide is then put in to kill them. yet some species (subterrainean) feed on dead wood,tree branches that are diseased and such can be cut off to prevent further damage if you want to save the tree.

Nawlinean

Technically, the termites do not kill live trees. Here in Louisiana, our local trees are being devestated by the introduced Formosan termite. These termites enter the trees from below and begin consuming the woody interior. The trees will be perfectly healthy looking until they fall over from their own weight.

Check out my video that I posted on YouTube.

Eric Frei

Do those formosan termites eat sapwood also?

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Nawlinean

In my experience, they do not eat the sapwood of a healthy tree. Interestingly, both the native and invasive species consume the sapwood first in a dead but standing pine. They will eat the cambium layer causing the bark to fall away in large sections.

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J.T.

NO, i think Termites can damage trees and weaken them to the point of failure but they do not directly kill them.They are the agents of death but termites alone don't kill trees.

Death occurs when the tree becomes unable to support itself and falls due to decay or just lack of supporting wood because the termites have eaten it. Death could also be caused by other pathogens which have gained access through termite tunnelling.

I think termites know it is in their own interest to maintain the sapwood because that shell is protecting them from the outside world and its predators, this enables them to get on with eating the insides out.

Done it

That pretty well sums it up J.T.

For some reason my picture in post 71 has disappeared?

This was it.

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floyd84s

What is the minimum number of runs to score a century in cricket?

Done it

That's really funny Floyd, watch out you don't get terminated.

Kenny Koala

I wish they'd hurry up and get the job done to a few of the trees at my place


I've got visible damage to an ironbark about 10 to 12 metres up the tree

sun64

Well I live in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia and I can definately tell you that termites kill trees. I have a Mango farm and had about 930 , 14 year old trees but that has been reduced to about 890 or so.
They go after water and so target my mango trees when watering them as there is no rain for 6 to 7 months of the year in the dry season.
We had a record wet season this year, at my place we had 3162 milli litres of rain WOW!!!
There are the smaller ones (Captotermes Acinaciformis that will do damage to the house but dont really bother living trees that I have noticed, but you will find them in dead wood.
Then there is the ( Mastotermes Darwiniensis ) Mastos as we call them.
The CSIRO say they are one of the most destructive termites in the world.

They are around 10 mm long and I have plenty of dead Palms and Mango trees to prove it. I have seen young native trees that have been eaten out and only the outer bark was left thinner than a toilet roll.
If you google termite species in the northern territory Australia, you will find out what i am talking about.
So I have to say, up here in the tropics, YES they definately KILL trees.

Eric Frei

I'd really appreciate some "ground" footage, so keep the camera handy.

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sun64

Hi Eric, If I remember when I get home I will take some photo's for you. I am on the oil rig at the moment and will be for another 16 days. Will try but i have a memory like a strainer bowl at times so I had better write your request down.
cheers and beers

Jane_Whitt

Termites do not kill trees
Although termites are known to feed on dead or diseased trees and eating out of cellulose from trees, not known to kill healthy trees. Their visible presence in dead or dying trees, does not indicate a causal relationship with his presence that leads to dysfunction of the trees. In any case, this relationship is going in the opposite direction.
Termites are very unlikely to ever be seen in the healthy trees unless no other food supply is readily available most preferable. Therefore detect termites in a tree is overwhelming evidence that the tree already had major problems to begin with. It is impossible to say that a termite has never eaten live wood, but their diet consists mostly of dead wood rather than living wood.

sun64

Well perhaps where you come from they may have never killed any trees, but where I live they most certainly have done.
When I get home I will post some photos. Some of the larger trees are still alive but are in a weekened state but anything small cannot handle it.
Like I said before, I have palms that are dead from being eaten my termites. The trunk ends up collapsing in and they snap in half.
As I said before , GOOGLE termites in the Northern Territory , Australia.
The Government body CSIRO which does a lot of Laboratory testing and reserch have written a page on these termites and how they can attack and kill trees.
sun64

Jane_Whitt

While termites can sometimes be seen in the trees, tend to prefer dead wood. When they are in trees, usually feed on dead cellulose found in trees. I normally do not eat the wood of a living tree. If you see termites feed on a tree, it is probably a sign of a health problem trees. When something like this notice, a qualified tree doctor to his house to take a look and see what is wrong with the tree. Termites often take advantage of, and may even precipitate a falling tree while ill.

Eric Frei

http://www.csiro.au/files/files/p10d9.pdf

Page 17 of this one.

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	p10d9.pdf (1.96 MB, 6 views)
	Lecture%204_%20Insect%20and%20mite%20damage%20on%20plants.pdf (3.93 MB, 11 views)

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