Efficacy of Certain Inorganic Salts, as A Wood Preservative, on Bamboo Beetle, Dinoderus minutus Fab., (Coleoptera: Bostrychidae)

Abstract

The protective and remedial effect of certain inorganic salts on powder post beetle, Dinoderus minutus Fab., infesting bamboo wood revealed that intact and infested bamboo wood cuttings treated with different concentrations of each copper sulfate and sodium fluoride gave 100% protection and reduction of infestation when used copper sulfate at concentration 12% (12x10 4 ppm), while sodium fluoride gave 100% protection and infestation reduction at concentration 8% (8 x10 4 ppm). The number of entrance and emergence holes decreased with the increase of salt concentrations which indicates to death of different stages of beetles inside treated bamboo wood by the appropriate concentration of salt used.The amount of consumed and lost wood from infested bamboo wood decreased with the increasein salt concentration. The percentages of lost bamboo wood varied from 5.09 % to 38.1% for copper sulfate at concentrations between 12% and 0.25%, while the percentages of loss wood rangedbetween4.7% to 25% at concentrations 8% and 0.25% respectively for sodium fluoride.