Chemical dip treatments were used to investigate micro-arthropod transmission of fungal sapstain to unseasoned pine sapwood boards. Saptain, mould and basidiomycete defacement of chemically treated sawn boards of Corsican pine was recorded during a 14 week field trial. Boards were treated with either a fungicide, an insecticide/acaricide, a combination of the fungicide with the insecticide/acaricide or with water which served as a control. Sapstain defacement of the control boards was severe after 8 and 14 weeks; mould defacement was slight. The fungicidal treatment prevented sapstain and mould development throughout the 14 week trial, both on its own and also when combined with the insecticide/acaricide. At 8 weeks the insecticidal/acaricidal treated boards were only slightly stained but showed a high degree of moulding. By 14 weeks the degree of staining of these boards had increased but was still significantly less than that recorded on the control boards whilst the recorded level of mould defacement was significantly reduced. The importance of insects as vectors of saptain fungi to sawn softwood lumber is discussed.

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