Digestive tract tissues of Limnoria quadripunctata Holthuis and Limnoria tripunctata Menzies, tunnelling untreated and CCA treated Scot's pine sapwood under laboratory conditions were examined using X-ray microanalysis and transmission electron microscopy. Populations of both Limnoria species tunnelling treated and untreated wood stored copper within their digestive caecae in the form of spherical and irregular granules. The number of storage granules was found to be higher in those organisms tunnelling CCA treated wood. This study also demonstrated copper was stored in gut tissues at certain stages of Limnoria's moult cycle, although the highest levels were always observed in organisms tunnelling CCA. Chromium and arsenic were not stored in the midgut cells. The current study demonstrates a possible mechanism by which Limnoria may colonise CCA treated wood in service.

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