Plantation-grown Pinus elliottii, Pinus caribaea and Pinus radiata specimens containing heartwood and untreated or preservative-treated sapwood were exposed above ground to the subterranean termites Coptotermes acinaciformis or Mastotermes darwiniensis near Sydney (NSW), Brisbane and Townsville (Qld), and Darwin (NT), using a variety of exposure techniques. Heartwood of Pinus elliottii and Pinus caribaea was consistently less susceptible than that of Pinus radiata. The latter was similar to susceptible Araucaria cunninghamii sapwood. CCA (at 0.23% m/m Cu+Cr+As) or permethrin (at 0.024% m/m a.i.) treatment in sapwood reduced feeding on adjacent Pinus radiata heartwood, but boron (at 0.082% m/m B) did not have the same effect. CCA and permethrin treatments protected sapwood; boron did not. Limitations on unpenetrated heartwood in H2 (non-decay hazard) treatments of Pinus elliottii and Pinus caribaea are being removed from Australian Standard and State regulations.

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