Bark beetles and root weevils can impact forests through tree death on landscape scales. Recently, subterranean termites have been linked to these beetles via the presence of bluestain fungi (Ascomycota: Ophiostomataceae), which are vectored to trees by beetles. However, only a small subset of bluestain species have been examined. Here, we tested whether termite-bluestain association patterns in the field reflect termite feeding preference in laboratory choice trials. We documented the presence of four bluestain fungi (Leptographium procerum (W.B. Kendr.), L. terebrantis (Barras & Perry), Grosmannia huntii (Rob.-Jeffr.), and G. alacris (T.A. Duong, Z.W. de Beer & M.J. Wingf.) in the roots of 2,350 loblolly pine trees in the southeastern United States and whether termites were present or absent on these roots and paired this with laboratory choice feeding trials. Termites were found 2.5-fold on tree roots with at least one bluestain fungus present than tree roots without bluestain fungi. Although termites in this study and others were associated with L. procerum, L. terebrantis, and marginally G. huntii, termites only showed preferential feeding on wood inoculated with G. huntii in laboratory trials. This suggests that increased termite presence on wood with bluestain fungi may be driven by factors other than increased wood palatability. Termites could thus disproportionately affect wood turnover rates for specific pools (e.g., bark beetle and root weevil attacked trees) and in some cases (e.g., G. huntii) accelerate wood decomposition. This study supports the growing evidence that the association between subterranean termites and bluestain fungi is spatially and taxonomically widespread.

中文翻译：

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白蚁的存在和取食火炬松木材在四种感染根部的蓝染色（ophiostomatoid）真菌物种中有所不同

树皮甲虫和根象鼻虫可以通过景观尺度上的树木死亡来影响森林。最近，地下白蚁通过蓝斑真菌（子囊菌门：Ophiostomataceae）与这些甲虫有关，这些真菌通过甲虫传播到树上。然而，只检查了一小部分蓝染物种。在这里，我们测试了该领域的白蚁-蓝染色关联模式是否反映了实验室选择试验中白蚁的摄食偏好。我们记录了四种蓝染真菌（Leptographium procerum (WB Kendr.)、L. terebrantis (Barras & Perry)、Grosmannia huntii (Rob.-Jeffr.) 和 G. alacris (TA Duong, ZW de Beer & MJ Wingf)）的存在.) 在 2 的根中，美国东南部的 350 棵火炬松树，以及这些根部是否存在白蚁，并将其与实验室选择喂养试验配对。在存在至少一种蓝染真菌的树根上发现的白蚁是没有蓝染真菌的树根的 2.5 倍。尽管本研究中的白蚁和其他研究中的白蚁与 L. procerum、L. terebrantis 和少量的 G. huntii 有关，但在实验室试验中，白蚁仅表现出优先取食接种了 G.huntii 的木材。这表明，白蚁在带有蓝斑真菌的木材上的增加可能是由木材适口性增加以外的因素驱动的。因此，白蚁可能不成比例地影响特定池的木材周转率（例如，树皮甲虫和根象鼻虫攻击的树木），并且在某些情况下（例如，G. huntii）加速木材分解。