Wood moisture levels affect Xyletinus peltatus infestations [Yellow poplar, Liriodendron tulipifera, wood preservation and protection]

Hatching of Xyletinus peltatus eggs was not significantly decreased by maintaining wood moisture (WM) of yellow poplar as low as 11.1 plus or minus 0.2%, at ca. 54% relative humidity (RH). low WM may greatly affect larval growth and survival, but effects vary with WM levels, age of larvae when WM is low, and how favorable wood is for growth and survival. In a favourable wood (yellow poplar), no larvae survived when WM was kept below 11.6 plus or minus 0.7% at 59.1 plus or minus 2.6% RH. When WM was below 12.4 plus or minus 0.8% during the first 13 weeks after egg laying, significantly fewer young larvae survived than when WM was at higher levels. Wood with the highest WM produced significantly more adults within 110 weeks than wood with lower WM. Reduced WM retarded larval development, thereby delaying adult emergence for at least a year.