Insects in Stored Cereals, and Their Association With Farming Practices in Southern Manitoba

Abstract

One or more insects were captured during 1 week in probe traps placed in granaries holding wheat, barley, or oats in 51% (n = 116) of grain bulks in the fall of 1986, 88% (n = 111) in the summer of 1987, and 85% (n = 106) in the fall of 1987. Fungivorous insects were the most common and predominant group at all sampling times. Granivorous species were the rusty grain beetle, Cryptolestes ferrugineus (Stephens), and the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst). Grain in galvanized steel and wooden granaries was usually infested with insects to the same extent; granaries with or without aeration systems usually contained the same number of species; small bulks of grain often were infested less frequently than large bulks; the presence of livestock feed on farms did not result in greater insect incidence; and insecticide use in granaries did not prevent re-infestation of grain and insecticide use increased from 24% in 1986 to 31% in the fall of 1987. The kinds of insects detected in grain stored with various farming practices, and co-occurrence with other arthropods in the grain provides baseline information on potentially changing patterns of infestation.

Note on the effect of low temperatures on the survival of adults and larvae of the American black flour beetle, Tribolium audax

“…Aér-ation Systems are also used to cool grain by forcing cold ambient air through the grain mass (Hall 1980). The American black flour beetle, Tribolium audax Halstead (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), has been found in grain residues in granaries in 0031-9511 /91 $1.00+ .10 the Prairie provinces (Smith and Barker 1987), but not in bulks of grain (Madrid et al 1990). Bousquet (1990) mentions that it is also found in flour and feed mills, warehouses, boxcars and retail stores.…”

The influence of the type of storage on pest infestation of stored grain in the Czech Republic

“…The following species are listed according decreasing frequency in samples from Canadian elevators (1969)(1970)(1971)(1972)(1973)(1974)(1975)(1976)(1977)(1978)(1979)(1980)(1981): Tenebrio molitor, Nemapogon granellus, Attagenus spp., Cryptolestes ferrugineus, Acari, Sitophilus granarius, Cryptolestes pusillus, Sitophilus oryzae, Pyralis farinalis, Tenebroides mauritanicus. However, in Canadian farms, the principal granivores were Cryptolestes ferrugineus and Tribolium castaneum (Madrid et al 1990). …”

Evaluation of Some Plant Essential Oils as Repellent and Toxicant Against Trogoderma Granarium (Everts) (Coleoptera: Dermestidae)

“…Annual post-harvest losses resulting from insect damage, microbial deterioration and other factors are estimated to be 10-25% of production worldwide (Matthews, 1993). Among various contributing factors to the huge losses, insect pests are a major problem in stored grain throughout the world (Madrid et al, 1990;Sinha and Watters, 1985). In Pakistan, it has been estimated that 5-7% loss of food grain occurs due to the infestation caused by storage insect pests (Jilani and Ahmad, 1982).…”