Stored‐product insects in a flour mill: population dynamics and response to fumigation treatments

Abstract

In a wheat flour mill, seasonal trends in stored-product insect trap capture, relationships between trap captures inside and outside the mill, and between pheromone trap capture and product infestation, and the impact of fumigation on pest populations, were assessed. Mark-recapture was used to evaluate the potential for movement of insects outside the mill into the mill. For Plodia interpunctella (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) and Trogoderma variabile Ballion (Coleoptera: Dermestidae), pheromone trap captures outside were higher than inside the mill, and when inside and outside trap captures were correlated, both indoor and outdoor trap captures tended to cycle according to a seasonal pattern; fumigations did not consistently influence pheromone trap captures, and in only one instance were they found in product samples. Mark-recapture data indicated that P. interpunctella was capable of entering the building from outside. Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) trap captures, in contrast, tended to be lower outside compared to inside, followed a pattern of sharp decline after fumigation treatment, and then steadily increased (0.002-0.005 beetles/trap/ day) until the next fumigation. This pattern, other than potentially the rate of increase, was not impacted by season and outside trap capture levels. Tribolium castaneum was the primary species infesting the product. The information generated in this study provides some of the information needed to develop improved monitoring and management programs.

The monitoring of semolina contamination by insect fragments using the light filth method in an Italian mill

“…Campbell & Arbogast, 2004) (route 2) or insects migrate into the semolina from the uncelaned debris in mills and stores (Kucerova et al, 2003;Trematerra & Fiorilli, 2000) (route 3). Hidden infestations of grain kernels from the stores (i.e.…”

Validation of hydrogen cyanide fumigation in flourmills to control the confused flour beetle

“…Flourmills are sensitive to the risk caused by many species of pests. Recently, Tribolium beetles ( Figure 1) have emerged as a serious pest problem on a worldwide scale (Campbell & Arbogast 2004). In the Czech Republic, the confused flour beetle (T. confusum) is a persistent pest that is hard to monitor (Stejskal 1995).…”

Characterisation of variables associated with the flight behaviour of the rust-red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum)

“…Tribolium castaneum has long had a reputation for being mostly sedentary and most experiments on movement patterns have been conducted by studying the walking behaviour of the adults (Good, 1933;White, 1981;Campbell & Arbogast, 2004;Campbell et al, 2010ab). Campbell et al (2010a) studied the effects of fumigation (methyl bromide and sulfuryl fluoride) on T. castaneum movement by placing equidistant pitfall traps baited with aggregation pheromone (4,8 dimethyl-decanal) in flourmills for a period of 7 years.…”

“…Another study demonstrated that walking beetles were more attracted than flying beetles, to linted cotton seeds than to wheat, both in laboratory and field (Ahmad et al, 2012ab;Ahmad et al, 2013ab). Good (1933) reported that T. castaneum can stay airborne for a maximum of only 20 seconds in the laboratory and many others subsequently accepted that these insects tend to disperse more by anthropogenic means (White, 1981;Campbell & Arbogast, 2004;Drury et al, 2009;Campbell et al, 2010a). But a field study using pheromone baited traps found that these beetles do fly and regularly fly long distances, as they were trapped regularly, and in numbers, at least 1 km from grain storage areas (Ridley et al, 2011).…”

“…Historically, authors have based their movement studies of T. castaneum mainly on their walking behaviour (Surtees, 1963;Hagstrum, 1973;Campbell et al, 2002Campbell et al, , 2004. In this respect, studies have been conducted on the influence of age, sex, population density, quality and quantity of food resources, reproductive fitness and its genetic basis (Ziegler, 1976(Ziegler, , 1977(Ziegler, , 1978Ritte & Lavie, 1977;Lavie & Ritte, 1978, 1980.…”