Control of Trogoderma granarium (Coleoptera: Dermestidae) Using High Temperatures

Khapra beetle, Trogoderma granarium Everts, is one of the world's most important pests of stored grain. Common in Africa and Asia, it is a quarantine insect for much of the rest of the world where methyl bromide has traditionally been used for its control. However, this ozone-depleting fumigant...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of economic entomology 2019-04, Vol.112 (2), p.963-968
Main Authors: Wilches, D.M., Laird, R.A., Floate, K.D., Fields, P.G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Australia
Beetles
Canada
control
diapause
Eggs
Exposure
Grain storage
Health aspects
heat
High temperature
Khapra beetle
Larvae
Methyl bromide
Mortality
Ozone depletion
Pest control
Pests
Quarantine
STORED-PRODUCT
temperature
Trogoderma granarium
United Kingdom
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Summary:Khapra beetle, Trogoderma granarium Everts, is one of the world's most important pests of stored grain. Common in Africa and Asia, it is a quarantine insect for much of the rest of the world where methyl bromide has traditionally been used for its control. However, this ozone-depleting fumigant is now heavily restricted, and alternate methods of control are required. In a two-step process, we examined the use of high-temperature exposure as one such method of control. First, different life stages were held at 45°C for different periods to calculate LT50 (lethal time to 50% mortality) values. In descending order, the most heat-tolerant life stages at 45°C were diapausing larvae (LT50 = 41 – 122 h) > nondiapausing larvae (LT50 = 47 h) > adults (LT50 = 33 h) > pupae (LT50 = 25 h) > eggs (LT50 = 10 h). Second, diapausing larvae (the most heat-tolerant stage) were held at 45, 50, 55, and 60°C for different periods to calculate LT50, LT95, LT99, and probit 9 (99.9968% mortality) values. Estimated LT99 values for diapausing larvae were 288 h at 45°C, 6 h at 50°C, 1.1 h at 55°C, and 1 h at 60°C. Based on these results, an exposure of 2 h at 60°C is recommended to control T. granarium with high temperatures. To meet requirements for control of quarantine pests, exposure of between 2 and 12 h at 50–60°C is recommended to cause probit 9 mortality, but additional experiments are needed to get a better estimate of probit 9.
ISSN:0022-0493
1938-291X
DOI:10.1093/jee/toy379