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Title: MONITORING STORED-PRODUCT PESTS IN FOOD PROCESSING PLANTS: A CASE STUDY USING PHEROMONE TRAPPING, CONTOUR MAPPING, AND MARK-RECAPTURE

Author
item Campbell, James - Jim
item Mullen, Michael
item DOWDY, ALAN - USDA, APHIS, PPQ

Submitted to: Journal of Economic Entomology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/10/2002
Publication Date: 10/31/2002
Citation: CAMPBELL, J.F., MULLEN, M.A., DOWDY, A.K. MONITORING STORED-PRODUCT PESTS IN FOOD PROCESSING PLANTS: A CASE STUDY USING PHEROMONE TRAPPING, CONTOUR MAPPING, AND MARK-RECAPTURE. JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 95(5): 1089-1101. 2002.

Interpretive Summary: Stored-product insects cause damage to grain-based products in food processing plants and warehouses, but the development of effective integrated pest management programs has been hampered by a lack of information on pest behavior and ecology. The distribution and movement patterns of several species of stored-product pests in a food processing plant were measured. The distributions of warehouse beetle, cigarette beetle, red flour beetle, and Indianmeal moth within the facility were not uniformly distributed, but were often clumped in certain areas. The areas of high trap capture varied among species and over time. Traps on the floor and along walls tended to capture more warehouse beetle than hanging traps and traps next to support pillars. Warehouse beetle was the predominant insect pest at this facility. From mark-recapture studies, we found that individual beetles moved across multiple floors in the facility and from 7 to 216 m through the warehouse. The results of this research, in addition to being of direct benefit to the management of the case study facility, are also of broader importance to researchers and the food industry because they illustrate how pest distributions in facilities are often patchy in distribution and that insect infestations at one location can potentially influence infestation levels throughout a facility. The results from this study can be used to improve the implementation and interpretation of pheromone trap monitoring programs.

Technical Abstract: The distribution and movement patterns of several species of stored-product pests in a food processing plant were investigated. The objectives of this study were to: (1) determine the temporal and spatial variation in abundance of stored-product pests using pheromone traps; (2) assess the effectiveness of trap type, location, and number on monitoring insect populations; and (3) evaluate the nature of pheromone trap capture 'hot-spots' by measuring patterns of insect movement. We determined that the distributions of Trogoderma variabile Ballion, Lasioderma serricorne (Fab.), Tribolium castaneum (Hbst.), and Plodia interpunctella (Hubner) within the facility were typically clumped and that foci of high trap captures, based on visual observation of contour maps, varied among species and over time. Trap type and location influenced the number of T. variabile captured: traps on the floor and along walls captured more individuals than hanging traps and traps next to support pillars. T. variabile was the predominant insect pest at this facility and from mark-recapture studies, we found that individual beetles moved across multiple floors in the facility and from 7 to 216 m through the warehouse.