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ARS Home » Plains Area » Manhattan, Kansas » Center for Grain and Animal Health Research » Stored Product Insect and Engineering Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #326739
Title: Effectiveness of the ZeroFly® storage bag fabric against stored-product insects

Author
item PAUDYAL, S - Oklahoma State University
item OPIT, G - Oklahoma State University
item Arthur, Franklin
item BINGHAM, G - Vestergaard Frandsen Sa
item PAYTON, M - Oklahoma State University
item GAUTAM, S - Oklahoma State University
item NODEN, B - Oklahoma State University

Submitted to: Journal of Stored Products Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/11/2017
Publication Date: 7/24/2017
Publication URL: http://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/5814438
Citation: Paudyal, S., Opit, G.P., Arthur, F.H., Bingham, G.V., Payton, M.E., Gautam, S.G., Noden, B.H. 2017. Effectiveness of the ZeroFly® storage bag fabric against stored-product insects. Journal of Stored Products Research. 73:87-97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jspr.2017.07.001.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jspr.2017.07.001

Interpretive Summary: Insect pests can infest bagged stored grains and cause extensive post-harvest losses in developing countries, which can range from 30 to 80% depending on the severity of the infestation. Fabric bags impregnated with insecticide may alleviate some of the potential loss by preventing insects from penetrating bags and damaging grains. Bags impregnated with the pyrethroid insecticide deltamethrin are commercially available (ZeroFly® Storage), but there is little information comparing the effectiveness of this particular bag type with other bags and other insecticide treatments. Knockdown of adult red flour beetles and rice weevils was about 99% after less than 3 hours of exposure, and mortality after 3 days of exposure was about 10 times greater compared to other bag fabrics treated with the insecticide malathion. Neither of these two species nor the lesser grain borer were able to chew through the ZeroFly bags, but they were able to chew through and penetrate Jute bags treated with malathion. These new ZeroFly bags will help prevent insect pests from entering the bags and may also confine an existing infestation within a bag. Managers can use these bags to prevent grain loss in hot humid tropical countries, thereby decreasing economic loss and improving food security.

Technical Abstract: The ZeroFly® Storage Bag is a polypropylene bag (PP) which has deltamethrin incorporated in its fibers, and represents a novel approach to reducing stored-product insect pest-related postharvest losses. Fabric samples from ZeroFly bags, polypropylene (PP) bags, jute bags, malathion-treated PP bags, malathion-treated jute bags, and GrainPro bags were fit into 9-cm Petri dishes and 20 adults of either Sitophilus oryzae (L.) or Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) were introduced to determine the contact sensitivity of insects exposed to ZeroFly bag fabric. Knockdown, mortality, and number of progeny were recorded for different exposure periods (24, 48, or 72 h) and oviposition periods (7, 14, or 21 d). Additionally, mini bags from ZeroFly bags, PP bags, laminated PP bags, and jute bags were used to determine the ability of adult S. oryzae, T. castaneum, and Rhyzopertha dominica (F.) to chew through the bags and efficacy of ZeroFly bags at preventing insect infestations from outside and to contain infestations within bags. Knockdown assessment for ZeroFly bag fabric showed that time required to knockdown 99% of S. oryzae and T. castaneum was < 3 h. For 72-h exposure to ZeroFly bag fabric, mortalities for S. oryzae and T. castaneum were 76.7 and 62.2%, respectively; mortality was = 6% in other fabrics. ZeroFly bag fabric also significantly suppressed progeny production by S. oryzae and T. castaneum for all exposure periods. No insects from the three species tested were able to chew through mini ZeroFly bags. ZeroFly bag fabric is effective against S. oryzae, T. castaneum, and R. dominica.