How do you control stored product pests?
Proper sanitation, food storage, and removal of infested items are the keys to halting an infestation of stored product pests. Insecticides can be used to eliminate populations of visible adults, but they alone are unlikely to eliminate a pest problem.
What is a stored product pest?
Stored product or pantry pests include several beetles, moths, and a mite that can infest whole grains or processed foods. The solution requires finding and destroying all infested products in which these pests have developed, a general cleanup, and use of sealed storage containers to prevent recurring problems.
Can stored product pests fly?
Insects infesting stored foods such as flour, cereal and other dried goods, is one of the most common household insect problems. The many different kinds of insects that infest dried foods are often called “pantry pests.” You can find pantry pests when they leave infested foods to crawl or fly around the house.
Which are common pests of stored products?
Insect Pests of Stored Products
- Flour and grain beetles.
- Anobiid beetles.
- Dermestid beetles.
- Weevils.
- Spider beetles.
- Mealworms.
- Flour moths.
- Grain moths.
Is moth a storage pest?
The main storage pests, apart from rodents, are beetles and moths. Some pests such as grain borers, weevils and Angoumois grain moths are able to feed on whole, healthy grains, they are considered primary pests.
What is the largest stored product insect?
What are Stored Product Insects (SPIs)?
- Beetles and weevils: These form the largest order in the animal kingdom, Coleoptera, with around 400,000 species.
- Moths: The order Lepidoptera has around 180,000 species of butterflies and moths, but only around 30 are significant pests of stored products.
What pests are stored grains?
Some of these pests include the Lesser grain borer, Granary weevil (Sitophilus granarius, the Wheat weevil) and Rice weevil (Sitophilus oryzae).
- Lesser grain borer (Rhyzopertha dominica)
- Rice weevil (Sitophilus oryzae)
- Rust-red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum)
- Warehouse moth (Ephestia elutella)
What are the pests of stored grain?
Most important stored grain pests include Angoumois grain moth ( Sitotroga cerealella (Olivier, 1789) Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), maize weevil ( Sitophilus zeamais Motschulsky, 1855 Coleoptera: Curculionidae), the Indian meal moth (Plodia interpunctella (Hubner, 1813) Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), the almond moths, Ephestia …
How to identify insect pests in grain storage bins?
Identifying insect pests is the first step in understanding and controlling insect problems in grain bins and commodity storage warehouses. Insect traps are useful in either grain storage bins or commodity storage warehouses for collecting insects for proper identification.
What is the purpose of insect sampling devices?
Insect sampling devices such as plastic pitfall traps used in bulk products and insect food/pheromone traps used in food warehouses permit the monitoring of the product for changes in insect population size and species. In 1991, diatomaceous earth was approved for insect control in bulk grain.
Why is it important to distinguish between species of stored-grain pests?
It is important to distinguish between species of stored-grain pests since the insects have different damage potentials, biologies, growing temperatures, moisture requirements, and reproductive potentials. Insect species create different types of damage and have different activity periods.
How do I control insect population size in grain?
It is important to control insect population size before grain is irrevocably damaged by insect boring, feeding, and mold germination. Grain should be inspected every 21 days when grain temperature exceeds 60°F (15°C). Plastic pitfall traps should be checked for the species and numbers of insects, and grain temperatures should be monitored.