Monitoring and management of Indian meal moth and cigarette beetle in coffee bean warehouses
Creators: name: Pan, Xiaodan
Publisher: name: No Publisher Supplied
Year: 2023

description: The Indian meal moth (IMM) (Plodia interpunctella [Hübner]) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) and cigarette beetle (CB) (Lasioderma serricorne [Fabricius]) (Coleoptera: Anobiidae) are common stored-product pests. They infest many kinds of food products in homes, stores, warehouses, commodities, etc. Both pests are found worldwide, but their infestation in coffee bean warehouses was seldom reported. The population dynamics of these two species was monitored inside two coffee bean warehouses in New Jersey, U.S., using pheromone traps, sticky traps, light traps, and water traps during September 2018 to October 2020. Pheromone traps were also installed outside the two warehouses to monitor the presence of these two pests. Mating disruption was implemented inside the two warehouses to manage IMM in 2019 and 2020, and it caused significantly lower female: male ratio and female oviposition of the IMM. The two pests distributed unevenly inside both warehouses. Cigarette beetles were much more abundant than IMM in one of the warehouses. Pheromone traps installed outside the warehouses also captured both pests. Similar numbers of IMM were captured in pheromone traps installed inside the warehouses and the pheromone traps installed outside, whereas significantly larger numbers of cigarette beetles were captured by the pheromone traps installed inside compared to those from outside. IMM trap catches had 2-3 polulation peaks in the traps per year whereas cigarette beetle trap catch did not show any obvious peaks. A large number of IMM wandering larvae were observed through visual inspection, sticky traps, and on double-sided tape installed on the interior walls of the two warehouses. To control the IMM wandering larvae, different insecticide dusts and liquid sprays were tested under laboratory conditions. Five insecticide dusts, Alpine (0.25% dinotefuran, 95% diatomaceous earth), CimeXa (92.1% amorphous silica gel), DX13 (100% diatomaceous earth), Tempo (1% cyfluthrin) and Tri-Die (1% pyrethrin, 10% piperonyl butoxide, 40% amorphous silica) were selected to examine efficacy by allowing the larvae to pass a 1-inch treated band, continuous exposure to treated vinyl tiles for five minutes, and exposure to treated harborages (with or without the presence of a non-treated harborage). A commercial treated harborage product (Nattaro band) served as a positive control in the exposure to treated-harborage test. Three chemical sprays, ExciteR (6% pyrethrins, 60% piperonyl butoxide), Suspend SC (4.75% deltamethrin), and Transport Mikron (5% acetamiprid, 6% bifenthrin) were selected to expose larvae on porous (vinyl, unpainted wood, concrete, and paper) and nonporous (steel, ceramic) surfaces. Results indicated that deploying Tempo, CimeXa, or Tri-Die dust treated harborages provided high mortality to IMM larvae. The efficacy of the three tested insecticide spray products varied significantly with the substrate type with Suspend SC being the most effective on concrete and paper substrates. Both Suspend SC and ExciteR provided high IMM mortality (90–96%) on non-porous surfaces (steel and ceramic). Applying insecticide dust or Suspend SC directly into the wall crevices, perimeters of the floor, shipping pallets, and other areas could be an effective method to control the IMM wandering larvae.