Heat is a practical alternative to methyl bromide for insect management in food and feed mills. During heat treatment, temperatures within a mill are raised to50OC or more for 24 - 36 hours to kill all life stages of stored product insects. Data on response of red flour beetle life stages to heat are highly anecdotal and inconsistent. In order to better define the mortality of red flour beetle life stages as a function of temperature, eggs, larvae, pupae, and adults were exposed to constant temperatures between 40 and 60O C. Adults were found to be more susceptible to heat when compared to pupae, late instars, first instars, and eggs. Time-mortality relationships were generated to estimate LT50s and LT99s for all stages.
Species 1: Coleoptera Tenebrionidae Tribolium castaneum (red flour beetle)
Keywords: Heat treatment, stored product insects
The ESA 2001 Annual Meeting - 2001: An Entomological Odyssey of ESA