Tuesday, December 11, 2001 -
D0308

Electric prods increase movement of Plodia interpunctella larvae, enhancing acoustic detectability of hidden infestations in stored products

Richard W. Mankin, Postharvest Research Unit, USDA-ARS Center for Medical, Agricultural, and Veterinary Entomology, Postharvest Research Unit, P. O. Box 14565, Gainesville, FL

The warehouse, grocery, and department store industry has considerable interest in development of nondestructive methods to detect infestations of stored product insects in packaged goods. Acoustic sensors have potential to detect active infestations, but insect activity is periodic and disturbed insects often become temporarily quiescent. P. interpunctella larvae in dry dog food generated detectable sounds at an increased rate immediately after brief stimulation with an electric prod. Activity levels returned to background within 10 minutes. The acoustic detection methods and applications to insect monitoring programs are discussed.

Species 1: Lepidoptera Pyralidae Plodia interpunctella (Indian meal moth)
Keywords: detection, monitoring

The ESA 2001 Annual Meeting - 2001: An Entomological Odyssey of ESA