Stored-product insect infestation, their spatial distribution, and the relationship between the numbers of insect damaged kernels (IDK) and the number of insects present in grain samples in three-hopper railroad cars transporting wheat from country elevators to a mill were studied. Seven of eight sampled hopper-cars were infested with more than two species of insects. The most abundant species collected were adult and larvae of lesser grain borers, Rhyzopertha dominica (F.) and rusty grain beetles, Cryptolestes ferrugineus (Stephens), with larvae of the two species being the most prevalent (> 90%). Based on visual observation of contour maps, the spatial distribution of these two species within the grain mass were typically clumped in car compartments containing more than 0.4 insects/sample and these foci of high grain sample capture varied in compartments within the cars and among the sampled cars. None of the regression analysis between IDK and the different stage-specific insect population density collected from the grain samples was significant.
Species 1: Coleoptera Bostrichidae Rhyzopertha dominica (Lesser grain borer)
Species 2: Coleoptera Laemophloeidae Cryptolestes ferrugineus (Rusty grain beetle)
Keywords: Hopper cars, Insect damaged kernels
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