The Indianmeal moth, Plodia interpunctella (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) is a pest of cereal products in processing and storage facilities such as flourmills, pet food factories, grocery stores and home pantries. The processed commodity resources that Indianmeal moth females exploit can be spillage or packaged commodities and tend to be patchy in both space and time. Where and how eggs are distributed in and around spillage food patches and packaging flaws was evaluated. The ability of female moths to evaluate patch size and adjust oviposition was explored and some fitness consequences of different oviposition decisions measured. Understanding P. interpunctella patch exploitation behavior will help in the targeting of pest management and the development of better packaging for food materials.
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