Biology and Demography of (Ephestia kuehniella) (Pyralidae: Lepidoptera)
Mediterranean flour moth, Ephestia kuehniella Zeller is a cosmopolitan pest of stored products, and its eggs are widely used to rear parasitoids and predators for biological control programmes. The experiments were carried out in a growth chamber with temperature of 25±1 °C, 50±0.5 % relative humidity, a photoperiod of 16L:8D hours and with flour and yeast as the food source. The computer program TWOSEX-MS Chart was used for data analysis and Jackknife estimation. Intrinsic rate of population growth (rm), finite rate of population growth (λ), net reproduction rate (R0), gross reproduction rate (GRR), mean time of one generation (T), population doubling time (DT) were respectively 0.0683 days, 1.0707 days, 133.861 female offspring, 1147 female eggs, 71.605 days, and 10.135 days. These results could be useful for the mass rearing of E. kuehniella.
Keywords: Ephestia kuehniella; Temperature; Development; Reproduction; Life table.
