Academic literature on the topic 'Red flour beetle – Biological control'

Runner variety peanuts treated with four rates of diatomaceous earth (28.4, 56.8, 85.2, and 113.6 g per 12.7 kg peanuts) and Virginia variety peanuts treated with four Bacillus thuringiensis formulations (Dipel, Foil, M-Trak and Trident) were held for 8 months at ambient conditions in south Georgia and infested with stored-product insect pests. No red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst), adults were found in peanuts treated with diatomaceous earth until six months after treatment. After 8 months, red flour beetle populations in peanuts treated with diatomaceous earth ranged from 5.7 ± 1.9 to 32.8 ± 12.0 per kg, as compared to 221.2 red flour beetles per 12.7 kg peanuts in untreated controls. The effect of diatomaceous earth on red flour beetles was described by non-linear regression. Indianmeal moth, Plodia interpunctella (Hübner), and almond moth, Cadra cautella (Walker), populations were not abundant in untreated controls or the diatomaceous earth treatments. After 8 months, red flour beetle populations in peanuts treated with the four biological insecticides were not significantly different from the untreated controls. Low levels of Indianmeal moth and almond moth were present in all treatments.

An aerosol containing 0.25% AI esfenvalerate, 1.25% piperonyl butoxide synergist, 18.50% oil solvent and 80.00% freon was tested against adults of some of the major insect pest species infesting stored peanuts and stored tobacco. Application at 0.03 g AI per 28.3 m3 killed at least 99% of the almond moths, Cadra cautella (Walker), Indianmeal moths, Plodia interpunctella (Hübner), and tobacco moths, Ephestia elutella (Hübner). Red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) mortality was 100% at application rates of 0.03 and 0.05 g per 28.3 m3. This was the least susceptible beetle species that was tested. Red flour beetles were knocked down at a rate of 0.013 g per 28.3 m3, and a second application of the same rate killed all survivors. The biological effectiveness of esfenvalerate compares favorably with dichlorvos, which is currently used as an aerosol control in peanut and tobacco storages.

The red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum is a known pest of various grains and stored-products such as wheat flours; however, T. castaneum feeds on and infests soybean and soy products. For more than 60 years, soy flour has been suggested to be unstable food for Tribolium spp. because it causes larval development failure. However, it remains unknown whether soy flour affects adult beetles. The objective of the present study was to examine the effects of soy flour and its related isoflavones against T. castaneum using an artificial dietary intake assay. Beetles were fed gypsum (a non-digestible compound) mixed with either water (control) or soy flour. Significantly fewer beetles survived after being fed the soy flour treatment. Although the soy isoflavone genistein, a defensive agent and secondary metabolite, decreased the T. castaneum adult survival, it required a long time to have a lethal effect. Therefore, the cytotoxic effects of soy flour, i.e., the rapid biological responses following isoflavone addition, were also examined using a cultured cell line derived from T. castaneum. Both genistin and genistein significantly affected the survival of the cultured cells, although genistein had a stronger lethal effect. This study demonstrated the toxicity of genistein found in soybean against T. castaneum cultured cells within 24 h period. Genistein may be used as an oral toxin biopesticide against T. castaneum.

The red flour beetle,Tribolium castaneum, is a major agricultural pest responsible for considerable loss of stored grain and cereal products worldwide.T. castaneumlarvae have a highly compartmentalized gut, with cysteine peptidases mostly in the acidic anterior part of the midgut that are critical to the early stages of food digestion. In previous studies, we described 26 putative cysteine peptidase genes inT. castaneum(types B, L, O, F, and K) located mostly on chromosomes 3, 7, 8, and 10. In the present study, we hypothesized that specific cysteine peptidase genes could be associated with digestive functions for food processing based on comparison of gene expression profiles in different developmental stages, feeding and non-feeding. RNA-Seq was used to determine the relative expression of cysteine peptidase genes among four major developmental stages (egg, larvae, pupae, and adult) ofT. castaneum. We also compared cysteine peptidase genes inT. castaneumto those in other model insects and coleopteran pests. By combining transcriptome expression, phylogenetic comparisons, response to dietary inhibitors, and other existing data, we identified key cysteine peptidases thatT. castaneumlarvae and adults use for food digestion, and thus new potential targets for biologically-based control products.

Abstract Fumigant activities for three essential oils; Garlic oil (Allium sativum L); Chili pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) and Nigella (Nigella sativa L.) were assessed at different concentrations against the adult and 20-days old larval stages of Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) in the laboratory. The accumulative mortality was observed at different exposure periods (3, 5 and 7 days). The residual effect of garlic oil that was the effective oil, on the treated wheat grains was evaluated with respect to histological changes in the liver, kidney, and stomach of rat fed on this treated wheat. The results showed that the mortality rates of treated stages increased with increasing the time of fumigation treatment. Moreover the highest essential oils toxicity at the Median lethal concentration (LC50) values for exposure periods (3, 5 and 7 days) to fumigation were (126, 53, and 47 mg/L air) for adult stage and were (79, 62, and 41 mg/L air) for larval stage, respectively in the case of Garlic oil treatment. While, the lowest essential oils effective was Nigella oil at the Median lethal concentration (LC50) values for exposure periods (3, 5 and 7 days) to fumigation were (3594, 629, and 335 mg/L air) for adult stage and were (1040, 416, and 227 mg/L air) for larval stage, respectively. The toxicity effect of various essential oils against adults and larvae of T. castaneum at the LC50at 7 days fumigation could be arranged in descending order as follows: Garlic oil, Chili pepper oil, and Nigella oil. The histological changes showed that the organs slightly affected at the fumigation for 3 days. It may be concluded that the garlic essential oil is the good effective fumigant to control T. castaneum in the stored products and it recommended that the fumigation period does not exceed 3 days. The garlic essential oil has the potential for applications in IPM programs for stored-grain pests because of its high volatility and fumigant activity and its safety.

The red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum, is a major agricultural pest of post-harvest products and stored grain. Control of T. castaneum in stored products and grain is primarily by fumigants and sprays, but insecticide resistance is a major problem, and new control strategies are needed. T. castaneum is a genetic model for coleopterans, and the reference genome can be used for discovery of candidate gene targets for molecular-based control, such as RNA interference. Gene targets need to be pest specific, and ideally, they are expressed at low levels for successful control. Therefore, we sequenced the transcriptome of four major life stages of T. castaneum, sorted data into groups based on high or low expression levels, and compared relative gene expression among all life stages. We narrowed our candidate gene list to a cuticle protein gene (CPG) for further analysis. We found that the CPG sequence was unique to T. castaneum and expressed only in the larval stage. RNA interference targeting CPG in newly-emerged larvae caused a significant (p < 0.05) decrease in CPG expression (1,491-fold) compared to control larvae and 64% mortality over 18 d. RNA-Seq of survivors after 18 d identified changes in the expression of other genes as well, including 52 long noncoding RNAs. Expression of three additional cuticle protein genes were increased and two chitinase genes were decreased in response to injection of CPG dsRNA. The data demonstrate that RNA-Seq can identify genes important for insect survival and thus may be used to develop novel biologically-based insect control products.

Iron overload in the fortified flour can influence the life stages and physiology of the insects. The present study was carried out to evaluate the effect of commercially available premix iron fortified flour as well as effect of different concentrations of post-mix iron fortified flour (30–5 ppm) on biology of red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Hebrst.). Larval and pupal duration, total developmental time, fecundity and larval weights in two consecutive generations of beetle were compared with control treatment. Amylase and protease activities of gut of the beetle were also measured in premix and postmix flours. Results showed that larval mortality increased in two sources of premix iron flour when compared with control. Larval weight was reduced in first generation only. The larval mortality was significantly higher in 30 ppm postmix iron fortified flour than in other postmix concentrations and control treatment. The larvae of T. castaneum fed on two sources of premix and in various concentrations of postmix iron fortified flour revealed an increase in amylases and decrease in protease activities.

Malathion-resistant red flour beetle and confused flour beetle field strains and a pesticide-susceptible laboratory strain of each species were exposed on unpainted and painted galvanized steel panels treated with cyfluthrin EC and WP formulations at label rates. Residues from both formulations applied to unpainted steel killed 99.8% of the insects after 1 h exposure for up to 235 d after treatment. Equivalent control on painted panels lasted approximately 3 wks and required 24 h exposure. Residual mortality on painted panels treated with cyfluthrin WP and EC quickly declined; tests with red flour beetles and confused flour beetles were discontinued after 116 and 123 d, respectively. All of the malathion-resistant strains were as susceptible as the laboratory strain to cyfluthrin, and there was no difference between the EC and WP formulations.

Immune specificity is the degree to which a host's immune system discriminates among various pathogens or antigenic variants. Vertebrate immune memory is highly specific due to antibody responses. On the other hand, some invertebrates show immune priming, i.e. improved survival after secondary exposure to a previously encountered pathogen. Until now, specificity of priming has only been demonstrated via the septic infection route or when live pathogens were used for priming. Therefore, we tested for specificity in the oral priming route in the red flour beetle,Tribolium castaneum. For priming, we used pathogen-free supernatants derived from three different strains of the entomopathogen,Bacillus thuringiensis, which express different Cry toxin variants known for their toxicity against this beetle. Subsequent exposure to the infective spores showed that oral priming was specific for two naturally occurring strains, while a third engineered strain did not induce any priming effect. Our data demonstrate that oral immune priming with a non-infectious bacterial agent can be specific, but the priming effect is not universal across all bacterial strains.

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The lady beetles are an outstand predatory group among the natural enemies applied as biological control agents against arthropod pests. The lady beetle Tenuisvalvae notata (Mulsant), is a predator of Pseudococcidae and recently was found on cotton plants infested with Ferrisia virgata Cockerell (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) and on prickly pear infested with the false red cochineal Dactylopius opuntiae Cockerell (Hemiptera: Dactylopiidae), both in the Semiarid of Pernambuco. Thus, the performance of T. notata preying upon D. opuntiae, F. virgata and eggs of Anagasta kuehniella Zeller (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) was studied. Further, the predation and reproduction when subjected to different condition of F. virgata availability and scarcity was also investigated. Although naturally collected on colonies of false red cocheneal from prickly pear, T. notata nor developed neither reproduced feeding exclusively on this pest. Likewise, eggs of A. kuehniella did not furnish development and reproduction of T. notata. On the other hand, F. virgata of different stages was successfully used as prey by larvae and adult of T. notata. Adult females of T. notata exhibited a type III functional response preying upon 1st-insar nymph of F. virgata and type II functional response when preying upon 3rd-instar and adults. Based on the functional response it is estimated predation rate of 157.8 1st-instar nymphs, 3.6 3rd-instar nymphs, and 2.2 females of F. virgata per day. Feeding on F. virgata 3rd-instar nymphs resulted in 1.23 eggs produced per each mealybug nymph consumed. However, female lady beetles subjected to prey scarcity exhibited switch on reproductive and survival output already with one day of feeding interval depicting a strong relationship of consumption, reproduction and survivorship between T. notata and F. virgata. The high performance of T. notata preying upon F. virgata and her functional response, in addition the balance of reproduction and survival showed when subjected to prey scarcity, portray T. notata as a feasible predator to control of F. virgata.
Os coccinelídeos predadores se destacam como um dos mais importantes grupos de inimigos naturais empregados no controle biológico de artrópodes pragas. A joaninha Tenuisvalvae notata (Mulsant), espécie nativa da América do sul e predadora de Pseudococcidae, foi recentemente constatada no Semiárido de Pernambuco associada a plantas de algodão infestadas com a cochonilha de listra, Ferrisia virgata Cockerell (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), e em palma forrageira infestada com a falsa cochonilha do carmim, Dactylopius opuntiae Cockerell (Hemiptera: Dactylopiidae). Assim, este trabalho avaliou o desempenho de T. notata sobre D. opuntiae, F. virgata e em ovos de Anagasta kuehniella Zeller (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), bem como determinou seu potencial de predação e reprodução em diferentes condições de disponibilidade da cochonilha F. virgata. Mesmo sendo coletada em colônias da falsa cochonilha do carmim, T. notata não se desenvolveu e nem reproduziu ao predar exclusivamente esta cochonilha. Da mesma forma, ovos de A. kuehniella não foram adequados como alimento para T. notata. Por outro lado, F. virgata em diferentes estágios de desenvolvimento mostrou-se adequada como presa de T. notata, sendo consumida tanto por larvas quanto por adultos desta joaninha. Fêmeas de T. notata exibiram resposta funcional tipo III predando F. virgata de primeiro instar, e tipo II para ninfas de terceiro instar e fêmeas adultas apresentando um consumo estimado de 157,8 ninfas neonatas, 3,6 ninfas de terceiro instar ou 2,2 fêmeas adultas de F. virgata por dia. A alimentação diária em ninfas de terceiro instar de F. virgata resulta na média de 1,23 ovos produzidos para cada ninfa da cochonilha consumida. No entanto, quando as joaninhas são submetidas a diferentes intervalos de oferta de presa, observa-se influência na produção de ovos e sobrevivência já com um dia de intervalo de alimentação, caracterizando uma estreita relação de consumo, reprodução e sobrevivência para a associação T. notata e F. virgata. O desempenho de T. notata predando F. virgata e sua resposta funcional, somado ao balanço reprodutivo e sobrevivência apresentados sob condição de escassez desta presa, demonstra que T. notata é um predador em potencial para o controle de F. virgata.