Stored-product insects are a perennial problem in retail stores, where they damage and contaminate susceptible merchandise such as food products and animal feed. Historically, pest management in these stores has relied heavily on chemical insecticides, but environmental and health issues have dictated use of safer methods, and these require better monitoring. A monitoring procedure that employs an array of moth and beetle traps combined with spatial (contour) analysis of trap catch was tested in three department stores and two pet stores. The rate of capture increased with the level of infestation but was essentially constant over 4- to 5-d trapping periods. Contour analysis effectively located foci of infestation and reflected population changes produced by applications of the insect growth regulator (S)-hydroprene. The most abundant insects were Plodia interpunctella (Hiibner), Lasioderma serricorne (F.), Oryzaephilus mercator (Fauvel), Tribolium castaneum (Herbst), and Cryptolestes pusillus (Schönherr). The results indicate that contour analysis of trap counts provides a useful monitoring tool for management of storage pests in retail stores. It identifies trouble spots and permits selection, timing, and precision targeting of control measures to achieve maximum pest suppression with minimum pesticide risk. It permits managers and pest control operators to visualize pest problems over an entire store, to monitor changes over time, and to evaluate the effectiveness of control intervention. The contour maps themselves, along with records of control applications and stock rotation, provide permanent documentation of pest problems and the effectiveness of pest management procedures.

The Indianmeal moth, Plodia interpunctella (Hübner), was selected as a representative stored-product moth to test the validity of contour mapping of trap catch for pest monitoring in warehouses and retail stores. Three experiments, each replicated five times, were conducted in a 3.2 by 9.0-m aluminum shed. Each experiment involved placing pupae at a single release point (source) and recording the numbers of emerging adult males captured after 24, 48, and 72 h in each of four pheromone-baited sticky traps. The experiments differed only with respect to the point of release. Distribution of trap catch reflected the general distribution of moths in the shed; and consecutive contour maps tracked their dispersal from the source. As emergence and dispersal progressed, cumulative trap catch increased throughout the shed, but it remained highest near the source. The observed spatial patterns of trap catch relative to sources of infestation and the inverse relationship of trap catch to distance from a source support the validity of contour mapping as a means of monitoring stored-product moths and locating foci of infestation. The relationship between trap catch and distance from a source of infestation was well described by two-parameter exponential decay, both in P. interpunctella and in the previously studied Lasioderma serricorne (F.). Analysis of data from retail pet stores also showed exponential decline in trap catch of P. interpunctella with distance from centers of infestation.

No abstract

The risks posed by chemical pesticides have prompted initiatives to reduce pesticide use, primarily through integrated pest management (IPM). Implementation of IPM for control of stored product insects in retail stores will require regular monitoring to know when, where, and what type of control measures to apply. This need can be met by a combination of trapping and contour analysis of numbers captured in each trap. The objective of contour analysis is to determine patterns of distribution and identify foci of infestation. The principal requirements for monitoring are that contours of trap catch honour the data, predict trap-catch values between traps, and reflect the spatial distribution of the insect population monitored. Trapping studies of Plodia interpunctella in a pet store and Lasioderma serricorne in a shed were used to determine how well these requirements could be met in practice. Contours of trap catch for P. interpunctella fit the data closely and predicted trap catch values between traps well enough to locate and define a major focus of infestation, but a smaller focus of infestation was missed. Contours of trap catch for L. serricorne reflected the spatial distribution of the beetle population. Numbers captured declined with increasing distance from the source of infestation.

The Indianmeal moth, Plodia interpunctella (Hübner), was selected as a representative stored-product moth to test the validity of contour mapping of trap catch for pest monitoring in warehouses and retail stores. Three experiments, each replicated five times, were conducted in a 3.2 by 9.0-m aluminum shed. Each experiment involved placing pupae at a single release point (source) and recording the numbers of emerging adult males captured after 24, 48, and 72 h in each of four pheromone-baited sticky traps. The experiments differed only with respect to the point of release. Distribution of trap catch reflected the general distribution of moths in the shed; and consecutive contour maps tracked their dispersal from the source. As emergence and dispersal progressed, cumulative trap catch increased throughout the shed, but it remained highest near the source. The observed spatial patterns of trap catch relative to sources of infestation and the inverse relationship of trap catch to distance from a source support the validity of contour mapping as a means of monitoring stored-product moths and locating foci of infestation. The relationship between trap catch and distance from a source of infestation was well described by two-parameter exponential decay, both in P. interpunctella and in the previously studied Lasioderma serricorne (F.). Analysis of data from retail pet stores also showed exponential decline in trap catch of P. interpunctella with distance from centers of infestation.