Determining Host Suitability of Pecan for Stored-Product Insects

Abstract

A no-choice test was performed to determine survival and reproductive capacity of stored-product insect pests on pecan, Carya illinoensis (Wangenheim) Koch. Insects used were Indianmeal moth, Plodia interpunctella (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae); sawtoothed grain beetle, Oryzaephilus surinamensis (L.) (Coleoptera: Cucujidae); red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae); lesser grain borer, Rhyzopertha dominica (F.) (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae); and rusty grain beetle, Cryptolestes ferrugineus (Stephens) (Coleoptera: Laemophloeidae). Fifty adults of each beetle species or 10 reproductive pairs of P. interpunctella adults were placed in 0.5-liter containers with either whole-shell pecans, cracked-shell pecans, randomly selected in-shell pecans, pecan nutmeats, cracked wheat, or glass beads and held at 28 degrees C, 60-70% relative humidity, and 16:8 (L:D) photoperiod for 2, 4, 6, and 8 wk. Four replications of each insect-diet-interval combination were performed. Larvae of P. interpunctella, O. surinamensis, T. castaneum, C. ferrugineus, and adult P. interpunctella and O. surinamensis developed on cracked and nutmeat pecan diets. R. dominica did not complete reproduction on pecans. Knowledge that these pests can reproduce on stored pecan will assist pecan growers, accumulators, and storage facilities in preventing insect outbreaks on their product.

Biology, Ecology, and Behavior of Rusty Grain Beetle (Cryptolestes ferrugineus (Stephens))

“…However, the level of cracking on the corn did not significantly affect the survival of the immature stages of C. ferrugineus [147]. Shufran et al [148] performed a laboratory experiment on the host suitability of pecan and wheat for various stored-product insects and reported that C. ferrugineus were observed to produce more immatures on unsorted pecan, cracked pecan, and nutmeats than on in-shell pecan; however, only fewer adults were observed on different types of pecans than wheat. This implies that pecans lack certain dietary requirements for C. ferrugineus.…”