Species Composition, Temporal Abundance and Distribution of Insect Captures Inside and Outside Commercial Peanut Shelling Facilities

Abstract

Insect populations were studied within two commercial peanut shelling facilities located in the southeastern United States. Commercially available pheromone/kairomone-baited dome traps and pheromone-baited flight traps were deployed throughout processing and shipping portions of the shelling plants and serviced weekly over one year. Lasioderma serricorne, Tribolium castaneum, Typhaea stercorea, Carpophilus spp., Plodia interpunctella and Cadra cautella were the most common captures across locations. Lasioderma serricorne made up 87% and 88% of all captures in dome traps in plants one and two, respectively. While L. serricorne was not captured during the winter months in flight traps, it was captured with near 100% frequency in dome traps, suggesting that populations persisted throughout the year inside the facilities. Tribolium castaneum populations were active year round. Across insect species and trap type, temperature was a significant covariate for explaining variation in insect counts. After accounting for the effect of temperature, there were always more insects captured in the processing portions of the facilities compared to the shipping areas. A negative linear relationship was observed between captures of L. serricorne and T. castaneum and trap distance from in-shell peanuts entering the shelling facilities. Conversely, fungivores were more evenly distributed throughout all parts of the shelling plants. These data suggest that management efforts should be focused where in-shell peanuts enter to reduce breeding and harborage sites for grain feeding insects.

Sampling Lasioderma serricorne (Coleoptera: Anobiidae) in 2 coffee bean warehouses in New Jersey

“…Thus, Warehouse 2 had much lower relative abundance of L. serricorne than Warehouse 1. Lasioderma serricorne was also found co-occur with P. interpunctella in a botanicals warehouse and peanut shelling facility (Arbogast et al 2002, Abdelghany et al 2010, Perez et al 2020). Lasioderma serricorne activity exhibited a seasonal pattern and the population size remained stable in both warehouses during the study period except for a large increase during weeks 40–42 (October) in 2020.…”

Recent Advances in Postharvest Pest Biology and Management

“…Perez et al reported on population dynamics and the temporal abundance of postharvest pests on peanuts within two commercial shelling facilities located in the southeastern United States [2]. In order to institute an effective pest management program in any postharvest system, active pest monitoring, the correct identification of pests, and shifts in pest populations with temperature and time have to be understood [7].…”

“…More insects were found in the processing areas of the plants, and increased temperature was highly correlated with increased pest populations in the plants. The study concluded that pest management efforts should be concentrated at the entrance point for in-shell peanuts into the plants [2].…”

“…Common factors influencing research in postharvest commodity protection are the desire to increase the storability of harvested grains, thus ensuring food availability to sectors of the population that are at risk, and a reduction in pesticide residues in produce and processed food. Recent studies have focused on understanding pest composition and dynamics in storage facilities [2], the efficacy of applications of chemical pesticides and terpenes on the regulation of pest populations, and the modification of pest behavior resulting from treatment with pesticides and growth regulators [3][4][5][6].…”