Red flour beetle survival on different food items

Impact of food source on survival of red flour beetles and confused flour beetles (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) exposed to diatomaceous earth.

A series of experiments was conducted to determine the effect of a flour food source on survival of red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst), and confused flour beetle, Tribolium confusum (DuVal), exposed to the labeled rate (0.5 mg/cm2) of Protect-It, a marine formulation of diatomaceous earth. Beetles were exposed at 27 degrees C, and 40, 57, and 75% RH in 62-cm2 petri dishes. When beet...

Strain-specific priming of resistance in the red flour beetle,

Doublesex target genes in the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum

Sex determination cascade in insects terminates with the production of sex-specific protein, Doublesex (Dsx). We identified the dsx homolog (Tcdsx) in Tribolium castaneum. The pre-mRNA of Tcdsx is sex-specifically spliced into three female (Tcdsxf1, Tcdsxf2 and Tcdsxf3) and one male-specific (Tcdsxm) isoforms. Cis-regulatory elements potentially involved in sex-specific splicing of the Tcdsx pr...

Thermal death kinetics of red flour beetle (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae).

While developing radio frequency heat treatments for dried fruits and nuts, we used a heating block system developed by Washington State University to identify the most heat-tolerant life stage of red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst), and to determine its thermal death kinetics. Using a heating rate of 15 degrees C/min to approximate the rapid heating of radio frequency treatments, th...

Rationale to sequence the genome of the red flour beetle,

Overview: In a world of worthy candidates, there are several compelling reasons to sequence the genome of the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum. First and foremost, Tribolium is one of the most sophisticated genetic model organisms among all higher eukaryotes. Among arthropods, only Drosophila offers greater power and flexibility of genetic manipulation. Second, the Tribolium genome sequence...