The major storage proteins in cereals, prolamins, have an abundance of the amino acids glutamine and proline. Storage pests need specific digestive enzymes to efficiently hydrolyze these storage proteins. Therefore, post-glutamine cleaving peptidases (PGP) were isolated from the midgut of the stored-product pest, Tenebrio molitor (yellow mealworm). Three distinct PGP activities were found in th...

Distribution and movement patterns of several species of stored-product pests in a food processing plant were investigated. The objectives of this study were to determine the temporal and spatial variation in abundance of stored-product pests using pheromone traps; assess the effectiveness of trap type, location, and number on monitoring insect populations; and to evaluate the nature of pheromo...

In 2005 the United States Environmental Protection Agency registered spinosad as a grain protectant at 1 μg(AI)/g. The effectiveness of spinosad at 1 μg(AI)/g against many beetle and moth pests of stored grains is well established. In recent years, several psocid species have emerged as economically important pests in various stored-product environments in many countries, including the United S...

Since Taiwan became a World Trade Organization member in 2002, large quantities of grain have been imported from different countries, and insect pests are frequently intercepted from these imported commodities in quarantine inspection. Because most insects are intercepted as immature forms, morphological identification is problematic; therefore, we developed a DNA identification method based on...

essential oil extracted from the leaves of myrtle, myrtus communis l. (myrtaceae)was tested in vitro for volatile toxicity against two stored-product insects (tribolium confusum and callosobruchus maculatus). the chemical composition of the plant oil was examined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (gc-ms). the major oil components were α-pinene (10.4%), α- terpineol (10.1%), linalool (9.0%...

Acetonic extracts of melon pumpkin, Cucurbita maxima (Duchesne), Sweet Orange, Citrus sinensis (L.) and Sour Orange, Citrus aurantium (L.), were evaluated for insecticidal activity against adults of three stored product pests viz., Sitophilus oryzae (L.), Rhyzopertha dominica (Fabricius) and Tribolium castaneum (Herbst), by filter paper diffusion method (direct contact application) and fumigati...

The relationship between number of holes in a grain probe trap body and capture of stored-grain pests was determined in laboratory tests using adults of the rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae (L.), the sawtoothed grain beetle, Oryzaephilus surinamensis (L.), and the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst). Polyvinylchloride (PVC) probe bodies were attached to electronic sensor heads, and ins...