THE RESPONSE of the CADELLE Tenebroides Mauritanicus (L.) IN
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THE RESPONSE OF THE CADELLE Tenebroides mauritanicus (L.) IN THE VACUUM FUMIGATION OF JUTE WITH METHYL BROMIDE by Hector Alexander Urquhart Monro B.S.A. M.Sc. (McGill) A Thesis sutmitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research of McGill University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of PhilosoPQy. April, 1958. - ii - lm1 PNEUMATICAL ~ERIMENTS ABOUT RESPIRATION XVIII Of Wbat Ha.ppened to Sane Creeping Insects in our Vacuum Notwithstanding the great Variety of Repliills, that Nature does al.most everywhere produce; yet the inconvenient time and place, wherein the following Tryals were made, supplyed me with so few, that about these Animal s I .find among 1liY' Adversaria no more than the ensuing Notes. Experiment I. We took tive or six Ca.terpillars or the same sort; but I could not tell to what ultimate species the Writers about insects reterred them. These being put into a se parable Receiver or a moderate size, bad the Air drawn away !rom them, and caretully kept fran returning. But notwithstanding this deprivatiœ ot Air, I tound them, about an hour atter, moving to and tro in the Receiver; and even above two hours a.tter that, I could by shaking the Vessel, excite in them some motiœs, tbat I did not suspect to be Convulsive. But looking upon them again sane time betore I was to go to bed ( which maybe was about 10 hours arter they were tirst included) they seemed to be quite dead, and, though the Air were forthwith restored to them, they continued to appear so, till I went to Bed; yet, tor Reasons elsewhere expressed, I thought tit to tcy, whether time might not at length recover them, and leaving than all night in the Receiver, I fomd the next day, tbat 3, if not 4 of them, were pertectly alive. Robert Boyle Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Volume V, PP• 2051-2056. 1670. - iii - PREFACE The work described in this thesis was done at the Science Service Laboratory, Canada Department of Agriculture, London, Ontario. Dr. Hubert Martin, Director of this Laboratory, kindly afforded full faci lities for the prosecution of the study and also gave me valuable advice. Dr. E.M. DuPorte, Ehtomology Department, Macdonald College, McGill University, waa my supervisor of studies; the investigation itself and the preparation of the thesis were carried out under his direction. I am grateful to him for his interest and encouragement. The equipn.ent used in this study was made .fran my own original design. In the experimental work described I was helped by three technical assistants in the Fumigation Section of the London laboratory. Mr. C. T. Buckland was responsible for the maintenance and mechanical operation of the apparatus. Mr. T. Dumas, Assistant Chemist, made the chemical analyses, as described in the text, for the determination of the methyl brcmide concentrations. Mr. E. Upitis was responsible for rearing the large populations of insects used, and for preparing them for use in the experimenta. He also made the drawings .for ali the diagrams and charts used to illustrate this thesis. I am also grateful to Mr. John Gates, Staff Photographer of the London Laboratory, for the photographie work. Landon, Ontario. April, 1958. H.A.U. Monro. -iv- McGILL UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES AND RESEARCH Ph.D. ENTOMOLOGY Hector Alexander Urquhart Monro THE RESPONSE OF THE CADELLE Tenebroides mauritanicus (L.) IN THE VACUID-1 FUMIGATION OF JUTE WITH MEl'HYL BROMIDE STAT:ElOOT OF CONTRIBUTION TO KNOWLEDGE The work described in this thesis bas contributed to scientific know ledge in the follow:i.ng ways: (1) For the first time it has been shawn that the response of insecte to poison gas at reduced pressures may follow a complex rather than a regular curve when mortality is related to pressure. (2) A zone of high resistance between 30 and 50 mm. has been dsnon strated w1 th larvae and adulte of Tenebroides mauritanicus (L.). Resistance in this zone is related to the effects of reduced pressure and is connected in some way with reduction of the visible activity of the insects at these pressures. The res panse in this zœe is apparently independant of humidity. (3) It has been shawn that at pressures lower than the zone of high resistance the mortality of T. mauritanicus is due more to des sication than to the action of the fumigant. (4) With .!• mauritanicus there is an optimum pressure in the region of 75 to 150 mm., at which the insects are more susceptible to poisoning. This optimum occurs at a pressure where visible ac- - v - tivity is normal; below this pressure there is a progressive reduction in activity. (5) The responses of two other insect species, represented by the larvae of Tenebrio molitor L. and the adults of Tribolium confusum Duv., are similar to those of !• mauritanicus but they occur at different pressure ranges. (6) In the vacuum fumigation of jute the operating pressure and the humidity in different parts of the system are round to affect the mortality results more than the depth of the material which the fwni.gant has to penetrate. (7) Another effective technique of vacuum fumigation has been found. In this technique, after an initial pressure of 25 mm. is pro duced in the system, atmospheric pressure is restored graduall.y over a period of two hours. This method was the most efficient of those studied for the treatment o.f' bales of jute of low mois ture content. (S) This work has shown that in the study of vacuum tumi.gaticn the reactions o.f' the insects may vary greatly with comparati vely small changes in the pressure of the system. Because the bio logical. aspect is critical, research in this field should not be carried out by chanical means alone. April, l95S. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION Definition of Vacuum Fumigation ••••••••••••••••••••••••• Page 1 REVI:Eli OF PREVIOUS INVESTIGATIONS Erfects of Reduced Pressures •••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 3 Effects of Fumigants at Reduced Pressures ••••••••••••••• 7 Vacuum Fumigation of Infested Material•••••••••••••••••• 9 The Ro1e of Sorption in Vacuum Fumigation••••••••••••••• 13 The Prob1em of Residua1 Vapeurs••••••••••••••••••••••••• 13 EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 15 MATER! AL Insects•••••••••••••••••••·•••••·••••••••••••••••••••••• 17 Jute•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 19 Fumigant •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 20 MEI'HODS Fumigation Apparatus•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 21 Temperature Regulation•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 26 Regulation of HumiditY•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 27 Dispensing the Fumigant••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 28 Designation of Fumigation Pressures••••••••••••••••••••• 29 Exposure Period••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 29 Aeration of Chambers•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••·•••• 30 Handling of Insects ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 31 Determination of MortalitY••••••••••·••••••••••••••••••• 33 Preparation of Ba1es•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 35 Aeration of Bales••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 37 RESPONSE TO REDUCED PRESSURES ALONE•••••••••••••••••••••••• 37 TOXICITY OF METHYL BROMIDE AT REDUCED PRESSURES Preliminar,y Experimenta••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 45 Effect of Different Pressures ••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 52 Effects l'fith other Insect Species • • ••• • • •• • • ••• • • • • • • •• • 57 -vii- MOISTURE CCNDITIONS IN B.ALES OF JUTE Use of Jute Squares as Indicators•••••••••••••••••••••• Page 62 Moisture Changes in Ba1es•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 63 VACUUM FUMIGATION OF BALES Preliminary Experimenta•••••••••••••••••·•••••••••••••• 67 Sustained-Vacuum Fumigation•••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 74 Atmospheric Pressure Restoréd After a Period ••••••••••• 79 Gradual Restoration of Atmospheric Pressure•••••••••••• 81 Immediate Restoration of Atmospheric Pressure •••••••••• 83 Simultaneous Introduction•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 84 DIRECT COMPARISON OF TECHNIQUES Bales of Low Moisture Content•••••••••••••••••••••••••• 87 Moist Ba1es•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 91 INTERACTION OF FUMIGANT AND COMMODITY Method of Chemical Analysis•••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 91 Concentrations in Different Methode•••••••••••••••••••• 94 DISCUSSION•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 103 SUMMARY••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 111 REFERENCES••••·••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••·•••••• 114 THE RESPONSE OF THE CADELLE Tenebroides mauritanicus (L.) IN THE VACUUM FUMIGATION OF JUTE WITH METHYL BROMIDE INTRODUCTION The present study was suggested by some observations made during field trials to test a new technique of vacuum fumigation proposed by Brown and Heuser (1953a & b). The resulta of these trials, which were described by Monro and King (1954), showed that in some treatments the distributicn of insect morta.lities within pressed bales of jute bags was the reverse of what was expected. '!he insects used in the trials were mature larvae of the cadelle TEnebroides mauritanicus (L.) and of the granary weevil Sitophilus granarius (L.). The mortalities at or near the centre of the bales were higher than those recorded near the surface or in the free air space of .the fumigation chamber. In fumiga tion work, done either at atmospheric or reduced pressure, it has been considered that the main problem is to effect satisfactory penetration of the gas into the camnodity, and that insect mortalities may be lower in the centre of a package than at the periphery. This unexpected finding was considered of sufficient significance