University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln U.S. Department of Agriculture: Agricultural Publications from USDA-ARS / UNL Faculty Research Service, Lincoln, Nebraska 2007 Biology and management of Plodia interpunctella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in stored products S. Mohandass Kansas State University F. H. Arthur USDA-ARS, [email protected] K. Y. Zhu Kansas State University, [email protected] James E. Throne USDA-ARS, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usdaarsfacpub Mohandass, S.; Arthur, F. H.; Zhu, K. Y.; and Throne, James E., "Biology and management of Plodia interpunctella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in stored products" (2007). Publications from USDA-ARS / UNL Faculty. 1981. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usdaarsfacpub/1981 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the U.S. Department of Agriculture: Agricultural Research Service, Lincoln, Nebraska at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Publications from USDA-ARS / UNL Faculty by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. ARTICLE IN PRESS Journal of Stored Products Research 43 (2007) 302–311 www.elsevier.com/locate/jspr Review Biology and management of Plodia interpunctella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in stored products$ S. Mohandassa, F.H. Arthurb,Ã, K.Y. Zhuc, J.E. Throneb aDepartment of Architecture, Planning, and Design, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA bUSDA-ARS, Grain Marketing and Production Research Center, 1515 College Avenue, Manhattan, KS-66506, USA cDepartment of Entomology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA Accepted 10 August 2006 Abstract Plodia interpunctella (Hu¨bner), the Indian meal moth, is a world-wide insect pest of stored-products and processed food commodities. It can infest a variety of products and is perhaps the most economically important insect pest of processed food. In this review, we summarize the biology of P. interpunctella, discuss oviposition and development in relation to temperature, environment and food source, examine studies involving sampling and detection, describe various aspects of integrated control, summarize the current knowledge regarding management of P. interpunctella, and address potential areas for new research. The use of reduced-risk insecticides, non-chemical control, targeted pest management through spatial analysis and other means of identifying specific locations of infestations, and computer models that simulate population growth, are examples of some of those new areas of research. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Keywords: Plodia interpunctella; Biology; Control; Research Contents 1. Introduction . 302 2. Biology. 303 3. Sampling, detection, and distribution . 304 4. Management of P. interpunctella ................................................................. 305 5. Summary and conclusions . 307 Acknowledgments . 308 References . 308 1. Introduction The Indian meal moth, Plodia interpunctella (Hu¨bner), is a major economic insect pest of stored products and is $This document reports the results of research only. Mention of a found on every continent except Antarctica (Rees, 2004). proprietary product or trade name does not constitute a recommendation There are no records suggesting that P. interpunctella could or endorsement by the United Sates Department of Agriculture or by migrate or disperse over continental distances. However, Kansas State University. ÃCorresponding author. Tel.: +785 776 2783; fax: +785 537 5584. P. interpunctella has been found within infested commod- E-mail address: [email protected] (F.H. Arthur). ities in commercial ocean freight shipments (Schulten and 0022-474X/$ - see front matter Published by Elsevier Ltd. doi:10.1016/j.jspr.2006.08.002 ARTICLE IN PRESS S. Mohandass et al. / Journal of Stored Products Research 43 (2007) 302–311 303 Roorda, 1984) and in food products imported into the key for separating the eggs from those of other common United Kingdom from Africa (Cox, 1979). stored-product insects. One of the first comprehensive scientific studies of Oviposition behavior in P. interpunctella is influenced by P. interpunctella was undertaken by Hamlin et al. (1931), food odor (Phillips and Strand, 1994), and eggs are laid on who categorized the insect as a pest of grain, grain-based or near the food surface, often spatially aggregated in some crops, and more than 20 different nuts, fruits, and candies fashion (Mullen and Arbogast, 1977; Arbogast and from the agricultural system in the state of California in the Mullen, 1978). Deseo (1976) showed fecundity of United States of America (USA). They also described the P. interpunctella is increased by food odor and that the economic consequences of infestations through returned eggs are laid in batches near the source of the odor. infested products. The products or groups of products that Orientation of adult P. interpunctella towards oviposition have been reported to be infested by P. interpunctella are sites could be based on primary host-derived or secondary listed in several publications (Johnson et al., 1992, 1995; conspecific-insect-derived chemical cues. Phillips and Sedlacek et al., 1996; Nansen and Phillips, 2003, 2004; Strand (1994) found that adult P. interpunctella oriented Nansen et al., 2004a). Plodia interpunctella is an external towards food odors and laid more eggs on substrates feeder. The larvae continuously spin a silken web both containing food than on those without food, and more eggs inside and on top of the food surface, and feed within the were laid on dishes that contained conspecific larval web. The webbing contains larval excreta (frass) and exuvia secretions. The adults may lay their eggs near the food (cast skins), and gives an unpleasant odor to the infested surface when the food is inaccessible due to packaging or commodity. The infested commodity is sometimes covered other barriers, or when the food odors are weak (Silhacek on the surface with a thick mat of silken webbing. et al., 2003). The presence of oils can also lead to an Infestations of P. interpunctella can cause direct product increase in oviposition of P. interpunctella (Nansen and loss and indirect economic costs through pest control costs, Phillips, 2003). Fecundity of P. interpunctella differs greatly quality losses, and consumer complaints (Phillips et al., from one study to another and is dependent upon several 2000a). factors, such as type of food, size of the female, provision In the USA, the continuing loss of chemical insecticides of drinking water, and physiological state of the female through regulatory action, new laws and interpretations of moths (Mbata, 1985). As with other biological parameters those laws, economic costs of pesticide regulations, and for P. interpunctella, there is considerable variation among consumer preferences and expectations, have important laboratory studies regarding fecundity. Mbata (1985) consequences for the management of P. interpunctella and reported that maximum fecundity occurred at 30 1C, Bell other stored-product insects (Arthur, 1996). The impend- (1975) documents successful breeding but not maximum ing loss of the fumigant methyl bromide through com- fecundity at 30 1C, and Johnson et al. (1992, 1995) show pliance with the Montreal Protocol (Anonymous, 2004) egg laying up to 31 1C, dependent in part on the rearing will undoubtedly further affect management programs for diet. Environmental diurnal cycles and circadian rhythms P. interpunctella, accelerating the demand for new control apparently have little influence on oviposition in strategies (Phillips et al., 2000a, b). The objectives of this P. interpunctella, in contrast to other pyralid moth species review are to: (1) summarize and synthesize the informa- (Bell, 1981). tion regarding biology and control in a review format; and The food source is obviously an important factor for (2) to discuss potential areas of new research on manage- determining fecundity and other biological parameters. ment and control of P. interpunctella. Allotey and Goswami (1990) recorded mean fecundities of 96.8 on wheat and 174.2 on broken maize, which are much lower than the mean fecundities of 258, 275, and 280 when 2. Biology the young larvae were reared on walnuts, almonds, and wheat bran, respectively (Johnson et al., 1992). In Plodia interpunctella is a pyralid moth in the sub-family laboratory experiments, the percentage egg hatch also Phycitinae. Most researchers and workers with stored- varies according to the type of commodity used for rearing product insects are familiar enough with the species that younger stages. On pistachios and almonds, the egg hatch detailed depictions of the life stages are not needed in this was 88% and 96%, respectively (Johnson et al., 1992), review. A general description of all life stages was first while up to 98.6% of the eggs hatched from adults whose given by Hamlin et al. (1931), and there are several more younger stages were reared on different commodities recent summaries and descriptions (Rees, 2004). Detailed (Allotey and Goswami, 1990). The newly hatched larvae morphological descriptions of larvae, pupae and adults quickly disperse to find food (Sedlacek et al., 1996), and were given in Richards and Thomson (1932) and in Hinton first instars can invade cans containing food through (1943), and Heinrich (1956) describes adult wing venation pinholes of diameter 0.39–0.45 mm (Tsuji, 1998, 2000). The