View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by K-State Research Exchange insects Article Efficacy of Controlled Atmosphere Treatments to Manage Arthropod Pests of Dry-Cured Hams Md. Mahbub Hasan 1,2, Michael J. Aikins 1, Wes Schilling 3 and Thomas W. Phillips 1,* 1 Department of Entomology, Kansas State University, 123W. Waters Hall, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA;
[email protected] (M.M.H.);
[email protected] (M.J.A.) 2 Department of Zoology, Rajshahi University, Rajshahi 6205, Bangladesh 3 Department of Food Science, Nutrition and Health Promotion, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS 39762, USA;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +1-785-532-4720 Academic Editors: Nickolas Kavallieratos, Vincenzo Palmeri, Christos Athanassiou and Orlando Campolo Received: 4 July 2016; Accepted: 24 August 2016; Published: 2 September 2016 Abstract: Research here explored the use of controlled atmospheres (CA) for managing arthropod pests that infest dry-cured hams. Experiments were conducted with low oxygen (O2) achieved with low pressure under a vacuum, high carbon dioxide (CO2), and ozone (O3). Results showed that both low O2 and high CO2 levels required exposures up to 144 h to kill 100% of all stages of red-legged ham beetle, Necrobia rufipes (De Geer) (Coleoptera: Cleridae) and ham mite Tyrophagus putrescentiae ◦ (Schrank) (Sarcoptiformes: Acaridae) at 23 C. In addition, both low O2 and high CO2 had no significant mortality against the ham beetle and ham mites at short exposures ranging from 12 to 48 h. Ham beetles were more tolerant than ham mites to an atmosphere of 75.1% CO2 and low pressure of 25 mm Hg, which imposed an atmosphere estimated at 0.9% O2.