Detecting Adult (: ) Infestations in a Raisin-Marketing Channell

EDWIN L. SODERSTROM, R. TOM HINSCH! ANTON J. BONGERS! DAVID G. BRANDL, ANDHELEEN HOOGENDORN2 U.S. Department of , Agricultural Research Service, Protection and Quarantine Research Unit, Horticultural Crops Research Laboratory, Fresno, California 93727 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jee/article/80/6/1229/911649 by guest on 29 September 2021

J. Econ.Entomol.80(6): 1229-1232 (1987) ABSTRACT Populations of stored-product in raisin-marketing channels were eval- uated with the (Z-E) 9-12 tetradecadien-I-ol acetate. Sticky traps baited with this pheromone attracted Indianmeal , Plodia interpunctella (Hiibner); , cautella (Walker); raisin moth, (Gregson);Mediterranean moth, Anagasta kuehniella (Zeller); and tobacco moth, elutella (Hiibner). was found in very low numbers in a U.S. raisin-processing plant. Raisin moths were plentiful outside the plant, but were rarely found inside the plant. During transport of raisins to Rotterdam, The Netherlands, only almond moths were captured. Western European warehouses were infested with Indianmeal moth, tobacco moth, , and almond moth. Only one raisin moth was trapped in these warehouses.Pheromone-baited traps are valuable for detection of infestation in marketing channels, and their use could lead to improved insect control programs and thus cleaner raisin products for the consumer.

KEY WORDS Insecta, phycitinae, raisins, insect detection

INDIANMEALMOTH, Plodia interpunctella (Hiib- bottom liners of the traps were used. A slow-release, ner) is the most frequently reported insect in pro- hollow-fiber formulation of Indianmeal moth pher- cessed raisins. Losses caused by during mar- omone containing 3.6 mg of (2-E) 9-12 tetra- keting are normally charged to the raisin processors. decadien-l-01 acetate per emitter (Albany Inter- At present, insect detection methods are visual in- national Inc.) was placed under the top of the trap spection of the processing facilities and inspection or on a piece of cardboard (2 by 2 em) placed on of returned merchandise. In many cases the source the sticky surface of the trap bottom. of the original infestation is difficult to determine Insect Detection in a Processing Plant. Phero- because not all raisin handlers, shippers, and re- mone traps were distributed during 1983 and 1984 ceivers are inspected. in a raisin-processing plant located near Fresno, The insect sex pheromone, (2-E) 9-12 tetra- Calif. Distribution of traps was both outdoors and decadien-l-ol acetate, produced by the female In- indoors. Outdoors, one trap each was placed on the dianmeal moth, is attractive to male moths of the north, east, and west side of the plant perimeter, same as well as those of four other moth and one trap was placed near the center of the species (Vick et al. 1981). These species are almond plant. The plant is approximately 400 by 400 m. moth, Cadra cautella (Walker); Mediterranean flour Indoors, one trap was placed in a storage building moth, Anagasta kuehniella (Zeller); raisin moth, for cardboard cartons and four in the main pro- Cadra figulilella (Gregson); and tobacco moth, cessing plant. Of the traps in the main plant, one (Hiibner). This pheromone is was in the storage area for processed raisins, one commercially available for use in insect traps. was in the shipping area, and two were in the Our research evaluates the efficacy of traps bait- packaging area. Traps were placed ca. 2 m above ed with synthetic pheromone for detecting moth the floor level. infestations in raisins in the marketing system. Traps were serviced weekly and pheromone was replaced at 6-wk intervals. Insects were identified Materials and Methods to species on the basis of color patterns and genital Wing-type sticky traps (Scentry) were used in characteristics as illustrated in Heinrich (1956). all tests except in van containers where only the Insect Detection in Van Containers. Insect traps were placed in 47- or 95-m3 van containers (5 in I Thisartidt' pn'st'ntstht' rt'sultsof researchonly.Mentionof 1983 and 10 in 1984) loaded with cartons of pro- a propriptaryproductdoesnot constitutean endorsementor a cessed natural seedless, organic seedless, or golden rt'commt'ndationby the USDA. •USDA-ARS,InternationalActivities,EuropeanMarketingRe- raisins originating from the raisin-processing plant st'archCenter,Rotterdam,TheNetherlands. near Fresno, Calif., and destined for Western Eu- -() c - 30 a. ••• E 20 • • • • • ••••• • •• • • C1J •••• • • ••••• • 10 •• 01 > •• c( 1983

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Time (weeks) Fig. 1. Ambient temperature and average number of male raisin moths captured at four outdoor sites at a raisin plant near Fresno, Calif. December 1987 SODERSTROM ET AL.: DETECTING INSECT INFEST ATIONS IN RAISINS 1231 rope. Traps were placed in an empty cardboard the field to the processing plant and stored out- carton that had eight openings (3 cm diameter) in doors. When we did capture raisin moths indoors, the top and sides. The openings provided a route we were usually able to relate that capture to open for pheromone emission and entry of moths. Inside doors or windows. It is our opinion that raisin moths the carton, the trap was stapled to the bottom, and captured inside the plant originated outside the a 30-d temperature recorder was fastened against plant, were attracted to the pheromone, and en- one corner. The carton was closed and secured with tered the processing areas through openings in the tape to the top surface of the raisin load just before building. the doors of the van container were closed. The This raisin-processing plant has a sanitation pro- van containers were immediately moved by truck gram which includes regular fumigation and aero- to a rail head or directly to a port for shipment to sol application, fan and screen barriers in the en- Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The traps and tem- tryways, and a commodity flow system that keeps Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jee/article/80/6/1229/911649 by guest on 29 September 2021 perature recorders were removed about 1 mo after incoming material isolated from the processed shipment when the van containers were unloaded. product. The quality of the sanitation program is Insect Detection in European Warehouses. Sev- reflected in the small number of insects captured en European warehouses (in five cities) used to store indoors. raisins and other agricultural commodities were Insect Detection in Van Containers. Of all the evaluated for moth infestations. Warehouse loca- van container loads of raisins shipped from Cali- tions and the number of traps were Brussels, Bel- fornia to Rotterdam, insects were captured in only gium, 4; Antwerp, Belgium, 2; Rotterdam, The one. The nine moths captured were almond moths, Netherlands, 5; Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 4; which were not captured in the California raisin Marseilles, France, 3; Marseilles, France, 4; and plant. Van containers were normally inspected for Hamburg, West Germany, 6. cleanliness and were surface sprayed for insect con- Traps were placed in the overhead space near trol before loading. raisin stores or other possible sources of insect in- The shipment in which we captured almond festation. Products stored in these warehouses were moths had some peculiarities which caused us to imported from worldwide sources. These com- scrutinize the source of the insects. First, the species modities were inspected visually and the phero- captured was not trapped in the California raisin- mone traps were replaced at ca. 3-wk intervals. processing plant. Second, this trap and the top sur- face of the load were unusual in that they were coated with a fine "dust" that was fibrous under Results and Discussion microscopic examination; all other loads did not Insect Detection in a Processing Plant. Indi- have this dust coating, which may indicate an un- anmeal moths were captured from April through sealed container. Third, 7 d elapsed between the October of both years. Indoors, 18 moths were cap- arrival of the van container in Rotterdam and its tured in 1983 and 6 moths in 1984; outdoors, 6 subsequent opening. Fourth, the warehouse trap- were captured in 1983 and 73 in 1984. Indoors, ping in Europe indicated that almond moths are the greatest number captured were in the shipping present in some warehouses. Thus, the insects were area. These moths probably came from outdoors, probably captured after the arrival of the van entering through open doors during truck and rail- container in Europe. car loading. The period from loading the containers to arrival Raisin moths were more than 75-fold as abun- in Rotterdam was usually ca. 30 d. Temperature dant as Indianmeal moths (Fig. 1). Raisin moths extremes varied from shipment to shipment, but were captured from the end of March through temperatures within the van containers would be November; the first peak capture occurred during expected to support insect life. In some cases, cold May and June 1983 and April and May 1984. Max- temperatures might prevent or delay adult emer- imal capture occurred in May and June 1983 and gence if larvae or pupae were present. Tempera- October 1984. For both years, 99.5% of all raisin tures in the headspace of the closed van containers moths captured (9,002) were in traps located out- reached a high of 49°C during the warmer months side the buildings. in California. A low temperature of OOCoccurred Indianmeal moths and raisin moths were the in February. Insect flight and migration within only Phycitinae captured. The other species at- loads would not occur at these temperature ex- tracted to this pheromone are known to be present tremes but could occur at the more moderate tem- in this geographical area (unpublished data), but peratures that prevailed during other times in the not generally in great numbers. transit period. Raisin moths are pests of commodities with high Insect Detection in European Warehouses. Eu- moisture content, such as raisins drying in the vine- ropean warehouses were infested with Indianmeal yard. As the commodities are dried, they become moth, tobacco moth, Mediterranean flour moth, less suitable for this species (Simmons & Nelson and almond moth (Table 1). These four species also 1975). The raisin moths that were captured in our were detected by Stratil et a1. (1984) in warehouses traps probably came from two sources-nearby located in West Germany. Indianmeal moth was vineyards, and picking boxes and bins brought from most abundant, followed by tobacco moth, Medi- 1232 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC Vol. 80, no. 6

Table I. Detection of storage moths in European warehouses from July through October 1984

Average no. (SE) of moths/trap/3-wk trapping period" Insect species Warehouse!>

A B C D E F GC Indianmeal moth 5.4 (4.4) 0.7 (0.8) 22.4 (27.1) 2.7 (2.1) 288.8 (54.6) 139.2 (91.2) 46.4 (27.5) Tobacco moth 2.0(2.6) 2.5 (2.8) 3.7 (4.5) 6.8 (9.8) 10.0 (7.2) 6.0 (5.8) 9.1 (8.2) Mediterranean lIour moth 2.5 (1.0) 0.6 (0.4) 0.3 (0.4) 0.2 (0.2) 1.6 (1.3) 3.2 (1.0) 2.9 (2.5) Almond moth 0 0 1.6 (2.7) 0 2.3 (1.9) 1.8 (1.4) 0.2 (0.3)

" Average of five trapping periods. b A, Belgium (Brussels); B, Belgium (Antwerp); C, Netherlands (Rotterdam); D, Netherlands (Rotterdam); E, France (Marseilles); F,

France (Marseilles); G, Germany (Hamburg). Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jee/article/80/6/1229/911649 by guest on 29 September 2021 CA single raisin moth was captured during August in Hamburg, Germany.

terranean flour moth, and almond moth; popula- References Cited tions generally were largest in August and Septem- ber. Indianmeal moths were most abundant in the Heinrich, C. 1956. American moths of the subfamily warehouses located in France, which may be due Phycitinae. U.S. Nat. Mus. Bull. 207. Smithson. Inst., to the warm at these locations. Sanitary Washington, D.C. conditions and treatments in all ware- Simmons, P. & H. D. Nelson. 1975. Insects on dried houses were not ascertained and cannot be corre- . U.S. Dep. Agric. Handb. 464. Strati!, H. B., B. Loppnow, H. H. Stratil & H. Grabner. lated with insect abundance. However, in many 1984. Untersuchungen tiber die verwendung von warehouses, foodstuffs from worldwide locations pheromonfallen als befallsindikatoren bei einigen were placed adjacent to raisins and may have con- vorratsschadlichen ztinslerarten (Lep., ), tributed to infestations, Anz. Schaedl. D. Pflanzensch. Umweltschutz 57: 150- This study explored the feasibility of using sex 153. pheromone traps specific for stored-product phy- Vick, K. W., J. A. ColTeh, R. W. Mankin & E. L. So- citine moths to monitor these insect populations as derstrom. 1981. Recent developments in the use the commodity (raisins) is moved through the mar- of to monitor Plodia interpunctella and ket channel. Our data indicate that pheromone Ephestia cautella. In R. Mitchell [ed.], Management of insect pests with semiochemicals. Plenum, New traps would be a useful tool for detecting sources York. of insect infestation throughout marketing chan- nels and would assist plant and warehouse man- Received for publication 3 November 1986; accepted agers in evaluating their sanitation and insect con- 11 August 1987. trol programs. Proper insect control would provide cleaner and more wholesome food products for consumers.