Preference of Tribolium confusum (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) adults to grain patches under constant and rising temperatures

摘要

Heat treatment, an environmental friendly insect control method, has been applied to disinfest grain storage and food processing facilities. Movement of Tribolium confusum adults into grain piles (0.1, 0.5, 1.0, or 5.0 kg oat groats) was investigated at constant temperatures (30, 35, 37.5, 40, 45, or 50 degrees C) or rising temperatures (at a rate of 0.05 degrees C/min from 24 to 54 degrees C in laboratory, or from approximately 30 to 60 degrees C in a mill during a heat treatment). Adults moved among locations, paper surface, surface of grain pile and inside grain pile. There was preference for the grain at <= 37.5 degrees C. No single adult always stayed inside grain piles at 30 degrees C. At rising temperatures, adults preferred grain piles (on the surface of or inside grain piles) and moved into cold grain regardless of adult introduction methods (introduced on surface of groats piles, on paper, or premixed with groats). Rising temperatures did not drive adults out of grain piles during heat treatment. Crown Copyright (C) 2020 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.