TECHNOLOGIES FOR MANAGEMENT OF DERMESTID BEETLES (GROUP TO WHICH KHAPRA BEETLE BELONG) ATTACKING STORED PRODUCT

摘要

Dermestid are members of a family of insects that are recorded on varied stored product materials especially on silkworm grainage. A common Dermestid of Quarantine importance in India is Khapra beetle, Trogoderma granarium Everts (Coleoptera: Dermestidae) attacking rice, wheat, broken pulses, soybean, coriander, etc. In Tamil Nadu, occurrence of Khapra beetle is a rare phenomenon. Hence attempts were made to evaluate TNAU gadgets (Mohan, 2004) for management of a Dermestid; Dermestes ater Degeer which has almost similar characters as Khapra beetles and available in large number damaging pierced cocoons with the hope that it will also work for Khapra beetle since both Trogoderma granarium and Dermestes ater have similar characters.