Development of Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) on rice milling components and by-products: Effects of diet and temperature

Abstract

Development of Tribolium castaneum (Herbst), the red flour beetle, was assessed on different rice components and their various by-products (i.e., diets) commonly found in rice mills, in two separate experiments. In the first experiment, eggs did not develop through to the adult stage on rough rice hulls, paddy rice dust, and milled rice dust, while eggs developed to the adult stage to some extent on rice flour, milled whole kernels, brown rice, milled broken kernels, and bran. For the diets where development occurred, the lowest percentage was on brown rice, and adults that emerged on brown rice had smaller elytra compared to adults emerging on the other diets. In the second experiment, 1–2-day old neonates were exposed on the diets listed above and held at 22, 27, 32, and 37 °C. At all temperatures, development to the pupal and adult stages was slowest on rice flour. At 22 °C, development to those stages took about twice as long compared to development at 27 °C. As temperature increased developmental times were reduced. Even though neonates developed slowest on rice flour adult emergence rates were not affected. Predictive models were used to estimate potential population development on the diets. At 22 and 27 °C, adult size as measured by elytra length was greatest when they developed on bran, while body weight was generally lowest for adults that developed on brown rice. Results show that T. castaneum can utilize rice components and by-products produced during the rice milling process, although not all components or by-products were optimal for development, and emphasis should be placed on cleaning and sanitation to remove food sources to limit infestations. Mill managers can use these results to show the importance of sanitation, and potentially improve overall pest management programs inside the mill.