Efficacy of the furanosesquiterpene isofuranodiene against the stored-product insects Prostephanus truncatus (Coleoptera: Bostrychidae) and Trogoderma granarium (Coleoptera: Dermestidae)

Abstract

In plant and animal kingdoms, isofuranodiene is a widespread, lipophilic and volatile furanosesquiterpene endowed with insecticidal properties. In the current study, we evaluated its toxicity against the larger grain borer, Prostephanus truncatus (Horn) (Coleoptera: Bostrychidae) adults and the khapra beetle, Trogoderma granarium Everts (Coleoptera: Dermestidae) adults and larvae at 500 and 1000 ppm. Results showed that the overall mortality of P. truncatus adults exposed to 500 ppm was low, while at the higher dose tested it increased to 56.7% after 7 days of exposure. Notably, isofuranodiene killed 95.6 and 96.7% of the exposed T. granarium adults 5 and 7 days post-exposure at 1000 ppm. On the other side, T. granarium larval mortality did not exceed 24.4 and 37.8% at 500 and 1000 ppm respectively, after 7 days of exposure. Isofuranodiene could be considered further to develop novel green tools against T. granarium adults, since there is a lack of effective grain protectants against this noxious species.