First record of the development of Sitophilus oryzae on two rodent bait formulations and literature overview of stored product arthropods infestations in rodent baits

Abstract

It is known that rodent baits can be a source of stored product pests in grain stores and food industry facilities. However, a global inventory of stored product arthropod species that infest rodent baits does not exist. This overview showed that at least 7 species from two orders (Lepidoptera and Coleoptera) are able to develop in toxic rodent baits, and no records have been published for mites (Acari) or psocids (Psocoptera). No records were found for arthropods in non-toxic baits. Here, we report for the first time the development of internally feeding Sitophilus oryzae in two cereal formulations of anticoagulant rodent baits: wax block and mixed-diet baits (pellets + grains). The adults of S. oryzae that developed in the mixed-diet bait were significantly smaller than those that emerged from the wax blocks, indicating that the latter is a more suitable formulation for pest development.