Preventing the Spread of the Almond Moth (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) from Infested Food Debris to Adjacent Uninfested Packages., Using the Parasite Bracon hebetor (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)

Abstract

Small kraft paper bags containing 100 g of cornmeal were exposed as open bags or closed bags with folded or heat-sealed (taped) openings in 44.7-m3 rooms. There were significantly fewer of the folded bags and taped bags infested by the almond moth, Cadra cautella (Walker), when 50 pairs of adults of Bracan hebetor Say were introduced into the test rooms five times at semiweekly intervals. The numbers of moth larvae recovered from the infested bags also were significantly reduced in folded and open bags when the parasites were present. The benefits of making the bags insect tight were obvious in the Bracon-free control room, because significantly fewer taped bags were infested than folded bags and significantly fewer folded bags were infested than open bags. The numbers of moth larvae recovered from the infested, folded bags and taped bags were also significantly lower than the number of moth larvae found in the open bags.