Abstract
Most stored-grain pest insects increase their population within a relatively short time, causing serious damage to stored products. Sitophilus oryzae (L.) is one of the world’s major stored-grain pest insects and was chosen as the model insect for our studies. This study compared the efficacy of three different dusts under laboratory conditions: aluminum dust (nanostructured alumina), DiatomiD®, and Protect-It® (commercial diatomaceous earth). Parental survival, grain damage, and progeny production were measured at 250 and 500 ppm in treated wheat. The tests were conducted in 400 mL galvanized steel jars, an experimental model used for the first time to measure the effectiveness of nanostructured alumina, since most studies have been typically performed in small petri dishes. Parental survival obtained was highest in the untreated controls, followed in decreasing order by DiatomiD®, Protect-It®, and nanostructured alumina (NSA). NSA caused the greatest mortality. All treatments significantly reduced grain weight loss and frass production in wheat infested by S. oryzae. The degree of progeny (F1) suppression was directly related to the product and treatment rate, progeny being significantly suppressed by NSA in wheat followed by Protect-It® and DiatomiD®. Therefore, NSA had a greater impact on insect population dynamics.
Highlights
Stored grain insect pests cause damage to grain during storage through their feeding habits and metabolism, producing heat and moisture accumulation, and creating damage hotspots in grain, which result in substantially reduced grain quality by spoilage, reduced germinability, and increased microbial infestation
Parental survival after a seven-day exposure to 250 ppm treated wheat ranged between 83% in DiatomiD®, 73.2% in Protect-it®, and 36% in nanostructured alumina (NSA)
We found that a similar amount of time was required for the dusts to attain 100% mortality in steel jars at a concentration of 500 ppm compared to previous studies using Petri dishes at 27 ± 1 ◦ C and 75% relative humidity (RH) [41]
Summary
Stored grain insect pests cause damage to grain during storage through their feeding habits and metabolism, producing heat and moisture accumulation, and creating damage hotspots in grain, which result in substantially reduced grain quality by spoilage, reduced germinability, and increased microbial infestation. The extent of grain damage depends on the voraciousness of each insect pest species and the rate of population growth [1,2,3,4]. Most stored-grain pest insects are able to increase their population within a relatively short time, causing serious damage to stored products. Among the stored grain insect pests, Sitophilus oryzae (L.) is one of the world’s major stored grain pest insects [5,6]. Despite the rapid incorporation of nanotechnology into agriculture and crop protection in the last ten years and its presentation as an innovative tool for pest control, nanotechnology applied to pest management remains a challenge [8,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29].
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