University of Buea Faculty of Science

Department of Animal Biology and Conservation

ZOO 713: Ecology, morphology and Economic Importance of

Insects

Detrimental Insect and Their control: Storage

pest
By
Ojong-Nkongho Grace M’Ayuk
(SC22P251)

Course Instructor:
2022/2023
Prof. Eric B. Fokam
Dr. Kenko Nkontcheu Daniel
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 Outline

• What are detrimental insects

• Factors Affecting Insect Infestation

• Storage pest of Grain and control

• Storage pest of building and control

• Storage pest of animal products and control

• References

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 What are detrimental insects

• Definition: Insects that can be considered 'harmful' are those

that accomplish something negative for the ecosystem -

destroying crops, structures, infestations - or can deliver

painful / poisonous / venomous bites to people.

• Some are direct pests in that they attack the body of the host

organism (plant or animal) and either suck sap or blood or eat

the tissues. Indirect pests are mostly concerned with the

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transmission of pathogens or parasites causing disease
 Factors Affecting Insect Infestation
• Occurrence and development of an insect infestation is dependent
on factors such as

• source of insects,

• available food,

• temperature,

• moisture,

• Air

• condition of the feed-stuff,

• presence of other organisms,

• efforts to exclude or kill the pests 4

Storage pests of Grains

• Storage is one of the most important steps in between harvesting

and processing or direct consumption of food grains.

• Major sources of infestations are old bags, storage structure, old

containers, and cross over infestation.

• These may destroy the grains and contaminate the rest with

undesirable odors and flavors.

• Majority of insect pests belong to the orders Coleoptera and

Lepidoptera 5
Classification
• Stored grain insect pests can be categorized as major or minor pests based
on the severity of damage.

• On the basis of their feeding behavior,

•Primary insect pest: Capable to damage and breed in undamaged solid
grains.

•Internal feeders: Larvae feed entirely within the kernels or stored material
e.g., rice weevil, pulse beetle, granary weevil, Angoumois moth etc.

•External feeders: Larvae and adults feed on the grain from outside e.g.,
rice weevil, pulse beetle, granary weevil, Angoumois moth etc.

•Secondary feeders: These include insects which develop after the

infestation of other pests as they feed on cut and broken seeds e.g., saw
toothed grain beetle etc. 6
Primary Insect Pests

Internal feeders
i. Rice weevil-Sitophilus oryzae
• pests of paddy, wheat, millet, barley, maize
• Causing considerable qualitative and quantitative loss during
the storage
Description
• larva is 5 mm in length and plump, fleshy, legless creature.
• Reddish brown adult is 3 mm in length,
• with a cylindrical body and a long, slender, curved rostrum.
• Breeds from April to October

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• Both the adults and the grubs cause damage

• developing larva lives and feeds inside the grain causing

irregular holes of 1.5 mm diameter on grains

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ii) Lesser grain borer - Rhyzopertha dominaca

• mostly found in warmer regions of the world

• damages wheat, barley, maize, paddy, sorghum and other

product

• The larva and adult is about 3mm long,

• Breeds from March to November

• Both the adults and the grubs cause damage

• Cause irregular shaped holes into whole grains

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External feeders

1)Khapra beetle - Trogoderma granarium (Coleoptera:

Dermestidae)

•Its habit of congregation in cracks and crevices of bricks,

masonry and wood storage has given it, the name ‘khapra’.

•It is an external feeder and none of the stage lives in the grain.

•Pest of wheat but can also damage, rice, maize, sorghum,

oilseeds and pulses.

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• Breeds from April to October

• Fresh yellowish white larva grows 4mm long and turns brown.

• The adult is a small dark-brown beetle, 2-3 mm long,

• The entire body is clothed in fine hairs.

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2) Rice Moth-Corcyra cephalonica

• widely distributed in all rice growing areas of the world and serious pest of stored
paddy, rice and other cereals.

• It flourishes well in humid climates and also attacks wheat, maize, sorghum, barley,
millets, soybean and oilseeds

• rice moth is active from March to November

• larvae alone damage the grains of rice and maize by feeding under silken webs.

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 Control Of Storage Pest of grain

• For effective management of storage insect pests integrated

pest management approach should be followed

Cultural control

• Harvest and dry grain as soon as possible

• sanitation of storage facility,

• cleaning of grains before storage,

• monitoring of pest incidence, temperature and

• moisture control inside and outside the storage structure

• need based use of grain protectants. 13

Chemical Control

Routine hygiene treatments

• Malathion: apply to walls, floors, and inside of bins used to store the
grain.

Treatment of seed for sowing:

• Synthetic pyrethroids (e.g., deltamethrin or cypermethrin)

• Neonicotinoids, (e.g., imidacloprid).

 Treatment of grains for human consumption or for animal

 Pyrethrins: Used as a grain protectant

 Malathion: (i) As a spray; (ii) as a dust;

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 Storage pest of buildings and Materials

• Insect pests are responsible for substantial damage to museum

objects, historic books and in buildings like palaces or historic

houses

• In tropical countries, termites, cockroaches and other insect

pests found and result in high damage of wood and paper.

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1)Termites

• Of the more than 2,300 termite species in the world, 183

species are known to damage buildings and 83 species cause

significant damage.

• Termites are known to cause damage to buildings throughout

the tropics, sub-tropics and temperate regions.

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2) Common Furniture Beetle-Anobium punctatum

• The larvae feed and grow within the wood creating a network of
tunnels closely packed with frass

• Adult beetle bores through a thin layer of wood producing the

characteristic emergence holes generally in early summer

• Attack is normally confined to the sapwood of softwoods and

hardwoods, but may occur in the heartwood in timbers such as
beech, birch and spruce, or in timbers modified by fungal decay. 17
 Treatments against Insect Pests

• Control of pest termites involves identifying the species, locating

the nest and choosing appropriate eradication methods

• In houses, woolen materials are protected from insect pests by

using less toxic solid fumigants including naphthalene and
paradichlorobenzene
•Physical treatments are achieved due to freezing, controlled
heating, microwave radiation or gamma radiation of the objects.

•.Low oxygen atmosphere is achieved using Nitrogen, Argon or

anoxia treatments with oxygen scavengers in small bags.

•Biological method application using parasitoid wasps, for example,

against biscuit beetles, webbing clothes moths, or furniture beetles.18
 Storage pest of Animal Products and Others

• Stored animal products

• food commodities (e.g., dried fish, cheese, cured meats, milk

powder non-food materials (e.g., silk, silkworm cocoons, wool,

museum collections, hides, honeycomb) of varied uses.

• These animal products are prone to insect pest infestation during

storage and in certain cases, also at the processing stage.

• Insect pests of animal products are unique in their ability to digest

and utilize keratin 19

1) Confused Flour Beetle - Tribolium confusum

• Larvae and adults feed on flour, animal feed and other ground
material

• cannot feed on whole, undamaged grain

• Damage to food is caused somewhat by the beetles' feeding, but also

by their dead bodies, fecal pellets, and foul-smelling secretions.

• In addition to creating a foul odor, the beetles' presence encourages

the growth of mold.

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2) Black carpet beetle - Attagenus unicolor (Brahm)

•The black carpet beetle is the most common and most destructive of the five

important species of carpet beetles

•It damages household products containing keratin

•Plant products such as cereals and grains, as well as synthetic fabrics not

derived from animal matter, may also be attacked.

•Dried insect specimens, such as those found in insect collections, are also

devoured.

•Eat large, irregular holes through any acceptable food material.

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 Insect pest management in animal products

• conventional methods like fumigation, residual spray

treatment of the material itself or the premises

• alternative strategies such as the application of controlled

atmospheres, vegetable oils, freezing, heat treatment and
trapping methods.

• In fumigations of various animal products, the choice is

between phosphine and methyl bromide

• In the case of a heavy infestation, insecticide treatment may be

necessary

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 References
 Rajendran, S., & Parveen, K. H. (2005). Insect infestation in stored animal products. Journal of Stored Products
Research, 41(1), 1-30.
 Black J. 2004. Fabric and museum pests. pp. 581-633. In Morland D (ed.), Handbook of Pest Control (Mallis A), Ninth
Edition. GIE Media, Inc.

 Bry RE, Jurd L, Lang JH, Boatright RE. 1978. Mothproofing: candidate repellents against black carpet beetle
larvae, Attagenus megatoma (Coleoptera: Dermestidae). Journal of the Georgia Entomological Society 13: 63-66.

 Bry RE, Lang JH, Boatright RE. 1983. Toxicity of three pyrethroid insecticides to eggs of the black carpet beetle, Attagenus

megatoma, and the webbing clothes moth, Tineola bisselliella. Journal of the Georgia Entomological Society 18: 394-398.

 Robinson WH. 1996. Urban Entomology: Insect and Mite Pests in the Human Environment. Chapman & Hall, New York.

 Su NY, Scheffrahn RH. 1990. Efficacy of sulfuryl fluoride against four beetle pests of museums (Coleoptera: Dermestidae,

Anobiidae). Journal of Economic Entomology 83: 879-882.

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THANK YOU

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