Review of RAMP Project

Consortium for Integrated Management of Stored Product Insect Pests

Review of RAMP Project: Consortium for Integrated Management of Stored Product Insect Pests (CIMSPIP) - Salt Lake City, UT, November 13, 2004

R. T. Arbogast, USDA-ARS-CMAVE, Gainesville, FL

The presentations of research results at this review demonstrated clearly that the overall objective of the project - to develop pest management methods that will reduce or eliminate risk from pesticide residues - is being well addressed and that excellent progress has been made. Examples of significant progress include:

D3.a Sampling and IPM Decision Making:

A new male-produced aggregation pheromone has been discovered in the sawtoothed grain beetle, and the active compounds have been fractionated from male frass. Research is now underway to identify the compounds, which could eventually be synthesized to produce a commercially available product that will provide the first good monitoring tool for this important pest.

D.3.c Population Ecology, Dispersal, Migration:

Data from experimental landscape studies of how flour patch size and abundance influence movement of red flour beetles provides a baseline for additional studies relating insect movement and oviposition to landscape. Ultimately, this can be used to understand and model pest population structure in food processing and storage facilities.

Monitoring spatial and temporal distribution of the lesser grain borer in an agricultural landscape over a two-year period indicated that the beetles may overwinter in woods and disperse to farm bins in spring and summer, then back to the woods in the fall. This information is basic to developing a wide area management strategy for this important pest.

D.3.b Behavior and Genetics:

Basic research, such as that on transposone-mediated mutagenesis and on molecular characterization of digestive proteinases, will provide a foundation for a new generation of non-pesticide control methods that will target neural regulators, digestion and growth.

Research on heat shock proteins will provide better understanding of the biological processes that accompany heat treatment.

The results of research on Indianmeal moth population genetics, using microsatellite markers, can be expected to provide insight into population structure, dispersal, and the genetic relationship and gene flow among sub-populations. This insight will be useful in developing management strategies for this important storage pest.

D.3.d Methods of suppression without or with minimum use of traditional chemical pesticides:

Progress in development of attract and kill methods may provide an effective method of control with very limited use of insecticide. Further development of juvenile hormone analogs, such as hydroprene and methoprene, should provide low risk pest control in a variety of commercial settings.

A female attractant derived from food materials has been developed for stored product moths and is being marketed for moth suppression. Laboratory tests with sticky traps showed that this material is attractive to Indianmeal moths, almond moths, and Mediterranean flour moths, but not to rice moths. It is interesting that the three species that responded to the attractant are all phycitine pyralids, while the rice moth is in another subfamily (Galleriinae). Field tests have been less successful in demonstrating attraction, so additional research is needed to learn the reason and to determine if the problem can be overcome. Also, research is needed to determine the degree to which moth populations can be suppressed in various commercial settings and how suppression can be maximized.

Significant advances were made in acquiring information needed to control insect infestation of stored grain by temperature management and by integration of temperature management with other methods. Pilot-bin trials of aeration and chilled aeration of stored corn indicated that maintaining the temperature of a grain bulk below 18 %C could be effective in suppressing population growth of beetle pests. However, to be effective - at least in the case of the maize weevil and red flour beetle - low grain temperatures must be achieved early in the spring and maintained throughout the summer. In contrast, it was found that temperature management alone will not effectively control population growth of the Indianmeal moth; other tools, in addition to temperature management, are needed to ensure effective control during the summer. These tools might include surface treatment of the bulk with a protectant such as Spinosid and physical exclusion from the headspace. Field studies of stored corn in Indiana showed that Spinosid can provide long term control of key stored grain pests.

D.3.d Biological Control:

Biological control by means of predators, parasitoids, and pathogens offers considerable promise as an element of future IPM programs. Excellent progress has been made under CIMSPIP in developing information needed to employ Trichogramma species as biological control agents. These minute parasitoids should be especially well suited for commercial settings in which biological control agents must be inconspicuous. Comparative studies of foraging success have provided guidance in selecting Trichogramma species and release strategies for management of the Indianmeal moth in finished products. Trichogramma deion was the most promising of three species for managing this pest in retail stores.

Research on the role of volatiles in host recognition and recognition of host infection status by entomopathogenic nematodes has provided information that will be useful in improving the efficacy of these natural enemies for management of stored product insect pests.