Chemical and Non-chemical Control in Stored Product Protection: Modern Methods for Old Problems

A special issue of Insects (ISSN 2075-4450). This special issue belongs to the section "Insect Pest and Vector Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2025 | Viewed by 4283

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Laboratory of Entomology and Agricultural Zoology, Department of Agriculture, Crop Production and Rural Environment, University of Thessaly, 38446 Volos, Greece
Interests: stored-product insects; post-harvest entomology; integrated plant protection; edible insects; insect farming; insects as food and feed
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Laboratory of Entomology and Agricultural Zoology, Department of Agriculture, Crop Production and Rural Environment, University of Thessaly, 38446 Volos, Greece
Interests: stored-product insects; post-harvest entomology; precision fumigation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Laboratory of Entomology and Agricultural Zoology, Crop Production and Rural Environment, Department of Agriculture, University of Thessaly, Phytokou Str., 38443 N. Ionia, Magnesia, Greece
Interests: pheromones and semiochemicals; insect parasitoids; population ecology; sampling and trapping; invasive biology; integrated pest management; microbial control; chemical control; non-chemical control; stored-product protection
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Durable agricultural commodities, such as cereal and legume grains, dried fruits, and nuts, are vulnerable to insect infestations during storage that are responsible for high qualitative and quantitative losses. To manage insect pests in post-harvest systems and improve food security, a wide spectrum of control strategies have been proposed against stored-product insects, ranging from the application of contact insecticides and fumigants to non-chemical, “green” management methods. However, the development of resistance to chemical insecticides, as well as the phase-out and ban of active ingredients that were until recently widely used, renders the evaluation of alternative chemical and non-chemical control measures a necessity for stored-product protection. In this context, the focus of this Special Issue is on the recent advances in chemical and non-chemical control of stored-product insects related to (but not exhausted by) the following:

  • Chemical control of stored-product insects (contact insecticides, fumigants, etc.);
  • Non-chemical management of storage insects (modified atmospheres, heat treatment, mating disruption, application of inert dusts, botanicals, etc.);
  • Trapping and monitoring of storage insects;
  • Precision fumigations.

Therefore, we kindly invite you to submit your manuscripts to this Special Issue, which aims to highlight recent research carried out to mitigate post-harvest losses and control storage insects.

Dr. Christos I. Rumbos
Dr. Paraskevi Agrafioti
Prof. Dr. Christos G. Athanassiou
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • chemical and non-chemical control
  • durable commodities
  • food security
  • integrated pest management
  • post-harvest insect infestations
  • stored-product insects

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 5320 KiB  
Article
Insecticidal and Repellent Activity of Essential Oils from Seven Different Plant Species against Tribolium castaneum (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)
by Misha Khalil, Mishal Khizar, Dalal Suleiman Alshaya, Asifa Hameed, Noor Muhammad, Muhammad Binyameen, Muhammad Azeem, Mussurat Hussain, Qaisar Abbas, Kotb A. Attia and Tawaf Ali Shah
Insects 2024, 15(10), 755; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects15100755 - 29 Sep 2024
Abstract
Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) is the most destructive pest of stored grain commodities. To control the attack of this insect pest, it is important to develop non-hazardous alternatives to replace fumigants. This study examined the fumigant toxicity and repellent activity of seven [...] Read more.
Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) is the most destructive pest of stored grain commodities. To control the attack of this insect pest, it is important to develop non-hazardous alternatives to replace fumigants. This study examined the fumigant toxicity and repellent activity of seven essential oils (Chinopodium ambrosiodes, Pinus roxburghii, Zanthoxylum armatum, Lepidium sativum, Azadirachta indica, Baccharis teindalensis, and Origanum majorana) against adult T. castaneum under controlled laboratory conditions. The fumigant toxicity and repellent activities of essential oils were tested using five different doses (62.5, 125, 250, 500, and 1000 µg) in vapour-phase fumigation and four-arm olfactometer bioassays, respectively. In vapor-phase fumigation bioassays, mortality data were recorded after 24, 48, and 72 h. The results showed that C. ambrosiodes and P. roxburghii essential oils are potential fumigants against adult T. castaneum. In repellency bioassays, a one-week-old adult population of T. castaneum was used to test the repellency potential of the essential oils. The results indicated that C. ambrosiodes and P. roxburghii had significant repellency potential against T. castaneum. Overall, we conclude that these essential oils have strong repellent and fumigant properties and can be used as potential repellent compounds to deter the insects. Full article
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12 pages, 1359 KiB  
Article
The Fumigation Toxicity of Three Benzoate Compounds against Phosphine-Susceptible and Phosphine-Resistant Strains of Rhyzopertha dominica and Sitophilus oryzae
by Md Munir Mostafiz, Hwal-Su Hwang, Jun-Ran Kim, Bong-Su Kim and Kyeong-Yeoll Lee
Insects 2024, 15(7), 477; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects15070477 - 27 Jun 2024
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Abstract
Phosphine (PH3) has been widely used as a fumigant in food storage, but increasing PH3 resistance in major pests makes finding alternative fumigants urgent. Methyl benzoate (MBe), a volatile organic compound regarded to be a food-safe natural product, has recently [...] Read more.
Phosphine (PH3) has been widely used as a fumigant in food storage, but increasing PH3 resistance in major pests makes finding alternative fumigants urgent. Methyl benzoate (MBe), a volatile organic compound regarded to be a food-safe natural product, has recently demonstrated significant toxicity against a variety of insect pests. This study is the first evaluation of the fumigation toxicity of three benzoate compounds, MBe, vinyl benzoate, and ethyl benzoate, against PH3-susceptible and PH3-resistant strains of Rhyzopertha dominica and Sitophilus oryzae. All strains were exposed to the compounds at concentrations up to 20 µL/1.5 L air for 24 h. Compared to vinyl benzoate and ethyl benzoate, MBe induced higher mortality rates in all strains at all concentrations. When food was made available, the lethal median concentration for MBe was 10–17-fold higher than when tested without food. Moreover, no significant differences were observed between the responses of the PH3-susceptible and PH3-resistant strains to the compounds. Notably, S. oryzae was more susceptible to MBe. In laboratory settings, MBe successfully controlled PH3-resistant strains of R. dominica and S. oryzae, making it a viable option for PH3-resistance management. Thus, MBe might be suitable for food security programs as an environmentally benign alternative fumigant. Full article
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9 pages, 224 KiB  
Article
Temperature Effect on the Growth and Development of Habrobracon hebetor Say (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) Reared on Ephestia elutella (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) Larvae
by Yong Huang, Wenjing Liu, Jianhua Lü, Wenkai Wang and Yafei Guo
Insects 2024, 15(5), 336; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects15050336 - 7 May 2024
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Abstract
Augmentative release of parasitoids has been an important component of integrated insect management for stored product protection. Understanding the effect of different temperatures on the growth and development of parasitoids is in favor of mass rearing of parasitoids. Habrobracon hebetor Say (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) [...] Read more.
Augmentative release of parasitoids has been an important component of integrated insect management for stored product protection. Understanding the effect of different temperatures on the growth and development of parasitoids is in favor of mass rearing of parasitoids. Habrobracon hebetor Say (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) is a highly cosmopolitan, gregarious ecto-parasitoid of a variety of Lepidopterous larvae. Thus, the growth and development of H. hebetor reared on Ephestia elutella (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) larvae were investigated at 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35 °C. Habrobracon hebetor could complete growth and development, and the developmental duration decreased with increasing temperature at 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35 °C. The development threshold temperatures of H. hebetor eggs, larvae, pupae, and egg-to-adult stages were 13.89, 6.39, 9.24, and 9.29 °C, and the effective accumulated temperatures were 23.33, 46.40, 142.68, and 240.31 °C·d, respectively. The total number of eggs laid by H. hebetor, the hatching rate of H. hebetor eggs, and the percentage of female offspring reached the maximum of 192.39, 83.89%, and 74.04% at 30 °C, respectively. There was no significant difference in pupal survival rate in the temperature range of 15 °C to 35 °C. At 30 °C, the pre-oviposition duration of H. hebetor was the shortest (0.87 d). Therefore, the optimal rearing temperature of H. hebetor was 30 °C. The present results are useful for the large-scale rearing of H. hebetor using E. elutella larvae as hosts and effectively implementing the biological control of stored-product insects. Full article
12 pages, 3417 KiB  
Article
Residual Efficacy of Two Diatomaceous Earths from Greece for the Control of Sitophilus oryzae (L.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) and Rhyzopertha dominica (F.) (Coleoptera: Bostrychidae) on Wheat and Maize
by Georgia V. Baliota, Christos I. Rumbos and Christos G. Athanassiou
Insects 2024, 15(5), 319; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects15050319 - 30 Apr 2024
Viewed by 806
Abstract
We evaluated the persistence and efficacy of two different, in granulometry and content of diatoms, diatomaceous earth (DE) formulations (i.e., DE5 and DE6), against two major beetle species of stored products, i.e., Sitophilus oryzae (L.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) and Rhyzopertha dominica (F.) (Coleoptera: Bostrychidae). [...] Read more.
We evaluated the persistence and efficacy of two different, in granulometry and content of diatoms, diatomaceous earth (DE) formulations (i.e., DE5 and DE6), against two major beetle species of stored products, i.e., Sitophilus oryzae (L.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) and Rhyzopertha dominica (F.) (Coleoptera: Bostrychidae). The formulations were applied as powders in soft wheat and maize in two doses of 500 and 1000 mg kg−1 (ppm). Samples of the treated grains were taken on the day of application and every 30 days until completion of the six-month period of storage. Adults of S. oryzae and R. dominica were exposed to the treated grains at 25 °C and 55% relative humidity, and the mortality was measured after 7, 14, and 21 days of exposure. Rhyzopertha dominica survival was not affected by any combination of DE formulation, dose, and commodity. Contrariwise, the DEs caused significant adult mortality of S. oryzae, in most of the cases tested. We observed that DE6 was equally effective in both wheat and maize, and no considerable variations were observed in S. oryzae mortality during the 6-month experimental period. Furthermore, DE6 was more effective against S. oryzae than DE5, a difference that could have potentially contributed to the variations in the diatom granulometry between these two DEs. Thus, a DE treatment of 1000 ppm was shown to provide long-term protection of wheat and maize against S. oryzae, but this is strongly dependent on the DE formulation, commodity, and insect species. Overall, such natural resource-based inert silicaceous deposits could be used with success in stored-product protection with only some minor modifications, such as sieving and drying of the raw deposit. Full article
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