Journal of Economic Entomology (2000) 93, 1842-1847

Carl W. Doud and Thomas W. Phillips (2000)
Activity of Plodia interpunctella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in and around flour mills
Journal of Economic Entomology 93 (6), 1842-1847
Abstract: Studies were conducted at two flour mills where male Indian meal moths, Plodia interpunctella (Hübner), were captured using pheromone-baited traps. Objectives were to determine the distribution of male P. interpunctella at different locations in and around the mills throughout the season, and to monitor moth activity before and after one of the mills was fumigated with methyl bromide to assess efficacy of treatment. Commercially available sticky traps baited with the P. interpunctella sex pheromone were placed at various locations outside and within the larger of the two mills (mill 1). Moths were captured inside mill 1 after methyl bromide fumigations. The highest numbers of P. interpunctella were caught outside the facility and at ground floor locations near outside openings. Additional traps placed in the rooms above the concrete stored-wheat silos at mill 1 during the second year captured more moths than did traps within the mill's production and warehouse areas. In another study, moths were trapped at various distances from a smaller flour mill (mill 2) to determine the distribution of moths outdoors relative to the mill. There was a negative correlation between moth capture and distance from the facility, which suggested that moth activity was concentrated at or near the flour mill. The effectiveness of the methyl bromide fumigations in suppressing moth populations could not be assessed with certainty because moths captured after fumigation may have immigrated from outside through opened loading bay warehouse doors. This study documents high levels of P. interpunctella outdoors relative to those recorded inside a food processing facility. Potential for immigration of P. interpunctella into flour mills and other stored product facilities from other sources may be greater than previously recognized. Moth entry into a food processing facility after fumigation is a problem that should be addressed by pest managers.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Full text of article
Database assignments for author(s): Thomas W. Phillips

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
population dynamics/ epidemiology
environment - cropping system/rotation

---

Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Plodia interpunctella	Flour/bran