Journal of Economic Entomology (2004) 97, 1159-1167

Joel Perez-Mendoza, James E. Throne, Floyd E. Dowell and James E. Baker (2004)
Chronological age-grading of three species of stored-product beetles by using near-infrared spectroscopy
Journal of Economic Entomology 97 (3), 1159-1167
Abstract: The accuracy of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) for predicting the chronological age of adults of the rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae (L.); the lesser grain borer, Rhyzopertha dominica (F.); and the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst), three pests of stored grain, was examined. NIRS-predicted age correlated well with actual age of these three species. Age predictions in S. oryzae by using the NIRS method are not dependent upon adult sex or temperatures to which adult weevils are exposed. Results indicated that water content decreased with increasing age in rice weevil adults, and excluding wavelengths at which water absorbs NIR radiation reduced the accuracy of correct classification. Additionally, removing cuticular lipids from insects resulted in a significant decrease in classification accuracy of weevils, indicating that these compounds may be partly responsible for the ability of NIRS to differentiate young from old beetles. NIRS is a nondestructive technique that can be used to age-grade large numbers of adult stored-product beetles, information that could help to increase the accuracy of population models for these pest species.
(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): Joel Perez-Mendoza, James E. Throne

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
population dynamics/ epidemiology
general biology - morphology - evolution

---

Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Tribolium castaneum
	Sitophilus oryzae
	Rhyzopertha dominica