Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society (2002) 75, 158-162

M.C.Z. de Paula, P.W. Flinn, Bh. Subramanyam and S.M.N. Lazzari (2002)
Effects of age and sex on mortality of Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) exposed to INSECTO®-treated wheat
Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 75 (3), 158-162
Abstract: INSECTO is a commercial diatomaceous earth dust registered in the US for grain treatment at 0.5 to 1 g/kg rates. In the laboratory, male and female adults of different specific ages of the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae), were exposed for 7 days to hard red winter wheat treated with 0.25 g/kg of INSECTO at 30°C and 65% RH. The mortality of T. castaneum adults was similar between the sexes, but varied with adult age. Adults that are 0.5 and 2.5-days-old, and those that were 64.5-days old, were about 3 to 6 times more susceptible to INSECTO than 4.5 to 32.5-day-old adults. Mortality of 4.5 to 32.5-day-old adults was similar (4.5 to 5.5%) Therefore, when evaluating the efficacy of diatomaceous earth dusts on T. castaneum, unsexed adults between 4.5 and 32.5 days should be used in bioassays to reduce variation in mortality data attributable to adult age.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Database assignments for author(s): Bhadriraju Subramanyam, Sonia M.N. Lazzari, Paul W. Flinn

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
control - general

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Tribolium castaneum	Stored grain