Stored grain/ product pests: Nematode Information Several stored grain/product insect pests like Indian meal moth (Plodia interpunctella), Mediterranean flour moth (Ephestia kuehniella), Sawtoothed grain beetle (Oryzaephilus surinamensis), Mealworms (Tenebrio molitor), Red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum) and Warehouse beetle (Trogoderma variabile) attack and destroy large quantities of stored grains and products during long-term storage in farm bins, grain processing facilities, warehouses, retail stores, and eventually also on the consumer shelves. The insect pests of stored grain/products have a major economic impact on the food industry due to the costs associated with their management, monitoring, rejection and return of contaminated shipments and failure to meet regulations that required to and pass inspections. Therefore, there is a need to protect stored food products from attack by insects. However, stored grain/product pests are generally difficult to control using traditional method as they hide in cracks and crevices, under perforated floors, and inside machinery used for processing of stored-products. Chemical pesticides are not advisable to use against stored-product pests because of health and environment pollution risks.
The Indian meal moth (Plodia interpunctella): The larval stages infest and feed on different kinds of cereal grains, rice and processed dry foods like pasta, bread and spices.
The Mediterranean flour moth (Ephestia kuehniella): The larval stages mainly feed various types of flour.
The Sawtoothed grain beetle (Oryzaephilus surinamensis): This insect feed on broken seeds and seed germs.
The Mealworm (Tenebrio molitor): Larvae feed on flour and cereals.
The Red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum): Feed on flour, cereal grains and dried food products like pasta, biscuits etc.
The Warehouse beetle (Trogoderma variabile): Larvae feed on dried cereal grains and food products such as noodles and spaghetti, and dried spices.
Entomopathogenic nematodes:
Entomopathogenic nematodes also called as insect-parasitic nematodes are commercially available and have potential to use as a biological control agent against above stated stored product pests because of their different host finding strategies.
For example, entomopathogenic nematodes, Steinernema carpocapsae use ambush foraging called “sit and wait” strategy to attack highly mobile insects including stored-product pests. After application, infective juveniles of Steinernema carpocapsae will generally remain near or at the surface of the stored-products. When infective juveniles of Steinernema carpocapsae sense that there is an insect host passing by them, they will attack and infect it by standing on their tails (behavior called ‘nictation’) and jumping on the host.
Ambush foraging entomopathogenic nematode, Steinernema carpocapsae have a capacity to cause over 85% larval mortality of indian meal moths, mediterranean flour moths, mealworms and red flour beetles (Ramos-Rodriguez et al., 2006).
Entomopathogenic nematodes such as Heterorhabditis bacteriophora, Heterorhhabdtits megidis, Steinernema glaseri and Steinernema kraussei are considered as cruiser nematodes because they generally move actively in search of hosts and can easily find and attack their insect hosts that are hiding in deep in the soil or in case of stored-products hiding in cracks and crevices and under perforated floors. Cruiser nematodes never nictate but use carbon dioxide released by insect hosts as cues to attack them. Cruiser entomopathogenic nematodes, Heterorhabditis bacteriophora and Heterorhhabdtits megidis can kill larvae of Indian meal moth (Mbata and Shapiro-IIan, 2005).
Some entomopathogenic nematodes such as Steinernema feltiae and Steinernema riobrave have adapted a strategy in between ambush and cruise strategies called an intermediate strategy to attack both the mobile and sedentary/less mobile insects at the surface or deep in the soil and in case of stored-products, pests that hiding in cracks and crevices and under perforated floors or remaining at the surface of the product.
Intermediate foraging entomopathogenic nematode, Steinernema riobrave have a potential to kill over 65% larvae of indian meal moths, mediterranean flour moths, sawtoothed grain beetles, mealworms, red flour beetles and warehouse beetles (Ramos-Rodriguez et al., 2006).
Another intermediate foraging entomopathogenic nematode, Steinernema feltiae can cause over 90% larval mortality of only indian meal moths, mediterranean flour moths, red flour beetles (Ramos-Rodriguez et al., 2006) and over 79% larval mortality of the confused flour beetle, Tribolium confusum (Athanassiou et al., 2008).
Publications:
Athanassiou, C.G., Palyvos, N.E. and Kakoull-Duarte, T. 2008. Insecticidal effect of Steinernema feltiae (Filipjev) (Nematoda : Steinernematidae) against Tribolium confusum du Val (Coleoptera : Tenebrionidae) and Ephestia kuehniella (Zeller) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in stored wheat. Journal of Stored Products Research. 44: 52-57.
Athanassiou, C.G., Kavallieratos, N.C., Menti, H. and Karanastasi, E. 2010. Mortality of four stored product pests in stored wheat when exposed to doses of three entomopathogenic nematodes. Journal of Economic Entomology 103: 977-984.
Mbata, G.N. and Shapiro-Ilan, D.I. 2005. Laboratory evaluation of virulence of heterorhabditid nematodes to Plodia interpunctella Hübner (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae). Environmental Entomology 34: 676 - 682.
Ramos-Rodriguez, O., Campbell, J.F. and Ramaswamy, S.B. 2006. Pathogenicity of three species of entomopathogenic nematodes to some major stored-product insect pests. Journal of Stored Products Research 42: 241-252.
Ramos-Rodríguez,O.,Campbell, J. F.,and Ramaswamy, S. 2007. Efficacy of the entomopathogenic nematodes Steinernema riborave against the stored-product pests Tribolium castaneum and Plodia interpunctella. Biological Control 40:15 -21.
Tradan, S., Vidric, M., and Valic, N. 2006. Activity of four entomopathogenic nematodes against young adult of Sitophilus granarious (Coleptera: Curculionidae) and Oryzophilus surinamensis ( Coleoptera: Silvanidae ) under laboratory condition. Plant Disease and Protection. 113: 168 - 173.
Fayyaz S. and Javed , S. 2009. Laboratory Evaluation of Seven Pakistani Strains of Entomopathogenic Nematodes against a Stored Grain Insect Pest, Pulse beetle Callosobruchus chinensis (L.). Journal of Nematology 41: 255-260.