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The survival of developmental Sitophilus granarius (L.) subjected to constant and fluctuating temperatures between 0 and 10°C.

Author(s) : FLEMING D. A., ARMITAGE D. M.

Summary

Surface infestations of grain weevils, Sitophilus granarius (L.), have occurred during mid-winter in commercial aerated stores and in 20-t cooled bins when the grain was stored over two seasons and temperatures were rarely above 5°C. The authors hypothesised that infestations were the result of eggs laid in the summer, which had continued to develop through the autumn and early winter and emerged in mid-winter when fluctuating temperatures at the surface permitted this. Therefore, this study was set up to discover what proportion of developing stages of different ages could survive exposure to steady temperatures between 0 and 10°C which coincide with the temperatures attained within the bulk of most stored grain in UK. The effects of a temperature fluctuating between 0 and 10°C were also studied as this approximates the extreme fluctuations that might be expected at the surface of a cooled bulk in winter. Steady temperatures below 5°C were successful in killing all developmental stages within 7 weeks and are achievable in most years in the UK. However, when the temperatures were allowed to cycle between 0 and 10°C, it extended the time needed to eliminate all developing stages to more than 16 weeks. It is unlikely that this temperature-time combination could be achieved in the UK. It is therefore quite likely that a mixed-age infestation of developing grain weevils inside the grain could survive the fluctuating temperatures that occur at the grain surface.

Details

  • Original title: The survival of developmental Sitophilus granarius (L.) subjected to constant and fluctuating temperatures between 0 and 10°C.
  • Record ID : 2006-3010
  • Languages: English
  • Source: Advances in stored product protection. Proceedings of the 8th International Working Conference on Stored Product Protection.
  • Publication date: 2002/07/22

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