Effects of heat treatments on mortality of different life stages of the cowpea weevil., Callosobruchus maculatus Pic. (Col., Bruchidae)

Subject Areas : entomology and othea arthropods

R.  Habibi-Karahrodi ¹ (Graduated student, Department of Entomology, Islamic Azad University, Arak Branch, Arak, Iran)
r.  vafaie ² (دانشگاه آزاد اراک)
H.  Farazmand ³ (موسسه تحقیقات گیاه پزشکی کشور)
A.  Marouf ⁴ (مرکز تحقیقات و آموزش کشاورزی و منابع طبیعی استان زنجان)
S.  Loni ⁵ (Young Researchers club, Arak Branch, Islamic Azad University, Arak, Iran)

Received: 2010-10-13 Accepted : 2011-03-12 Published : 2010-05-22

Keywords:

Abstract :

Cowpea weevil, Callosobruchus maculatus Pic., is one of the important pests of food industry in the world wide. The use of high temperatures or heat treatments is a very effective method for managing of the pests of stored products. In this study, the mortality of the pest in 5 constant temperatures, including 45, 50, 55 and 60°C each at durations of 5, 10, 15, 20 and 30 minutes on different growth stages (egg, 1-days larvae, 11-days larvae, pupae and adult C. maculates) was determined. The treated insects, were kept at 30±1°C and relative humidity of 65±5%. the results showed that, The most sensitive and resistant stages were eggs and pupal stages, respectively. It also revealed that the minimum temperature to control eggs, 1-day old larvae, 11-day old larvae, pupal and adult stages were, 50, 50, 55, 55 and 55°C respectively. Since all stage of the insect are usually present in stored products, it is recommend to use 55°C heating at the duration of 15 minutes to control stored products infested with C. maculates.