Effects of heat treatments on mortality of different development stages of the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum Herbst. (Col., Tenebrionidae)

Subject Areas : entomology and othea arthropods

R. Habibi-Karahrodi ¹ , R. Vafaei-Shoushtari ² , A. Marouf ³ , H. Farazmand ⁴ , S. Loni ⁵

1 - Graduated student, Department of Entomology, Islamic Azad University, Arak Branch, Arak, Iran
2 - Department of Entomology, Agricultural faculty, Islamic Azad University, Arak Branch, Arak, Iran
3 - Iranian Research Institute of Plant Protection, Tehran, Iran
4 - Iranian Research Institute of Plant Protection, Tehran, Iran
5 - Graduated student, Department of Entomology, Islamic Azad University, Arak Branch, Arak, Iran

Received: 2009-05-04 Accepted : 2009-08-25 Published : 2010-02-20

Keywords:

Abstract :

The red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum Hbst., is an important pest of food processing facilities world wide. The use of elevated temperatures or heat treatments is a very effective method for managing of stored pests. In this study, the mortality of pest in 5 constant temperatures, including 35, 45, 50, 55 and 60°C at times 5, 10, 15, 20 and 30 minutes on different growth stages (5-days larvae, 15-days larvae, pupae and adult of T. castaneum) were determined. Insects after heating, at temperatures of 28±1°C and relative humidity 65±5% were maintained. The results showed that, the most sensitive and resistant stages were 15-days larvae and pupal stages, respectively. It also revealed that the minimum temperature controller for 5-days larvae, 15-days larvae, pupal and adults stages were 55, 50, 55 and 50°C, respectively. Therefore, considering the possible all growth stages in an infected mass, 15°C temperature in 55 minutes, can be effective for control of all pest growth stages.