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Synergistic effects of heat and diatomaceous earth treatment for the control of P lodia interpunctella ( L epidoptera: P yralidae)
Author(s) -
Kim Hanna,
Yu Yeon Su,
Lee KyeongYeoll
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
entomological research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.421
H-Index - 20
eISSN - 1748-5967
pISSN - 1738-2297
DOI - 10.1111/1748-5967.12058
Subject(s) - pyralidae , plodia interpunctella , lepidoptera genitalia , instar , biology , larva , pest analysis , toxicology , zoology , horticulture , botany
P lodia interpunctella is a major economic pest that commonly infests most stored and processed agricultural products. Currently, heating at 50–60° C for at least 48 h is applied in facilities for disinfestation. However, this condition requires a great deal of time and expense. To improve the control efficiency of this system, we conducted combined treatments with heating and diatomaceous earth ( DE ), which is known to be toxic to pest insects. The DE effect was compared to heating at 25° C or 40° C to wandering fifth instar larvae, which is the stage most tolerant to heat. When larvae were brushed with DE powder, mortality was only 15.0–18.3% at 25° C for 10 days, but rapidly increased to 100% at 40° C within 4 h post‐treatment. In addition, when larvae were kept in a plastic cage with DE [4 mg/L (w/v)], their mortality was 100% in 24 h at 40° C post‐treatment; otherwise mortality was only 8.8% without DE . Thus, the control efficiency of heating significantly improved with the combination of DE . These effects increased further at higher temperatures and with longer exposure. Our results clearly showed that DE treatment showed synergistic effects with heating systems for the control of P . interpunctella.