Rault Leslie C, Morrison William R, Gerken Alison R, Bingham Georgina V
Department of Entomology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 103 Entomology Hall, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA.
United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Stored Product Insects and Engineering Research Unit, 1515 College Ave., Manhattan, KS 66502, USA.
Insects. 2024 Aug 20;15(8):626. doi: 10.3390/insects15080626.
Food security is an increasingly pressing global issue, and by 2050, food production will not be sufficient to feed the growing population. Part of global food insecurity can be attributed to post-harvest losses, including quantity and quality losses caused by stored-product pests like insects. It is thus timely to find management strategies to mitigate these losses and counteract food insecurity. The red flour beetle, (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), a global stored-product pest with a wide range of food sources, was used in this study to assess repellency to a selection of essential oils.
Multiple behaviorally relevant methods were used to determine the efficacy of the essential oils in assays to pinpoint the most promising repellents. Experiments were used to assess individual and group behaviors with or without airflow and examined the behavioral variation in distance moved and the time spent away from the oil.
It was found that exposure to essential oils and conditions of experimentation considerably influenced 's behavioral response, but a clear candidate for repellency could not be chosen based on the collected data.
Follow-up research is needed to pinpoint repellents for integrated pest management practices to protect grains from stored-product pests and to justify their use in and around commodities.
粮食安全是一个日益紧迫的全球性问题，到2050年，粮食产量将不足以养活不断增长的人口。全球粮食不安全的部分原因可归因于收获后的损失，包括由昆虫等仓储害虫造成的数量和质量损失。因此，及时找到管理策略以减轻这些损失并应对粮食不安全问题很有必要。赤拟谷盗（Herbst）（鞘翅目：拟步甲科）是一种全球仓储害虫，食物来源广泛，本研究用其评估对一系列精油的驱避性。
采用多种与行为相关的方法来确定精油在试验中的功效，以找出最有前景的驱避剂。通过实验评估有无气流情况下的个体和群体行为，并考察移动距离和远离精油时间的行为变化。
发现接触精油和实验条件对赤拟谷盗的行为反应有很大影响，但根据收集到的数据无法选出明确的驱避剂候选物。
需要开展后续研究，以确定用于综合害虫管理措施的驱避剂，保护谷物免受仓储害虫侵害，并证明其在商品周围使用的合理性。
