{"id":40149,"date":"2025-06-01T13:58:03","date_gmt":"2025-06-01T03:58:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/?p=69594"},"modified":"2025-07-24T17:04:04","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T07:04:04","slug":"stored-product-insect-monitoring-finding-a-needle-in-a-haystack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/pest-control-stored-product-pests\/stored-product-insect-monitoring-finding-a-needle-in-a-haystack\/","title":{"rendered":"Stored Product Insect Monitoring \u2013 Finding a Needle in a Haystack"},"content":{"rendered":"

John Stewart, Technical Training Manager at Pelsis, offers a helpful guide to dealing with challenging stored product pests.<\/em>
\n

<\/div><\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s unique climate conditions \u2013 from the tropical north to the temperate south \u2013 create perfect breeding environments for stored product insects<\/a> year-round. In a country where food manufacturing contributes over $30 billion annually to the economy, effective pest monitoring isn\u2019t just good practice, it\u2019s essential business protection.<\/p>\n

Australian pest management professionals face distinct challenges: our isolated geography means established infestations can spread rapidly through supply chains, our climate extremes support multiple pest generations with minimal seasonal interruption, and our stringent export regulations demand exceptional vigilance. With fines exceeding $100,000 for major food safety breaches, plus the potential for permanent brand damage, early detection through strategic monitoring has never been more critical.<\/p>\n

This practical guide focuses on developing monitoring systems tailored to Australian conditions, addressing our common pest species, including warehouse beetle<\/a> (Trogoderma variabile,<\/em> main picture above), Indian meal moth<\/a> (Plodia interpunctella),<\/em> rust-red grain beetle (Cryptolestes ferrugineus),<\/em> and the particularly problematic khapra beetle (Trogoderma granarium),<\/em> a high-priority threat to Australia\u2019s biosecurity.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Rust-red
Rust-red grain beetle Cryptolestes ferrugineus<\/em> (above) and sawtoothed grain beetle Oryzaephilus surinamensis <\/em>can be difficult to see amongst product. Specific pheromones draw them into to glue traps making them visible on a white background<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

By implementing the monitoring strategies outlined here, pest managers can not only comply with Australia\u2019s Food Standards Code but also protect their clients\u2019 operations from costly infestations before they take hold.<\/p>\n

What follows isn\u2019t just theory \u2013 it\u2019s battle-tested methodology developed across thousands of Australian food processing and storage facilities, focusing on early detection to control infestation at an early stage when it is most cost-effective.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The challenge of identification<\/h2>\n

Food manufacturing and storage sites rely on their pest control service provider to identify the presence of stored product insect (SPI) infestations quickly and accurately, to determine the spread and frequency at which they are being encountered.<\/p>\n

SPI infestations can be costly due to the loss of raw product (direct consumption), downgrading of materials (due to physical contamination), product destruction due to it being infected with mycotoxin-producing fungi, product recall, loss of goodwill and brand reputational damage.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Identifying breeding sites<\/h2>\n

Sometimes, trying to find the breeding sites can be difficult and time-consuming \u2018like looking for a needle in a haystack\u2019. Decisions nowadays are all data driven: is the infestation well established? Is it restricted to a specific product or area? The only way to get these answers is by using insect monitoring systems, pheromones and the skills of a knowledgeable pest control technician.<\/p>\n

At-risk products should first be identified, with thought given to what species of insect may attack them. What is their feeding strategy? Are they primary feeders capable of attacking undamaged whole product, or secondary feeders infesting milled cereals\/seeds? Do the insects crawl or fly? Choosing the correct type of trap or combination of traps is essential, to aid early detection and location of the root cause.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The use of lures and monitors<\/h2>\n

Strategically positioned monitors with the correct pheromone lures are a fundamental part of any integrated pest management (IPM) program. Once insects have been detected and positively identified, increasing the deployment of monitors is required to find focal points of activity. When product is moving through raw material intakes, machinery, conveyors and packaging lines, infestation can be widespread.<\/p>\n

\"Stored
It\u2019s better to cover all bases and monitor for crawling and flying insects to ensure they are detected at the earliest stage of the infestation. Multi species traps are beneficial when the food production site or storage area handles lots of different raw ingredients<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

The key is to think small; infestation can emanate from dead spaces within complex production machinery where product gathers, and where powdered product becomes airborne and settles on horizontal surfaces within the building fabric.<\/p>\n

Figure 1 illustrates a warehouse beetle Trogoderma variabile<\/em> (Ballion) infestation. Pheromone-impregnated delta traps were used to assess insect levels pretreatment (left image). Monitoring after cleaning and treatment allowed for assessment of efficacy (right image). The monitoring demonstrated that the infestation area had reduced and intensity had decreased as a result of the treatment. However, the infestation had not been completely eradicated, with a new hotspot identified.<\/p>\n

\"Maps
Figure 1: Insect monitoring allows the activity to be mapped (left) and efficacy of treatments assessed (right). Contour lines and colour indicate areas and intensity of activity<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Understanding the pest life cycle<\/h2>\n

Warehouse beetles are well established in southern Australia. They are particularly problematic due to their small size, with the adult beetles just 3 mm in length with brown\/black mottled marking and short hairs on the wing cases (elytra). They can feed on a wide variety of products, such as seeds, cereals, milk powder, dried dog food, fish meal, spices even other dead insects. The larvae, however, are voracious feeders that cause considerable damage. In addition, the shedding of numerous larval setae (hair-like projections) of Trogoderma<\/em> spp. can cause irritations in the respiratory and digestive tracts of anyone who breathes or swallows them.<\/p>\n

Under optimal conditions, the life cycle of Trogoderma,<\/em> from egg to adult, is completed in 30 days at 30\u02daC. The female can deposit more than 90 eggs within infested food. At 32\u02daC and 50% relative humidity the eggs hatch in six days. The larvae are very mobile and will crawl throughout infested material, infest adjacent foodstuffs and damage food packaging. The larvae go through several moults before pupation.<\/p>\n

If natural crevices are not available during pupation they will bore into wood and weak mortar. The pupal stage only requires five days and when environmental conditions are harsh, Trogoderma<\/em> larvae can enter diapause. Diapause is a resting state during which metabolism slows, and growth stops. The life cycle and biological ability of Trogoderma<\/em> to resist low humidity, starvation and some common control procedures make them a particularly persistent pest. Adult insects are short lived and do very little damage as they feed on pollen.<\/p>\n

With any SPI infestation its always best to reduce the population by performing high level deep cleaning and machine cleans with high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) vacuum cleaners, as this aids in the reduction of food availability, removes eggs, larvae, adults and allergens. The use of air lines to blow powder residue from high level areas should always be avoided as this will spread the infestation by blowing insects around, and their allergens.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Choosing the best products<\/h2>\n

At Pelsis we have a well trusted and proven brand that manufactures an array of insect monitoring systems and pheromones for different species of stored product insects, bed bugs and public health insects to suit various environments. Our monitoring systems have efficacy data to prove accuracy.<\/p>\n

Pest managers interested in the Pelsis range of insect monitors and traps can email the Pelsis team<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

John Stewart<\/strong>, Technical Training Manager, Pelsis<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John Stewart, Technical Training Manager at Pelsis, offers a helpful guide to dealing with challenging stored product pests.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":40150,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"Guide to Stored Product Insect Monitoring \u2013\u00a0Professional Pest Manager","_seopress_titles_desc":"John Stewart, Technical Training Manager at Pelsis, offers a helpful guide to dealing with challenging stored product pests.\u00a0","_seopress_robots_index":"","_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[354],"tags":[],"company":[],"pest":[],"pesticide":[],"product-service":[],"class_list":["post-40149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pest-control-stored-product-pests","wpbf-post"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40149"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40149\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40154,"href":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40149\/revisions\/40154"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40149"},{"taxonomy":"company","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/company?post=40149"},{"taxonomy":"pest","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pest?post=40149"},{"taxonomy":"pesticide","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pesticide?post=40149"},{"taxonomy":"product-service","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product-service?post=40149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}