Phosphine is the only economically viable fumigant for routine control of insect pests of stored food products, but its continued use is now threatened by the world-wide emergence of high-level resistance in key pest species. Phosphine has a unique mode of action relative to well-characterised contact pesticides. Similarly, the selective pressures that lead to resistance against field sprays di...

This paper describes an alternative method to synthetic insecticides used for protection of stored agricultural products the purpose of which is to minimise the everyday human exposure to those chemicals. The method uses diatomaceous earth which is practically non-toxic to humans and fully acceptable for the environment. Fifty and 100-cm-deep layers of Hard Red Spring wheat Triticum aestivum (L...

Two crystalline protoxins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), Cry1Fa1 and Cry34Ab1/Cry35Ab1 (Cry1F, Cry34/ 35Ab1), were evaluated for efficacy against lepidopteran and coleopteran storage pests. Cry1F was tested against the lepidopterans Sitotroga cerealella (Angoumois grain moth) and colonies of Plodia interpunctella (Indian mealmoth) that are susceptible or resistant to Bt Cry1Ab and Cry1Ac tox...

The accuracy of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) for predicting the chronological age of adults of the rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae (L.); the lesser grain borer, Rhyzopertha dominica (F.); and the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst), three pests of stored grain, was examined. NIRS-predicted age correlated well with actual age of these three species. Age predictions in S. oryzae by...

This study was proposed to investigate the in-vitro antifungal, antibacterial, insecticidal, cytotoxic and phytotoxic potential of ethanolic extract of twigs of Taxus wallichiana Zucc. Traditionally, this plant is used in folk medicines in Pakistan, for the treatment of various microbial infections. The crude sub fractions of ethanolic extracts of the plant were tested against six bacterial and...

Insecticidal fumigation toxicity of natural and synthetic cyanohydrins was evaluated with four stored-product pests: the lesser grain borer, Rhyzopertha dominica (F), the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum Herbst, the saw-toothed grain beetle Oryzaephilus surinamensis L, the maize weevil, Sitophilus zeamais (Motsch) and the house fly, Musca domestica L. The fumigation LC50 values were calcul...

The occurrence of entomopathogenic fungi isolated from stored grain insect pests sampled from various geographical regions of Punjab, Pakistan, was investigated. In total, 25,720 insects from six different species were evaluated, and 195 isolates from 24 different fungal species were recovered. These included the Ascomycetes Beauveria bassiana sensu lato (Balsamo) Vuillemin (Hypocreales: Clavic...

In this study, the insecticidal activities of essential oils extracted from Cuminum cyminum L., Mentha longifolia L. and Allivum sativum by hydrodistillation method using Clevenger apparatus were investigated against Rhyzopertha dominica (F.) (Coleoptera: Bostrychidae) Sitophilus granarius Curculionidae) adults. The tests carried out under 25±1°C temperature, 65±5 proportional humidity 16:8 (li...