An inexpensive and rapid bioassay using adult red flour beetles was developed for use in assessing the decontamination of environments containing organophosphates and related chemicals. A decontamination protocol was developed which demonstrated that 2 to 3 applications of 5% bleach solution were required to obtain nearly complete decontamination of malathion. The bioassay was also used to scre...

Mathematical models can be used to describe and predict the complex dynamics of biological phenomena such as animal populations. There is a trade-off between the amount of mathematical and biological complexity one can include in a model; fewer simplifications lead to a more biologically accurate model, but may come at the cost of adding dimensions or parameters. This increases the difficulty o...

The antenna was the first arthropod ventral appendage to evolve non-leg identity. Models of antennal evolution have been based on comparisons of antennal and leg identity specification mechanisms in Drosophila melanogaster, a species in which appendages develop from highly derived imaginal discs during the larval period. We test for conservation of the Drosophila antennal identity specification...

The confused flour beetle (Tribolium confusum) was chosen for this study because it lives in a food which ordinarily contains no living organisms. The death rates are greater in cultures which are handled daily than in those which are not handled but when all are handled alike the results are comparable. The results from experiments with individual beetles in various kinds of flour were plotted...

Red flour beetle (T. castaneum) is a major pest of stored grains and is known for its adaptability to all classes of insecticides. The present study was carried out to determine the insecticidal potential of egg white proteins to manage beetle population. Protein samples obtained through salt fractionation were lyophilized and were used separately and simultaneously in different concentrations ...

Balasubramanian, A., Jayas, D.S., Fernando, W.G.D., Li, G. and White, N.D.G. 2007. Sensitivity analysis of DNA fingerprinting technique for detecting insect fragments in wheat flour. Canadian Biosystems Engineering/Le génie des biosystèmes au Canada 49: 4.14.5. Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) and T. confusum (Jaquelin du Val) are the most commonly occurring insect species in flour mills and in dam...

Beetles are reckoned to make up about one quarter of animal species. Now, the first genome of a beetle--the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum, a pest and developmental model system alike--has been sequenced.

Biogenic amines perform many kinds of important physiological functions in the central nervous system (CNS) of insects, acting as neuromodulators, neurotransmitters, and neurohormones. The five most abundant types of biogenic amines in invertebrates are dopamine, histamine, serotonin, tyramine, and octopamine (OA). However, in beetles, an important group of model and pest insects, the role of t...

The insecticidal pyrazole ethiprole, applied at rates of 7.5 and 10.0 ppm either alone or in combination treatments with deltamethrin, piperonyl butoxide, and chlorpyrifos-methyl, was evaluated as a protectant of stored wheat and stored corn. The commodities were treated with six treatment combinations, including an untreated control, and held for 6 mo at 22, 27, or 32 degrees C and 57% RH. Bio...

Computer vision and reflectance-based analyses are becoming increasingly important methods to quantify and characterize phenotypic responses by whole organisms to environmental factors. Here, we present the first study of how a non-destructive and completely non-invasive method, body reflectance profiling, can be used to detect and time stress responses in adult beetles. Based on high-resolutio...