Responses of Tribolium castaneum (Herbst.) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) to Coloured Polyethylene Films in Storage of Musa Chips

Modesta Ngozi Chukwulobe^1, and Bonaventure Chukwujindu Echezona¹

¹Department of Crop Science, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria

Cite this paper

Modesta Ngozi Chukwulobe and Bonaventure Chukwujindu Echezona. Responses of Tribolium castaneum (Herbst.) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) to Coloured Polyethylene Films in Storage of Musa Chips. World Journal of Agricultural Research. 2014; 2(2):51-55. doi: 10.12691/WJAR-2-2-4

Abstract

Problems associated with synthetic pesticides have necessitated the search for an alternative pest control method. The effect of six coloured polyethylene films on Tribolium castaneum infestation on stored chips was studied in the Laboratory, from February to May, 2012. Three Musa spp (Agbagba, Obino’l ewai and cooking banana) were used. Dried chips (20 g) of each Musa spp were weighed into six different coloured perforated polyethylene bags (blue, red, yellow, green, black, and transparent) after further drying to constant moisture content in the oven. Ten adult beetles, comprising 5 males and 5 females were introduced into each bag tightly closed using rubber band. The experiment was a 6 × 3 factorial (6 colours polyethylene films by 3 Musa spp) laid out in a completely randomized design (CRD) with three replications. Results showed that there were significant differences amongst the three Musa species on the survival, progeny production and damage caused by T. castaneum. Survival counts of adult T. castaneum on chips stored in various coloured polyethylene bags within the period of 21 days did not differ significantly from one another. Generally all the coloured films reduced the abundance of T. castaneum on chips more than the colourless (transparent) films. Red coloured polybags significantly reduced beetles infestations and retained the highest weight of chips up to three months after infestation. Damage on chips stored in red coloured bags was significantly lower than those of yellow, green and transparent colours but did not differ with those of blue and black. Chips stored in transparent bags had the highest number of beetles and sustained the highest damage than other coloured polybags.

Keywords

plantain and banana chips, red flour beetle infestation, coloured polybags, spectral qualities, post harvest loss

Copyright

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References

[1]	Akaninwor, J. O. and Sodie, M. Effect of storage on the nutrient composition of some Nigerian foodstuffs. Journal of Applied Sciences and Environmental Management. 9 (2): 9-11. 2005.
[2]	Ashfaq, M., Rashid, A., Khan, M., Ahsan Khan, F. R. and Shahid, H. Insect orientation to various colour lights in the agricultural biomes of Faisalabad. Pakistanian Entomology. 27 (1): 49-52. 2005.
[3]	Baiyeri, K. P. Effects of Rice husk, Sawdust and their Admixture and Polyethlene as Storage media on Green Life Span and Culinary Quality of Mature Plantain (Musa sp AAB) fruits. AgroScience. 2 (2): 19-25. 2001.
[4]	Blackmer, J. L., Hagler, J. R., Simmons, G. S., and Henneberry, T. J. Dispersal of Homalodisca vitripennis (Homoptera: Cicacellidae) from a point release site in citrus. Environmental Entomology. 35: 1617-1625. 2006.
[5]	Bertholf, L. M. Reactions to Light in Insects. Bios. 11: 39-43. 1940.
[6]	Cantelo, W. W. Blacklight traps as control agents: An Appraisal. Bull. Entomological Society of America. 20: 279-282. 1974.
[7]	Campbell, D. R. Bischoff, M. Lord, J. M. and Robertson, A. W. Flower color influences insect visitation in alpine New Zealand ecology, Ecological Society of America 91 (9): 2638-2649. 2010.
[8]	Chijindu, E. N. and Boateng, B. A. Effect of Nutritional content of processed cassava Chips on Development of Prostephanus truncates (Horn). World Journal of Agricultural Sciences 4 (3): 404-408, 2008.
[9]	Dacke, M., Byrne, M. J., Scholtz, C. H. and Warrant, E. J. Lunar orientation in a beetle. Proc. Royal. Soc. B. 271: 361-365. 2004.
[10]	Demirel, N., Cranshaw, W. Relative attraction of color traps and plant extracts to the false chinch bug Nysius raphanus and its parasitoid, Phasia occidentis, on Brassica crops in Colorado. Phytoparasitica 34: 197-203. 2006.
[11]	Echezona, B. C. and Offordile, J. I. Responses of flea beetles (Podagrica spp.) and okra plants (Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench) to differently coloured polyethylene shades. International Journal of Pest Management. 57 (2): 161-168. 2011.
[12]	Eze, S. C., Asiegbu, J. E., Mbah, B. N., Orkwor, G. C. and Asiedu, R. Effect of four Agrobotanical extracts and three types of bags on the control of insect pests and moulds of stored yam chips. Agro-Science, Journal of Agriculture, Food. Environment and Extension. 5 (1): 8-12. 2006
[13]	Fayemi, P. O. Nigerian Vegetables. Heinemann Educational books (Nigeria) Plc. pp 15-20. 1999.
[14]	Garcìa, M., Donael, O.J., Ardanaz, C.E., Tonn, C.E., Sosa, M.E. Toxic and repellent effects of Baccharis salicifolia essential oil on Tribolium castaneum. Pest Management Science 61: 612-618. 2005.
[15]	Giurfa, M. and Menzel, R. Insect visual perception: complex abilities of simple nervous systems. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 7:505-513. 1997.
[16]	Gnonlonfin, G. J. B., Hell, K., Siame, A. B. and Fandohan, P. Infestation and population dynamics of insects on stored cassava and yams in Benin, West Africa. Journal of Economic Entomology. 101 (6): 1967-1973. 2008.
[17]	Greiner, B., Ribi, W. A. and Warrant, E. J. A neural network to improve dim-light vision? Dendritic fields of first-order interneurons in the nocturnal bee Megalopta genalis. Cell. Tiss. Res. 322, 313-320. 2005.
[18]	Homberg, U., Pfeiffer, K., Heinze, S. and Kinoshita, M. Central mechanisms of polarization vision and sky compass orientation. In: Shimozawa T, Hariyama T (eds) Insect Mimetics. NTS Inc., pp 164-171. 2008.
[19]	Isah, M. D.; Ayertey, J. N. and Boateng, B. A. Susceptibility of Dried Chips of Plantain, Cocoyam, Yam and Cassava for the Development of the Large grain Borer (Prostephanus truncates.) Horn, Coleoptera: Bosterichidae. International Journal of Applied Sciences. 3 (4): 12-20. 2009.
[20]	Ludovic, A.; Haubruge, E. and Matthew, J. G. G. Morphology of Tribolium casteneum Male Genitalia and its Possible Role in sperm competition. Belgian Journal of Zoology. 131 (2): 111-115. 2001.
[21]	Meffert, P. and Smola, U. Electrophysiological measurements of spectral sensitivity of central visual cells in eye of blowfly. Nature. 260 (5549): 342-344. 1976.
[22]	Obi, I. U. Statistical Methods of Detecting Differences between Treatments means and research methodology issues in Laboratory and field Experiments. A. P. Express publishing company Ltd., Nsukka, Nigeria. pp 41. 2002.
[23]	Richards S., R. A. Gibbs, G. M. Weinstock, S. J. Brown, R. Denell, R. W. Beeman, R. Gibbs, R. G. Bucher, M. Friedrich and Grimmelikhuijzen, C. J. E. The genome of the model beetle and pest. Tribolium castaneum. Nature 452: 949-955. 2008.
[24]	Sugri, I. and Johnson, P. N. T. Effect of two storage methods on the keeping and sensory qualities of four plantain varieties. African Journal of food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development. 9 (4): 109-110. 2009.
[25]	Warrant, E. J., Kelber, A., Gislen, A., Greiner, B., Ribi, W. and Wcislo, W. T. Nocturnal vision and landmark orientation in a tropical halictid bee. Curr Biol 14: 1309-1318. 2004.