Cabinet beetle, Khapra beetle

Type Description

Adults are between 3-5 mm in length. The head and thorax are shiny black and the wings are reddish brown to black. Females open 10-25 cm long galleries on the sun-facing side of wood and trees and lay their eggs. The eggs are 1 mm wide and bright white in color. Eggs hatch in a short time and feed in 2.5-10.0 cm long galleries from April to June and pupate at the end of these larval pathways. Adulting takes place in May-June. The adults make a 2 mm wide flight hole and move to the crown shoots of pine trees of all ages in the vicinity. It makes maturity feeding from May to October. They make 2.5-10.0 cm long tunnels inside the shoots. Shoots with empty tubes fall to the ground in the fall or even in the summer, broken by the wind. Since the trees damaged in this way look like they have been given a pointed form by a gardener by shearing, this insect has been called 'Forest Gardener'. In October, the adults move to the lower parts of the pine trees to overwinter. A small number of adults overwinter in the shoots. The main path is a 12-15 cm long vertical main path with a cane-shaped arm. The flight time coincides with February-March. It has one generation per year.

Habitat

"They are found in grain stores, food stores, malthouses, seed processing plants, feed production plants, dry milk factories, commercial stores, packaging material stores (used sacks, bags, crates).

Trogoderma granarium occurs in hot, dry conditions, presumably in areas where the average temperature is higher than 20 °C and the RH below 50% (CABI CPC) for at least 4 months of the year.

Trogoderma granarium is distributed in hot dry regions along the 35° parallel in the north, the Equator in the south, west Africa and western Myanmar; i.e. along the Suez route from the Indian subcontinent to Europe. In general, T. granarium is only successful in competition with other major stored product pests under low humidity conditions. It has been found in Algeria, Austria, Cyprus, Egypt, Germany, Israel, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Spain, Switzerland, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey (southeast), England (protected environments only).

In Turkey, it is distributed in Southeastern Anatolia (Mutlu et al. 2019), Southern Anatolia (Ekmekçi & Ferizli, 2000) and Central Anatolia (Er et al. 2016).

Especially larvae in diapause are dispersed by moving objects, transportation vehicles and sacks.

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Reproductive Information

Trogoderma granarium shows gonochorism (reproduction involves separate male and female individuals).

Lifecycle

Khapra beetle development rates and survival vary depending on host species, temperature, light, humidity, humidity, season, depending on these factors there can be one to nine generations per year. High humidity has a slowing effect on population accumulation. Adult life span is 12-25 days and females lay between 50-100 eggs. Larval development usually takes 4-6 weeks. Larvae develop between 4-15 days. The pupal stage lasts 2-5 days and the calm adult stage lasts 1-2 days. However, the larval stage can last from a month to a year if it enters diapause. They can also survive without food for several years.

Nutrition Information

Trogoderma granarium feeds on most dried plant or animal matter. However, Trogoderma granarium prefers cereals and cereal products, especially wheat, barley, oats, rye, maize, rice, flour, malt and noodles. They can feed on products containing as little as 2% moisture and thrive on animal matter such as dead mice, dried blood and dried insects.

General Impact Information

Trogoderma granarium has no direct impact on the environment. Indirect effects occur as loss of stored grain and fumigation. If the insect is left undisturbed in stored grain, it can cause significant losses and, in the case of seed, can lead to a significant reduction in seed viability. Losses can sometimes range from 5-30% and in extreme cases up to 70%. Larvae usually attack the embryo point or a weak place in the grain or seed pericarp, but during heavy infestations they attack other parts. Young larvae feed on damaged seed, while older larvae may feed on whole grains. Khapra beetle can damage dry goods of animal origin. It can cause numerous allergic reactions.

General Management Information

"Preventive measures: T. granarium is the subject of quarantine because its spread is mainly due to international trade. Inspection at ports and entry points provides an effective way to restrict the entry of this pest. The Diagnostic Protocol for the pest T. granarium, issued in English and French by EPPO (European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization), proposes tools for the positive identification and detection of insect pests. The protocol also includes information on description, effects, geographical distribution.

Chemical: The most effective measure is methylbromide fumigation. Khapra beetle is known to show signs of tolerance or resistance to phosphine and malathion. Facilities that cannot be fumigated can be disinfected and surface application of insecticides can be used. Malathion, applied repeatedly, is currently approved for the control of khapra beetle infestations in structures and surrounding surface areas (CERIS, 2004)."

General Pathway Information

"Lack of knowledge: Increased movement of people - tourism.
Maritime (container/bulk): Bulk goods such as grain and uncleaned containers."

Notes

The species has no known use.

References