Modern stored-product insect pest management

Stored-product entomologists have a variety of new monitoring, decision-making, biological, chemical, and physical pest management tools available to them. Two types of stored-product insect populations are of interest: insects of immediate economic importance infesting commodities, and insects that live in food residues in equipment and facilities. The sampling and control methods change as grain and grain products move from field to consumer. There are also some changes in the major insect pest species to take into consideration. In this review, we list the primary insect pests at each point of the marketing system, and indicate which sampling methods and control strategies are most appropriate. Economic thresholds for insect infestation levels developed for raw commodity storage, processing plants, and retail business allow sampling-based pest management to be done before insect infestations cause economic injury. Taking enough samples to have a representative sample (20-30 samples) will generally provide enough information to classify a population as above or below an economic threshold.