Oryzaephilus surinamensis
| Oryzaephilus surinamensis | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Not evaluated (IUCN 3.1) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Family: | Silvanidae |
| Genus: | Oryzaephilus |
| Species: | O. surinamensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Oryzaephilus surinamensis [1] (Linnaeus, 1758) | |
Oryzaephilus surinamensis, the sawtoothed grain beetle,[1] is a slender, dark brown beetle 2.4–3 mm in size, with characteristic "teeth" running down the side of the prothorax.[2] The sawtoothed grain beetle is a secondary pest that attacks damaged grain.[3] Carl Linnaeus, the Swedish naturalist who defined taxonomic arrangements for the animal, plant, and mineral kingdoms acquired samples of the sawtoothed grain beetle from Suriname (Dutch Guiana) and named the species "Oryzaephilus surinamensis" because of this. (It is Latin for "rice-lover from Surinam".)
The adults cannot fly. Males have a tooth on the femur of the hind leg.[2]
The sawtoothed grain beetle can be differentiated from the similar Oryzaephilus mercator by looking at shape of the head: in the latter, the head is more triangular with sharper edges behind the eyes.[2]
The sawtoothed grain beetle lays its eggs loosely on foodstuffs at the rate of 6–10 per day, with total being 300 per female.[2] The larvae are to be found within the mass of the foodstuff in the top centimetre or two. As mentioned above damaged cereal is entered through broken kernels, and the larvae feed on the germ, causing damage by reducing the percentage of grains which will germinate.
The total life cycle is 27 – 51 days at 85–95 °F (29–35 °C).[2]
The sawtoothed grain beetle can survive in unheated warehouses in the UK, and is considered the most important pest of home grown grain in the UK. The beetles survive the winter hiding in cracks and infest new stocks of grain the following year. Both insects are distributed throughout the world and regularly imported into the UK in unprocessed cereals, oil cakes, and from grains from other stores.
Treatment in bulk storage situations normally is carried out by fumigation, and in domestic situations finding the infested material, disposing of it[2] and carrying out a residual spray to kill off stragglers.
References
- 1 2 "Oryzaephilus surinamensis". Catalogue of Life. ITIS. Species 2000.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lyon, William F., Sawtoothed and Merchant Grain Beetles, Ohio State University Extension, Entomology
- ↑ Trematerra, P.; Sciarreta, A.; Tamasi, E. (2000). "Behavioural responses of Oryzaephilus surinamensis, Tribolium castaneum and Tribolium confusum to naturally and artificially damaged durum wheat kernels". Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata. 94 (2): 195–200. doi:10.1046/j.1570-7458.2000.00619.x.
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