author(s)
K Brindha, Mahalingam CA, Saravanan PA and Raja K

abstract
A study was conducted for monitoring and detection of stored product insect pests in bag stacks of sesamum using TNAU- stack probe trap in a private oil mill warehouse for a period of weeks. The study was conducted by placing 6 traps at different position of the bag stack with 1224 bags of sesame. The collection unit of the trap was unscrewed after 7 days and data on the species and number of insects trapped on each species was recorded. The stored product insect pests trapped in TNAU- stack probe trap are adults of Red flour beetle- Tribolium castaneum, larvae of Tropical warehouse moth- Ephestia cautella, Flat grain beetle- Cryptolestes pusillus adults, nymphs and adults of Psocids- Liposcelis sp., and Saw toothed grain beetle- Oryzaephilus surinamensis adults. The mean number of T. castaneum, C. pusillus, E. cautella, Liposcelis Sp. and O. surinamensis trapped per week was 89.5±3.80, 42±2.12, 22±3.89, 4±0.41 and 2.25±0.48 respectively. The mean number of all the above listed insects trapped per week was 159.75±9.98. The mean percentage of T. castaneum, C. pusillus, Liposcelis Sp., E. cautella and O. surinamensis trapped was 56.03%, 26.29%, 13.77%, 2.50% and 1.41% respectively. The significant finding from the study is larvae of E. cautella were trapped in the device. Currently, E. cautella is found to be a major insect pest in stored sesame in warehouses causing loss by webbing of the seeds and feeding on the seeds. The mean number of E. cautella trapped per week using 6 traps was 4±0.41. Hence, TNAU- stack probe trap can be used for monitoring and detection of stored product insect pests in bag stacks of Sesamum. However further studies are needed to increase the trapping of E. cautella larvae.