Welcome to the stored-product psocid identification website. Over the last decade, psocids have emerged worldwide as serious stored-product pests. Most psocid pests of stored products are in the genus Liposcelis (Liposcelididae). Psocid species known to infest grain in North America (Sinha 1988, Mockford 1993, Lienhard and Smithers 2002) are Lepinotus reticulatus, Liposcelis bostrychophila, Liposcelis brunnea, Liposcelis corrodens, Liposcelis decolor, Liposcelis entomophila, Liposcelis paeta, and Liposcelis rugosa; all except Liposcelis rugosa have been reported in the United States. It is common knowledge that effective pest management begins with proper pest identification. In the case of psocids, which are tiny and infestations usually comprise multiple species, identification is not straightforward. Therefore, the goal of this website is to facilitate identification of stored-product psocids and to provide information on psocid biology and control.

The identification of stored-product psocids presented is based on the infra-generic classification of Badonnel where a given species is placed in a section, group, and subgroup based on morphological characteristics; the descriptions of various morphological characters presented in this website are based on Mockford (1993). The psocids featured here are those that have, to date, been found associated with grain storages and grain processing facilities in the U.S. by our research group.

Links

Picture Key

Genus Lepinotus

Psocid fact sheet

Our Psocid Publications:

Guedes, R.N.C., J.F. Campbell, F.H. Arthur, G.P. Opit, K.Y. Zhu, and J.E. Throne. 2008. Acute lethal and behavioral sublethal responses of two stored-product psocids to surface insecticides. Pest Management Science 64: 1314-1322.

Opit, G.P. and J.E. Throne. 2008a. Effects of diet on population growth of the psocids Lepinotus reticulatus and Liposcelis entomophila. Journal of Economic Entomology 101: 616-622.

Opit, G.P. and J.E. Throne. 2008b. Population growth and development of the psocid Lepinotus reticulatus at constant temperatures and relative humidities. Journal of Economic Entomology 101: 605-615.

Literature cited

Lienhard, C., and C. N. Smithers. 2002. Psocoptera world catalogue & bibliography. Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, Genève, Switzerland.

Mockford, E. L. 1993. North American Psocoptera. Sandhill Crane Press, Inc., Gainesville, FL.

Sinha, R. N. 1988. Population dynamics of psocoptera in farm-stored grain and oilseed. Canadian Journal of Zoology 66: 2618-2627.