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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Gainesville, Florida » Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology » Insect Behavior and Biocontrol Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #136839
Title: MEANING AND PRACTICAL VALUE OF SPATIAL ANALYSIS FOR PROTECTING RETAIL STORES.

Author
item Arbogast, Richard
item Kendra, Paul
item Chini, Shahpar
item MCGOVERN, JEFFREY - ACURID RETAIL SERVICES

Submitted to: Stored Products Protection International Working Conference Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/26/2002
Publication Date: 7/20/2003
Citation: Arbogast, R.T., Kendra, P.E., Chini, S.R., Mcgovern, J.E. Meaning and practical value of spatial analysis for protecting retail stores, pp. 1033-1035. In P.F. Credland (ed.) Advances in Stored Product Production.Proceedings of the 8th International Working Stored Products Protection, York, UK (July 22-26, 2002). CAB International, Wallingford, UK. 2003

Interpretive Summary: Insect pests are a continuous problem in retail stores, where they damage and contaminate susceptible merchandise such as food products and animal feed. Pest management in these stores has relied heavily on chemical insecticides, but the risk posed to environmental quality and human health makes it necessary to seek safer methods. New management procedures, that would minimize insecticide risk, will require improved monitoring procedures to detect and locate insect infestation. ARS scientists at the Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology in Gainesville, Florida, have developed a new monitoring method that uses a combination of insect traps and mapping to locate infested areas in retail stores. The method will help reduce pesticide risk by guiding the timing and targeting of control applications, eliminating the need for routine preventive treatment, reducing the area treated with insecticides, and aiding in the application of nonchemical methods. It will be useful to a broad spectrum of retailers that deal in food products and animal feed and to pest control operators.

Technical Abstract: The risks posed by chemical pesticides have prompted initiatives to reduce pesticide use, primarily through integrated pest management (IPM). Implementation of IPM for control of stored product insects in retail stores will require regular monitoring to know when, where, and what type of control measures to apply. This need can be met by a combination of trapping and contour analysis of numbers captured in each trap. The objective of contour analysis is to determine patterns of distribution and identify foci of infestation. The principle requirements for monitoring are that contours of trap catch honor the data, predict trap catch values between traps, and reflect the spatial distribution of the insect population monitored. Trapping studies of Plodia interpunctella in a pet store and Lasioderma serricorne in a shed were used to determine how well these requirements could be met in practice. Contours of trap catch for P. interpunctella fit the data closely and predicted trap catch values between traps well enough to locate and define a major focus of infestation, but a smaller focus of infestation was missed. Contours of trap catch for L. serricorne reflected the spatial distribution of the beetle population. Numbers captured declined with increasing distance from the source of infestation.