Basic aspects determining dynamics of storage pests’ population in technocenoses of grain storage facilities of the Republic of Belarus

Abstract

Nowadays the problem of storage pests is of current interest, as arthropods living in grain storage facilities and eating grain cause both direct and indirect damage. As a result of the research carried out in 2019–2020 in storehouses of Belarus, the species composition of stored grain pests including 17 species was specified. The paper focuses on the aspects affecting the change of species composition, dominance structure, dynamics of pests’ population when agricultural products are stored in grain storage facilities. It has been determined that the structure of fauna depended on the method of storage (floor storage, bin storage), purpose of products (seed or forage grain), construction and types of storage facilities (airproof, not airproof). In unfilled storehouses coleopterans dominated with a floor storage (84.4 % of the total number), and ticks at bin storage (56.3 %). In grain storage facilities for seeds grain ticks were additional species (27.5 %), and they were permanent in storage facilities for forage grain (52.9 %). The pests were not discovered in disinfected airproof grain storage facilities with seed grain. Abiotic factor (temperature and air humidity) is a key predictor regulating dynamics of the population of stored grain pests during winter and spring-summer periods. The reduction of sensitivity of lesser grain borer (death in 50 %) and ticks (death in 73.6 %) to insectoacaricide with pirimiphos methyl as well as rice weevil (50 %), rust-red grain beetle (20 %) and ticks (48.5 %) to the composition of bifenthrin and malathion was identified for the first time in Belarus. The data indicating obligatory after harvest treatment of grain (cleaning and drying) were obtained, as soon as the absence of these elements in the protection technology brings about the development of ticks during autumn-spring period. The findings can be used for the development of antiresistant and ecologically sound systems of protection against storage pests.