INSECTICIDAL ACTIVITY OF DIFFERENT BOTANICALS (BITTERAPPLE, NEEM AND TOBACCO) TOWARDS TRIBOLIUM CASTANEUM (COLEOPTERA: TENEBRIONIDAE)

Safe storage of grains and food products against insect damage is a serious concern (Haq et al., 2005). Stored grain infestation is a very serious problem as various life stages of insects cause economic damage and deteriorates the quality of food grains and food products. (Sarwar et al., 2015). It has been estimated that about 9% of the world’s grain production is lost to post harvest insect and mite’s infestations (Tooba et al., 2005) due to favorable climatic and storage conditions (Rahman et al., 2009). Traditional grain storage facilities may not offer protection, but promotion of the use of metal silos and resistant varieties for grain storage is an alternative approach to reduce losses (Tadele et al., 2011). The drying of the foods helps in reducing the moisture content to about 912% in the drier areas, thus, minimizing the activities of storage insect pests and pathogens (Okunade et al., 2001). There are a number of stored grain insect pests that infest food grains in farmer stores and public warehouses and massively surge due to un-controlled environmental conditions and poor warehousing technology used (Sarwar et al., 2012). Primary stored grain insect pests include Lesser Grain Borer (Rhyzopertha dominica) (Fabricius), Granary, Rice and Maize Weevils (Sitophilus spp.), Angoumois Grain Moth (Sitotroga cerealella) (Oliver) Secondary Pests of Stored products are Flour Beetles (Tribolium confusum and Tribolium castaneum), Saw-toothed Grain Beetle (Oryzaephilus surinamensis) (Linnaeus), Flat Grain Beetle (Cryptolestes ferugineus) Steph, Warehouse Moth (Ephestia elutella) (Hubner), Indian Meal Moth (Plodia interpunctella) (Hubner) and Khapra beetle (Trogoderma granarium) Everts (Sarwar et al., 2015). All stages (egg, larva, pupa, and adult) of each stored grain insect pest may be present simultaneously in infested stored products (Ali et al., 2011). Rust-red flour beetle (T. castaneum) (Herbst) is frequently found on farms and it is a reddish brown beetle about 3 mm long. The final three segments of its antennae are greatly enlarged to form a club shape. Young adults are pale brown in color becoming darker with age. Females lay up to 1000 eggs loosely scattered throughout infested grain. Cream-colored larvae with biting mouth parts and three pairs of legs hatch, and remain free from the grain, feeding on cereal dust and damaged grains. A generation takes about one month to complete under summer conditions, but longer in cold weather. The adult is winged and may fly and can live up to a year. (Sarwar et al., 2015) Tribolium castaneum is a very destructive insect pest of food grains and stored grain products (Nadeem et al., 2012). It lives in and feeds on wheat flour (Lu et al., 2010). The Larvae of Tribolium castaneum destroy 12.5-14.60 % of weight of J. Glob. Innov. Agric. Soc. Sci., 2016, 4(4): 197-203 ISSN (Online): 2311-3839; ISSN (Print): 2312-5225 DOI: https://doi.org/10.22194/JGIASS/4.4.770 http://www.jgiass.com