Oviposition Decisions by Red Flour Beetle [Tribolium castaneum]

The red flour beetle [Tribolium castaneum] and the confused flour beetle [Tribolium confusum] are very important flour pest. We tested if the red flour beetle can discriminate between flour infested by the same species or congeneric species and lay different number of eggs. Results of the choice tests were inconclusive, because oviposition across all the treatments was very low. Future research will be needed manipulating the female age and the length of time in the arenas to be able to address the proposed question. With this future research, it will hopefully help us better understand how these beetles exploit flour patches and improve management in flour mills

Assessment of the suitability of different cassava varieties for gari and fufu flour production in Liberia

Open Access Article; Published online: 15 Feb 2020Different cassava varieties are available in Liberia, but there is little knowledge of their product suitability. Hence, the need to assess the potentials of these varieties to produce gari and fufu flour. The two products from ten improved and two local cassava varieties were characterized based on their yield and chemical, pasting and functional properties using standard methods. The results showed that TMS 96/0097 (gari 27.54%) and Butter cassava (fufu flour 27.35%) have the highest percentage yields. The starch content was higher in gari produced from TMS98/0505 (92.00%) and lower from TMS95/0289 (82.62%); the fufu flour starch content was higher in TMS98/0505 (90.59%) and lower in Bassa girl (84.75%). Gari and fufu flour produced from TMS96/0097 (507.38 RUV) and TMS00/0357 (506.04 RVU) had the highest final viscosity, and the products from TMS95/0289 (338.46 RVU and 336.80 RVU) had the least. The highest swelling power was found in gari (12.74%) and fufu flour (13.55%) produced from TMS92/0057 and the lowest in TMS91/0416 gari (8.23%) and TMS01/1235 fufu flour (8.31%). All the samples may form a paste below the boiling point of water (100°C) at < 7 min. However, cassava varieties and the interactions between varieties and locations had a significant (P < 0.05) effect on the properties of the products: Chemical (except ash content), pasting (except pasting temperature) and functional. Therefore, all the varieties may be suitable for gari and fufu flour production based on the quality preferred by the consumers

Genetic Effects on Aggregation Behavior of Beetles

Aggregations of insects can often cause problems because they consume large amounts of resources. Species like the Red Flour Beetle are particularly damaging because they can invade locations where humans store food (Lles 2018). Interestingly, different genetic strains of the Red Flour Beetle produce different amounts of aggregation pheromone (Gerken, Scully, Campbell 2018). Here, we tested if two different genetic strains of Red Flour Beetle formed aggregates based on their genetic background or their recent living environments. We found that beetles aggregated based on genetic factors, with environmental conditions being relatively weak. These data suggest that understanding the genetic background of pest insects can shed light on their behavior

Grouping of Red Flour Beetles using two Different Strains

In this research project I studied how the Red Flour Beetle grouped over a 10 day time period with two different strains of the Beetle. One strain was the Canadian Red Flour Beetle and the other was the Manhattan, KS Red Flour Beetle. The grouping of the beetles is a behavior that is being tested in this experiment and can be greatly effected by both environment and genetics (Breed & Sanchez, 2010). Thus for this experiment I ask if different strains of the Red Flour Beetle aggregate differently and hypothesize that they will end up aggregating differently. After testing this question and hypothesis I found that The different strains do aggregate differently and this could be due to the different climates at which they are normally found. The Canadian lives in an overall lower temperature year round unlike the Kansas beetle (Baldwin & Fasulo, 2014). With this knowledge grain facilities will be able to better prevent infestations of this particular beetle (Gerken, Scully, &Campbell, 2018)

Song: Making flour

In this inteview Luisa Nativi performs and translates a number of songs and tales of the Karamojong (Uganda)The Verba Africana series publishes video recording of African verbal arts on CDRom's, DVD’s and the Internet. This series responds to the increasing need for new electronic tools that integrate the written and audio-visual materials for research, teaching and learning of African languages and oral literatures. The video recording of oral genres, such as poems, songs and tales, is integrated into the presentation of relevant aspects (language, form, content, performance, literary, social and historical context). The videos and the accompanying material (short information and full articles) allow researchers and the interested public to approach oral literary productions as ‘total event’.NWO, The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Researc

Preferences of the Red Flour Beetle, Tribolium castaneum, for Nutritionally Different Dog Foods

Triboliumcastaneum, known as the red flour beetle (RFB)is a common pest of stored grain and milled grain products.Thisresearch studied how RFBs orient to and lay eggs in their standard flour diet and in two kinds of dog food.We tested whether RFBs have a preference toward two different dog foods, one with low protein, the “Light” food, and the other with high protein, the “Dark” food. We predicted the beetles would prefer the Light kibble with the lower protein.When given the choice between the two foods, 60% of beetlespreferredthe Light product, which had only 20% of the protein as the dark food, which was chosen by 40% of beetles. When the beetles were given the choice between either Light or Dark kibble, vs. their regular flour-based lab diet, flour was the preferred food. However, the two-choice test showed a higher proportion of beetles were in the Light compared to Dark food. These results are important because they will help the pet food industry further understand what the RFBs prefer, and thus help us take appropriate measures to prevent infestation

Red Flour Beetle Response to Traps with Prior Captures

The red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum) is a major pest of food facilities such as flour mills and is often monitored using pitfall type traps with a food oil and pheromone attractant. Previous research had indicated that prior captures of beetles could increase beetle behavior captures in a trap. Here we used a more realistic bioassay to evaluate how the number of beetles previously captured include beetle captures in traps. Results showed no significant impact of prior captures on the number of red flour beetles captured in a trap. There were some trends suggested in the results that warrant further study to investigate, perhaps by focusing on individual beetle behavior at traps rather then using groups of beetles

The Effects of Topdressing Organic Nitrogen Hard Red Winter Wheat

The demand for local organic food is steadily increasing throughout Vermont and New England. Consumers are asking for bread baked with locally grown wheat; however bakers have been slow to incorporate local wheat flour because of the challenges associated with obtaining grains that consistently meet bread-baking standards. Addressing the quality issue is essential for expanding the bread flour market in the northeast. One of the major quality factors facing Vermont grain producers is protein content. Much of the winter wheat currently produced in Vermont has protein levels below what most commercial mills would consider suitable for flour production. Commercial mills prefer to buy wheat with CP concentrations of 12-14%. Higher protein levels generally improve baking characteristics. In 2010, the University of Vermont Extension in collaboration with Gleason Grains (Bridport, VT) and Borderview Farm (Alburgh, VT) established trials to evaluate if winter wheat yield and protein could be improved by topdressing with various organic nitrogen (N) sources at key developmental stages