Botanicals; dried plants, roots, stems, leaves, seeds and flowers, have been used from the dawn of history as drugs or spices (Craker, 2007). Botanicals have been used in the health care system to improve blood circulation, reduce chronic fever and cure chronic constipation (Golob et al., 1999; Samy et al., 2008). The drugstore beetle, Stegobium paniceum (L.) (Coleoptera: Anobiidae), is a pest of stored medicinal and aromatic plants and one of the most common insects found in botanical warehouses (Abdelghany et al., 2010). Generally, mortality of each stage increased with an increase of temperature and exposure time. Heat tolerance for different stages from highest to lowest was; young larvae, old larvae, eggs, adult and pupae. The mortality after 7 h, at 42ºC for young larvae, old larvae, eggs, adult and pupae respectively was; 16 ± 5, 31 ± 6, 48 ± 3, 63 ± 8 and 86 ± 2% (mean + SEM). Similarly, the lethal time for 90% mortality (LT>sub>90) at 42ºC was; too low to estimate, 773, 144, 12 and 11 h. The LT90 value for young larvae at 42, 45, 50, 55 and 60ºC was 25, 20, 3.9, 0.18 and 0.08 h respectively. The cold tolerance of different stages at 0ºC from highest to lowest was adult, old larva, young larva, pupa, and egg. The LT90 at 0ºC was 298, 153, 151, 89 and 53 h, respectively. The LT90 value for adults at 5, -5, -10 and -15ºC was 792, 58, 2 and 0.8 h, respectively. The supercooling point of adults, young larvae, old larvae and pupae was -15.2 ± 2ºC, -9.0 ± 0.8ºC, -6.5 ± 0.5ºC, and -4.0 ± 1.4ºC respectively. Heat treatments that control young larvae should control all other stages of S. paniceum. Cold treatments that control adults should control all other stages of S. paniceum. Dried plants stored at 5ºC for 45 days or 42ºC for 30 h and then kept below 18ºC throughout the rest of the year, should remain pest-free without any chemical control. The full paper was submitted to Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata. Keywords: Anobiidae, Heat, Cold, Supercooling point, Tolerance, Storage, Warehous
