Pheromone Chemicals

(Indian meal moth) – Main pest of storage seeds, Maize, cereals, Spices, bird seed, rice, groundnuts and has presence all over the world. The Indian meal moth is a very common household and retail pest of stored food products, particularly cereal products.

Life cycle :

Females start laying eggs up to 400 eggs into or adjacent to food within 3 days of emergence, usually at night. Within a few hours of hatching, larvae (which are external feeders) begin to feed, trailing a silken thread. There are 5-7 larval instars. The last instar larvae may enter diapause In temperate or cooler areas and remain inactive for several months until conditions improve. Moth will emerge in Spring when temperature and day length have increased.
Adults do not feed and are generally short-lived - around 7 days. Optimum conditions for development are around 30-35oC and 70-80%RH but infestations may be sustained at temperatures as low as 15oC and relative humidity of 25%. The shortest incubation time for eggs is 4-5 days, but the time for full development depends on food source and other variables. The maximum rate of population increase is about 60 times per month. Larvae develop more easily on broken seeds rather than whole ones as the pericarp offers a barrier to attack by larvae.

Host plants :

Maize, cereals, Spices, bird seed, groundnuts and has presence all over the world.

Damage :

Larva causes serious damage to ear and grain of maize; contaminates the grain with excreta, cast skins, webbings, dead individuals and cocoons; prefers to eat the germ portion and hence grains lose viability. Most of the damage to stored products occurs when the larvae spin massive amounts of silk that accumulate faecal pellets, cast skins, and egg shells in food products. Damage due to this contamination exceeds the amount of food eaten by the larvae It feeds superficially but may construct more than one silken tunnel. The presence of silken threads or clumps or food particles in a processed cereal product such as white rice or rolled oats usually indicates a larval infestation of Plodia interpunctella. Plodia interpunctella is attracted to food sources by food odors.