Elucidating fitness components of the invasive dermestid beetle Trogoderma granarium combining deterministic and stochastic demography

Nikos E Papanikolaou; Nickolas G Kavallieratos; Marios Kondakis; Maria C Boukouvala; Erifili P Nika; Nikos Demiris

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0212182

Elucidating fitness components of the invasive dermestid beetle Trogoderma granarium combining deterministic and stochastic demography

PLoS One. 2019 Feb 14;14(2):e0212182. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0212182. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Nikos E Papanikolaou^{1

2

3}, Nickolas G Kavallieratos¹, Marios Kondakis⁴, Maria C Boukouvala^{1

5}, Erifili P Nika³, Nikos Demiris^{4

6}

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Agricultural Zoology and Entomology, Department of Crop Science, Agricultural University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
² Directorate of Plant Produce Protection, Greek Ministry of Rural Development and Food, Athens, Greece.
³ Benaki Phytopathological Institute, Kifissia, Athens, Greece.
⁴ Department of Statistics, Athens University of Economics and Business, Athens, Greece.
⁵ Laboratory of Organic Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Ioannina, Panepistimioupolis, Ioannina, Greece.
⁶ Cambridge Clinical Trials Unit, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Coton House, Cambridge Biomedical Research Campus, Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Abstract

The invasive dermestid khapra beetle, Trogoderma granarium, is an important pest of stored products that is subject to strict phytosanitary measures. In this study, we conducted a demographic analysis of this species at 30, 35 and 40°C, combining deterministic and stochastic approaches. The net reproductive rate, the intrinsic rate of increase, the finite rate of increase and the doubling time did not differ significantly between 30 and 35°C, while at 40°C we detected negative values of the intrinsic rate of increase and the doubling time. The Briere model fit the data well with respect to the intrinsic rate of increase. Females of roughly 63, 42 and 21 days old reached their maximum reproductive potential at 30, 35 and 40°C, respectively. The stochastic models of this study allowed for checking model fit and the characterization of the most suitable distribution for each component of the process. We expect these results to have bearing on the management of T. granarium since they could be combined with models related to international trade and climatic change, alerting specialists towards early detection strategies against this species.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animal Distribution
Animals
Coleoptera / physiology*
Female
Introduced Species*
Longevity
Reproduction
Stochastic Processes
Temperature

Grants and funding

The financial and/or structural support provided by the Special Account for Research Funds (Agricultural University of Athens) is greatly appreciated. N.E.P. gratefully acknowledges financial support from the Foundation for Education and European Culture under a postdoctoral research grant. In addition, N.D. gratefully acknowledges financial support from the Athens University of Economics and Business' Research Centre “Action for Extroversion and Excellence”. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.