Demographic responses of Tribolium castaneum (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) to different temperatures in soft wheat flour

Anna Skourti; Nickolas G Kavallieratos; Nikos E Papanikolaou

doi:10.1016/j.jtherbio.2021.103162

Demographic responses of Tribolium castaneum (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) to different temperatures in soft wheat flour

J Therm Biol. 2022 Jan:103:103162. doi: 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2021.103162. Epub 2021 Dec 17.

Authors

Anna Skourti¹, Nickolas G Kavallieratos², Nikos E Papanikolaou³

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Agricultural Zoology and Entomology, Department of Crop Science, Agricultural University of Athens, 75 Iera Odos str., 11855, Athens, Attica, Greece.
² Laboratory of Agricultural Zoology and Entomology, Department of Crop Science, Agricultural University of Athens, 75 Iera Odos str., 11855, Athens, Attica, Greece. Electronic address: nick_kaval@aua.gr.
³ Laboratory of Agricultural Zoology and Entomology, Department of Crop Science, Agricultural University of Athens, 75 Iera Odos str., 11855, Athens, Attica, Greece; Greek Ministry of Rural Development and Food, 150 Sygrou Avenue, 17671, Athens, Attica, Greece.

PMID: 35027205
DOI: 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2021.103162

Abstract

The red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) is one of the most dangerous insects of a wide spectrum of stored products around the globe. The population growth of this species is affected by temperature. However, there are no data on comparative demographic parameters (i.e., net reproductive rate, intrinsic rate of increase, finite rate of increase, mean generation time and doubling time) in different temperatures, parameters that allow the in-depth exploration of its survival, mortality and reproduction patterns. This study evaluated egg-to-adult development, adult mortality and female fecundity on white soft wheat flour at 20, 25, 30 and 32.5 °C. The net reproductive rate increased from 0.08 females/female at 20 °C to 11.77 females/female at 25 °C and 102.07 females/female at 30 °C, followed by a decrease to 10.73 females/female at 32.5 °C. The lowest values of the intrinsic rate of increase and the finite rate of increase were observed at 20 °C (- 0.0105 females/female/day and 0.9895, respectively) and the highest at 30 °C (0.0348 females/female/day and 1.0354, respectively). While the mean generation time did not differ significantly between 20 and 25 °C (249.9 and 225.5 days, respectively), this decreased to 132.8 and 115.1 days at 30 and 32.5 °C, respectively. The value of the doubling time was negative at 20 °C (- 67.5 days), increased to 19.9, 34.0 and 63.9 days at 30, 32.5 and 25 °C, respectively. Using the non-linear Briere model, the lower threshold for T. castaneum population increase was estimated to be 22.2 °C, the upper threshold at 33.2 °C, and the temperature for maximum growth rate was 30.1 °C. Survival analysis indicated that temperature also affected the mortality risk of T. castaneum. The mean survival time increased from 112.1 days at 20 °C to 462.4 days at 25 °C, followed by a decrease to 206.5 and 64.5 days at 30 and 32.5 °C, respectively. We expect these results to be useful for the prediction of the population growth, the potential expansion and consequently management of T. castaneum.

Keywords: Briere model; Intrinsic rate of increase; Red flour beetle; Soft wheat flour; Survival analysis.

MeSH terms

Animals
Demography
Female
Flour / parasitology
Reproduction
Survival Analysis
Temperature*
Tribolium / physiology*