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Temperature

Development rates of the granary weevil eggs
Fig. 3.6. The development time for granary weevil eggs, larvae and pupae at different temperatures. The form is basically the same for all insects and mites. Temperatures and time factors are different.

It is old knowledge that flies in the kitchen like to sit on a warm stove. House flies prefer to sit on objects and surfaces where the temperature is about 35 ° C. All insects will, if they have the opportunity to choose, seek out a particular temperature zone. The preferred temperature will normally be the one, which speeds up insect development. However, this is not the temperature zone in which the insects live the longest. Animals do not make the competition by getting very old, but by as soon as possible putting as much possible offspring into the world.

The temperature that any species will choose reflects the adaptation to the environment the insect originally belongs in. The insects that can only develop at temperatures that are higher than those we have outdoors in this country are imported from warmer climates. This applies to many food pests.

Birds and mammals are not really temperature dependent. They maintain a constant inner temperature. When the external environment is cold, their metabolisms are correspondingly higher. It is one of the reasons poisons have stronger effects on animals when it is cold. It is just opposite with insects and mites.
When it comes to the possibilities of survival and reproduction, insect and mite temperature reactions are divided into the categories too cold, suitable or too hot.

Too cold. Some storage mites are active and can reproduce at 4 ° C.

Insects in food require more heat to reproduce. As a rule of thumb, you can count on not being bothered by storage insects if the temperature of goods and premises is kept below 10 – 12 ° C. If the temperature is lowered, the insects become slow and finally freeze in movement. The phases meant for overwintering, wake up when it gets warm again. The other phases die after freezing for some time. Insects and mites contain water. Therefore, one might expect that a mild frost would cause the death of insect due to internal icing. However, insects tolerate freezing to some extent, which means that the icing appears somewhere well under 0 ° C.
Suitable temperature. In a relatively long and coherent temperature range, insects will live and reproduce when the rest of their life conditions are met. The preferred temperature and the temperature at which the rate of development is the highest, usually is in the warmest part of this area. In experiments in which only the temperature is varied, it appears that an insect species development time multiplied by the temperature, i.e. heat sum is almost constant.

Too hot. Insects normally do not survive temperatures that are more than five degrees above the highest of the temperatures at which they can reproduce. The hovering question is how long this temperature must be kept within products to make sure insect population in a product is eradicated. It may be a matter of days or weeks as there may be a wide variation in what individual insects and insect phases tolerate. Usually, we aim to heat the insects so much that the spread in their warm mortality is at a minimum. Similar arguments apply when you want to kill insects with cold treatment. It has been proved in practice that heating to 55 ° C dry heat is sufficient to kill all kinds of food pests.

Food Pests
Introduction
An old problem
Competition for food
Pests can ruin stored goods
Why not just eat the insects
Some insects are unhealthy to eat
Allergy to pests
Transmission of infectious diseases
Where do pests come from?
Synanthrope species
(1) The house dust mite and the sugar mite
(2) The firebrat and the silverfish
(3) The German cockroach and the forest cockroach
(4) The rust-red flour beetle and the confused flour beetle
(5) The merchant grain beetle and the saw-toothed grain beetle
(6) The cigarette beetle and the drugstore beetle
(7) The rice weevil and the granary weevil
(8) The pharaoh ant and the common black ant
History of the dark flour beetle
Pests in bird’s nests
Mould fauna
The Look and Behaviour of pests
Insect appearance
Internal
Insect development
Insect senses
Behaviour
Water and Moisture
Temperature
What insects live off and live in
The Air
Mites
Bug Indentification
The various species
Mites
The flour mite
The sugar mite
The common house mite
The Lardoglyphus zacheri
The prune mite
The cheese mite
The house dust mite
The Cheyletus eruditus
Silverfish
The Silverfish
The firebrat
Cockroaches
The German cockroach
The Oriental cockroach
The brown-banded cockroach
The American cockroach
The extermination of cockroaches
Crickets
Earwigs
Booklice
Butterflies
The Mediterranean flour moth
The warehouse moth
Tropical warehouse moth
The brown house moth
The Indian meal moth
Grain beetles
The saw-toothed grain beetle
The merchant grain beetle
The rust-red grain beetle
Flour beetles
The yellow mealworm beetle
The lesser mealworm beetle
The dark flour beetle
The confused flour beetle
The rust-red flour beetle
The bolting cloth beetle
Furniture beetles
The drugstore beetle
The cigarette beetle
Bostrychidae
The lesser grain borer
True weevils snout beetles
The granary weevil
The rice weevil
The corn weevil
Bean weevils
The common bean weevil
The coffee bean weevil
Skin beetles
The bacon beetle
The dermestid beetle
The leather beetle
The khapra beetle
The reesa vespulae
Chequered beetles
The red-legged ham beetle
The red-breasted copra beetle
The black-legged ham beetle
Spider beetles
The Australian spider beetle
The white-marked spider beetle
The golden spider beetle
The smooth spider beetle
Plaster beetles
Flies
The common house fly
The lesser house fly
Blowflies
The grey flesh fly
The cheese skipper
Fruit flies
Hymenoptera
The common black ant
The pharaoh ant
Wasps
Birds
The domestic pigeon
The house sparrow
Prevention and control of birds
Rodents
The house mouse
The yellow-necked mouse
Mouse prevention
Mouse control
The brown rat
The black rat
Rat prevention
Rat control
Imaginary pests
Niches of food pests
A: The Waste Niche
B: The seed niche
C: The dead plant niche
D: The sugary excrement niche
E: The carrion niche
Prevention and Control, Integrated Control
A. Inspection of the company and its environment
The environment
The premises
Examination of raw materials and food on site
Sampling
Laboratory methods for detection of pests in food
B. Statement of the problem
C. Prevention and control
1. Proper organisation of the company
2. Proper operation
3. Exclusion, proofing buildings
4. Packaging
5. Non-chemical control measures
6. Chemical control
D: Effective monitoring and communication
Practical information
Index

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