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You are here: Home / Food Pests / The various species / Butterflies

Butterflies

Butterflies are easily recognised from other types of insects by their four large wings that are studded with coloured dust that rubs off easily. Mouth parts are built like a proboscis, which when not in use is rolled up like a spring under the head. Butterflies have complete metamorphosis and development from egg to adult progressing through a series of larval stages and a pupal stage. Butterfly larvae are elongated, with a well developed head capsule and biting mouth parts. They have three pairs of short, jointed legs on the thorax joints and on the abdomen there are five pairs of prolegs with small crochets.

We know about 40 different butterfly species, which occasionally can cause damage to food. Most of them are quite rare, but when they occur they can do significant damage. Both butterflies and moths are members of the order Lepidoptera. When it is bright, adult moths are very passive. In twilight they fly around to find a mate or to find a suitable place to lay eggs. The adult moths do not exactly damage goods. A few hours after the adult moth has come out of the cocoon and has mated, the egg laying begins. The eggs are generally laid directly in products. If the product is packed in such a way that the smell escapes through small cracks, it will be at these cracks eggs are laid. The small newly hatched larvae would then be able to find their way in through the cracks. Goods in dense, undamaged packaging are protected against moth infestations.

Newly hatched larvae immediately begin to spin and eat. Webs in goods show with certainty that it is moth larvae that have been at stake. The web, a kind of silk, comes from the lower lip of larvae. It is sticky and whatever the larvae live in along with its droppings gets stuck in these threads. As the adult moths, larvae also shun the light, but when they grow up they climb to the surface of whatever they have lived in. At this point they can easily chew their way through paper and plastic, which block the way. They pupate either on the surface of a product or go hiking, often towards walls, to find a crack or crevice where they can comfortably pupate. Pupation often begins with the larva spinning a dense shell around itself.

Moth larvae are quite greedy and not very picky. Virtually all types of cereals, flour and other cereal products, bakery products, dried fruit, nuts, chocolate and marzipan can be eaten by moths; but it will usually be the case that the individual species specialise in certain goods. Goods with fibre threads are unsuitable. Aside from that, there is no actual hygienic problems associated with moths and moth larvae, but the goods are disgusting and even a single larva in a piece of chocolate can trigger strong reactions from consumers. Goods containing moths are not usually welcome. As moths and especially moth larvae can be very difficult to determine, even for entomologists and as many quarantine rules undoubtedly intended to prevent the import of moths in general, you have to know that goods containing moth larvae – of whatever nature – will be treated as quarantine goods in the importing countries which have moths on quarantine lists.

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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