The cowpea is an annual herbaceous legume from the genus Vigna. Its tolerance for sandy soil and low rainfall have made it an important crop in the semiarid regions across Africa and Asia. It requires very few inputs, as the plant's root nodules are able to fix atmospheric nitrogen, making it a valuable crop for resource-poor farmers and well-suited to intercropping with other crops. The whole plant is used as forage for animals, with its use as cattle feed likely responsible for its name.
The bean weevils or seed beetles are a subfamily (Bruchinae) of beetles, now placed in the family Chrysomelidae, though they have historically been treated as a separate family. They are granivores, and typically infest various kinds of seeds or beans, living most of their lives inside a single seed. The subfamily includes about 1,650 species and are found worldwide.
The drugstore beetle, also known as the bread beetle, biscuit beetle, and misnamed as the biscuit weevil, is a tiny, brown beetle. It can be found infesting a wide variety of dried plant products, where it is among the most common non-weevils to be found. It is the only living member of the genus Stegobium. It belongs to the family Ptinidae, which also includes the deathwatch beetle, furniture beetle and cigarette beetle. A notable characteristic of this species is the symbiotic relationship the beetles have with the yeast-like fungus they carry, which are transmitted from female to larvae through the oviduct.
The Indianmeal moth, also spelled Indian meal moth and Indian-meal moth, is a pyraloid moth of the family Pyralidae. Alternative common names are hanger-downers, weevil moth, pantry moth, flour moth or grain moth. The almond moth and the raisin moth are commonly confused with the Indian-meal moth due to similar food sources and appearance. The species was named for feeding on Indian meal or cornmeal, and does not occur natively in India. It is also not to be confused with the Mediterranean flour moth, another common pest of stored grains.
Lasioderma serricorne, more commonly referred to as the cigarette beetle, cigar beetle, or tobacco beetle, is a small beetle that shares a resemblance with the drugstore beetle and the common furniture beetle. The cigarette beetle, along with the drugstore and furniture beetles, all belong to the beetle family Ptinidae. The cigarette beetle can be distinguished from A. punctatum by its flatter thorax, whereas A. punctatum boasts a humped thorax. The cigarette beetle can be further differentiated from S. paniceum by its uniformly serrated antennae with unmodified apex, unlike the three-segmented apical "club" of S. paniceum. Additionally, L. serricorne has no evident grooves in its elytra, or hardened wing covers, compared to A. punctatum and S. paniceum which both have grooves.
Pyralis farinalis, the meal moth, is a cosmopolitan moth of the family Pyralidae. Its larvae (caterpillars) are pests of certain stored foods, namely milled plant products.
The confused flour beetle, a type of darkling beetle known as a flour beetle, is a globally found, common pest insect known for attacking and infesting stored flour and grain. They are one of the most common and most destructive insect pests for grain and other food products stored in silos, warehouses, grocery stores, and homes. They engage in cannibalistic behaviors for population control and nutritional benefits. Tribolium confusum practices kin selection to improve individual fitness. Multiple chemicals have been used to manage their infestation, including pyrethin and fungal insecticides.
The rice weevil is a stored product pest which attacks seeds of several crops, including wheat, rice, and maize.
Callosobruchus maculatus is a species of beetles known commonly as the cowpea weevil or cowpea seed beetle. It is a member of the leaf beetle family, Chrysomelidae, and not a true weevil. It is often mistaken for Callosobruchus chinensis, another bean beetle species with a similar lifestyle. This common pest of stored legumes has a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on every continent except Antarctica. The beetle most likely originated in West Africa and moved around the globe with the trade of legumes and other crops. As only a small number of individuals were likely present in legumes carried by people to distant places, the populations that have invaded various parts of the globe have likely gone through multiple bottlenecks. Despite these bottlenecks and the subsequent rounds of inbreeding, these populations persist. This ability to withstand a high degree of inbreeding has likely contributed to this species’ prevalence as a pest.
Rhyzopertha is a monotypic genus of beetles in the family Bostrichidae, the false powderpost beetles. The sole species, Rhyzopertha dominica, is known commonly as the lesser grain borer, American wheat weevil, Australian wheat weevil, and stored grain borer. It is a beetle commonly found within store bought products and pest of stored cereal grains located worldwide. It is also a major pest of peanuts. The first documentation of wheat infestation by R. dominica was observed in Australia. R. dominica are usually reddish brown to dark brown in coloration, vary in sizes, elongated and cylindrical.
A pheromone trap is a type of insect trap that uses pheromones to lure insects. Sex pheromones and aggregating pheromones are the most common types used. A pheromone-impregnated lure is encased in a conventional trap such as a bottle trap, delta trap, water-pan trap, or funnel trap. Pheromone traps are used both to count insect populations by sampling, and to trap pests such as clothes moths to destroy them.
The maize weevil, known in the United States as the greater rice weevil, is a species of beetle in the family Curculionidae. It can be found in numerous tropical areas around the world, and in the United States, and is a major pest of maize. This species attacks both standing crops and stored cereal products, including wheat, rice, sorghum, oats, barley, rye, buckwheat, peas, and cottonseed. The maize weevil also infests other types of stored, processed cereal products such as pasta, cassava, and various coarse, milled grains. It has even been known to attack fruit while in storage, such as apples.
Sexual selection in insects is about how sexual selection functions in insects. The males of some species have evolved exaggerated adornments and mechanisms for self-defense. These traits play a role in increasing male reproductive expectations by triggering male-male competition or influencing the female mate choice, and can be thought of as functioning on three different levels: individuals, colonies, and populations within an area.
Purdue Improved Crop Storage (PICS) bags are bags developed by scientists at Purdue University to store grain and seeds. They use hermetic storage technology to reduce loss of post-harvest cowpea due to bruchid infestations in West and Central Africa.
Callosobruchus chinensis, also known as the adzuki bean weevil, pulse beetle, Chinese bruchid or cowpea bruchid, is a common species of beetle found in the bean weevil subfamily. Although it is commonly known as the "adzuki bean weevil" it is in fact not a true weevil, belonging instead to the leaf beetle family, Chrysomelidae.
Acanthoscelides obtectus, the bean weevil, is a species of bruchid beetle. The species was described in 1831 by Thomas Say.
Araecerus fasciculatus, the coffee bean weevil, is a species of beetle (Coleoptera) belonging to the family Anthribidae. Despite its name, it affects a wide range of stored products and some field crops and is accredited with consuming more than 100 different kinds of stored goods. This polyphagous insect is often found in stored crops such as: corn, cassava, sweet potatoes, nutmeg, dried fruits and various nuts. Through trade it has become cosmopolitan in its distribution and is considered an economically important global pest. A. fasciculatus causes significant damage to stored food goods, can result in loss of mass quantities of product and can reduce the quality of the stored goods.
Callosobruchus is a genus of beetles in the family Chrysomelidae, the leaf beetles. It is in the subfamily Bruchinae, the bean weevils. Many beetles in the genus are well known as economically important pests that infest stored foodstuffs.
Lariophagus distinguendus is a idiobiont ectoparasitoid hymenopteran in the family Pteromalidae, superfamily Chalcidoidea. It parasitizes small beetle larvae concealed in seeds, as well as prepupae and pupae in their cocoons. It is used for the biological control of several beetle pests of stored products, particularly in central Europe, where it is produced commercially and distributed by at least 11 companies.
Dinarmus is a genus of wasps belonging to the family Pteromalidae.
