Eco-Friendly Tools for Early Detection of Insects in The Stored Wheat Grains Under Egyptian Conditions

The quality and quantity of stored food grains may be highly reduced by insects attack. Applying protective actions can be performed by technology transfer and monitoring the stored grains for timely detection of insect attacks. Two experiments on stored wheat kernels in the warehouse and retail stores were performed using two methods of international traps across the Sharkia Governorate in 2020 for early detection and monitoring of the insects that attack the wheat storage ecosystem in Egypt. The applied technologies are related to stack probe and insect probe traps which were transferred from India to Egypt via the author. The stack probe traps were tested in the first experiment on the warehoused wheat structure and compared with spear sampling, whereas insect probe traps were applied in the second experiment on the retail stores. The detected insect species by stack probe trap in the warehoused grains were Oryzaephilus surinamensis, Sitophilus oryzae, Tribolium castaneum, and Rhyzopertha dominica. The detection frequency of T. castaneum achieved 98.5% using trapping and 16.3% by spear sampling within seven days before fumigation treatment. The detection frequency ratios of trapping: spear sampling were 6:1 and 5:1 for T. castaneum and S. oryzae, respectively. The insect distribution of warehoused wheat kernels indicated the traps of the top layer have the well-trapped highest population of  T. castaneum  and R. dominica while the bottom layer of grain stacks was dominated with   S. oryzae  and O. surinamensis. Concerning the second experiment, the insect probe traps have captured four insect species in the open wheat stacks of retail stores. The trapped insects were Sitophilus oryzae, Tribolium castaneum, Rhyzopertha dominica, and Oryzaephilus surinamensis. The collection unit of the insect trap was dominantly filled with T. castaneum and S. oryzae. Ultimately, the more effective eco-friendly tool to catch the insect species in the warehouse before and after fumigation was non baited stack probe trap than the spear sampling methods, and the insect probe trap was the vital detector of insects inside the open wheat stacks in the retail stores. The study demonstrated that the tested traps of India can be effectively used as physical methods and eco-friendly techniques for early detection and monitoring the stored insects without any harm to human health and the environment under Egyptian conditions through the technology transfer from abroad.