OVICIDAL AND REPRODUCTION INHIBITION ACTIVITY OF FLUFENOXURON, AN ACYLUREA INSECT GROWTH REGULATOR, AGAINST TRIBOLIUM CASTANEUM (HERBST) (COLEOPTERA: TENEBRIONIDAE)

Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) is an economically important pest of stored grain commodities over the world. A laboratory study was conducted to determine the ovicidal and reproduction inhibitory effects of an acylurea insect growth regulator, flufenoxuron, against two field strains of T. castaneum. At concentrations of 0.006, 0.003, and 0.0015 ppm, flufenoxuron did not kill the adults but caused significant reduction in fertility (60.3 and 63.5%) and egg hatching (89.3 and 90.1%) of adults exposed to flufenoxuron treated flour at 0.006 ppm compared to control in Multan and Faisalabad strains, respectively. Subsequent development of F larvae, pupae and adult from hatched eggs was also severely inhibited. In a separate 1 experiment, direct exposure of eggs laid by unexposed beetles to flufenoxuron also caused reduction in egg hatching and subsequent development of larvae, pupae and adult emergence was also inhibited. However, the inhibition effects due to direct egg treatment were not as strong as those obtained due to adult treatment. Results show that flufenoxuron can be a useful addition for pest management programmes in mills, warehouses and food storage facilities.