Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T07:54:57.604Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Seasonal changes in mite (Acari) and fungal populations in aerated and unaerated wheat stored for three years

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

E. T. Hurlock ,
D. M. Armitage  and
B. E. Llewellin
E. T. Hurlock
Affiliation:
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Slough Laboratory, London Road, Slough, Berks. UK
D. M. Armitage
Affiliation:
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Slough Laboratory, London Road, Slough, Berks. UK
B. E. Llewellin
Affiliation:
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Slough Laboratory, London Road, Slough, Berks. UK
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In experiments at Slough, southern England, one hundred tonnes of wheat at about 14% moisture content were divided between six similar metal bins, three of which were aerated during the winter. Observations were made on the mite and fungal populations and physical conditions for an uninterrupted storage period of three years. During the winter, the wheat in the aerated bins was 2–4°C cooler than that in the unaerated bins and it always had a moisture content 0·5–1% higher, except at the surface where it was usually drier. Aeration appeared to delay the increase of Acarus siro L. and Lepidoglyphus destructor (Schr.) for 4–6 months after harvest, but few individuals survived into the second year of storage in any bin. Cheyletus eruditus (Schr.) and Tydeus interruptus Thor were present after one year and were most numerous in the aerated bins. The distribution within the bins of the different species of mites varied with season. A greater increase in storage fungi occurred in the aerated bins than the unaerated. Members of the Aspergillus glaucus and A. restrictus groups, Penicillium spp. and Wallemia sebi were the commonest fungi.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 70 , Issue 4 , December 1980 , pp. 537 - 548
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1980

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Boudreaux, H. B. & Dosse, G. (1963). The usefulness of new taxonomic characters in females of the genus Tetranychus Dufour (Acari: Tetranychidae).—Acarologia 5, 13–33.Google Scholar
Burges, H. D. & Burrell, N. J. (1964). Cooling bulk grain in the British climate to control storage insects and to improve keeping quality.—J. Sci. Fd Agric. 15, 32–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burrell, N. J. (1974). Aeration.—pp. 454–480 in Christenson, C. M. (Ed.). Storage of cereal grains and thier products.—549 pp. St Paul, Minnesota, American Association of Cereal Chemists.Google Scholar
Burrell, N. J. & Havers, S. J. (1976). The effects of cooling on mite infestations in bulk grain.—Ann. appl. Biol. 82, 192–197.Google Scholar
Christensen, C. & Kaufman, H. (1974). Microflora.—pp. 158–192 in Christensen, C. M. (Ed.). Storage of cereal grains and their products.—549 pp. St Paul, Minnesota, American Association of Cereal Chemists.Google Scholar
Coombs, C. W. & Woodroofe, G. E. (1968). Changes in the arthropod fauna of an experimental bulk of stored wheat.—J. appl. Ecol. 5, 563–574.Google Scholar
Cunnington, A. M. (1965). Physical limits for complete development of the grain mite, Acarus siro L. (Acarina, Acaridae), in relation to its world distribution.—J. appl. Ecol. 2, 295–306.Google Scholar
Cunnington, A. M. (1969). Physical limits for complete development of the copra mite, Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Schrank) (Acarina, Acaridae).—pp. 241–248 in Evans, G. O. (Ed.). Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress of Acarology, Sutton Bonington (England) 19th–25th 07, 1967.—652 pp. Budapest, Akad. Kiadó.Google Scholar
Griffiths, D. A., Hodson, A. C. & Christensen, C. M. (1959). Grain storage fungi associated with mites.—J. econ. Ent. 52, 514–518.Google Scholar
Griffiths, D. A., Wilkin, D. R., Southgate, B. J. & Lynch, S. M. (1976). A survey of mites in bulk grain stored on farms in England and Wales.—Ann. appl. Biol. 82, 180–185.Google Scholar
Nixon, J. W. (1944). Cheese ‘itch’ and itchy cargoes in reference to workman's compensation.—Proc. R. Soc. Med. 37, 405–410.Google Scholar
Oxley, T. A., Pixton, S. W. & Howe, R. W. (1960). Determination of moisture content in cereals. 1.—Interaction of type of cereal and oven method.—J. Sci. Fd Agric. 11, 18–25.Google Scholar
Pixton, S. W. & Warburton, S. (1971). Moisture content/relative humidity equilibrium of some cereal grains at different temperatures.—J. stored Prod. Res. 6, 283–293.Google Scholar
Sinha, R. N. (1964). Effect of low temperature on the survival of some stored product mites.—Acarologia 6, 336–341.Google Scholar
Sinha, R. N. (1968). Adaptive significance of mycophagy in stored-product Arthropoda.—Evolution 22, 785–798.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Snow, D. (1949). The germination of mould spores at controlled humidities.—Ann. appl. Biol. 6, 1–13.Google Scholar
Solomon, M. E. (1946). Tyroglyphid mites in stored products. Ecological studies.—Ann. appl. Biol. 33, 82–97.Google Scholar
Solomon, M. E. (1961). Interaction of a predator and physical factors in the control of a grain mite.—Verh. XI. Int. Kongr. Ent. Wien 1960, 1, 768–772.Google Scholar
Solomon, M. E. (1969). Establishment, growth and decline of populations of the grain mite Acarus siro L. on a handful of wheat.—pp. 255–260 in G. O, Evans (Ed.). Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress of Acarology, Sutton Bonington (England) 19th–25th 07, 1967.—652 pp. Budapest, Akad. Kiadó.Google Scholar
Solomon, M. E., Hill, S. T., Cunnington, A. M. & Ayerst, G. (1964). Storage fungi antagonistic to the flour mite (Acarus siro L.).—J. appl. Ecol. 1, 119–125.Google Scholar
Szwabowicz, A., Miedzorbrodzki, K. & Schmidt, W. (1958). Toksyczność rozkruszka macznego Tyroglyphus farinae dla zwierzat. III. Doświadczenia na świniach.—Méd. vét., Varsovie 14, 344–346. [Seen in Vet. Bull., Weybridge (1959) 29, abstr. 760.]Google Scholar
Wilkin, D. R. (1975). A practical method for assessing live mites in stored grain.—Rep. Pest Infest. Control Lab. 1971–1973, 33.Google Scholar