Study

Control of Plodia interpunctella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), a pest in Bombus terrestris (Hymenoptera: Apidae) colonies

  • Published source details Kwon Y.J., Saeed S. & Duchateau M.J. (2003) Control of Plodia interpunctella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), a pest in Bombus terrestris (Hymenoptera: Apidae) colonies. The Canadian Entomologist, 135, 893-902.

Actions

This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

Action Category

Ensure commercial hives/nests are disease free

Action Link
Bee Conservation
  1. Ensure commercial hives/nests are disease free

    Kwon et al. (2003) tested methods of controlling the Indian meal moth Plodia interpunctella, which can be problematic to bumblebee colonies in commercial rearing conditions or greenhouses. This moth's eggs are transported in pollen from honey bee colonies, and survive normal frozen storage conditions. Replicated controlled experiments showed that storage at -60°C for 70 days killed all Indian meal moth eggs (three replicates of each treatment). Storage at -20°C killed 80-90% of the eggs. In a separate experiment, treating B. terrestris colonies with the insect pathogen Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) Aizawai strain at a concentration of 1 g Bt/litre of water killed 98-100 % of moth larvae after seven days, but did not cause bumblebee mortality after 10 days. Treatment with 2 g Bt/litre of water caused high bumblebee mortality. There were five Bt treated colonies and five control colonies.

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