Grain stored pest predators

Use of predators is one of many conventional biological techniques for stored –grain pest control. Others are including, use of parasites, insect disease and sterile males, the use of pheromones for pest monitoring, mating disruption or enhanced mass trapping, and the use for resistant crop varieties.

Many storage pests will prey on other insects present including members of their own species. Obligate predators only feed on other insects.

Lyctocoris campestris is a worldwide generalist predator of stored product insects that produces best growth and reproductive responses when exposes to grain moths instead of to common stored product infesting beetles.

Xylocoris flavipes, a cosmopolitan species called the warehouse pirate bug, is commonly found associated with stored product insect pests and studies showed they inhibited population buildup of four species of beetles that attack stored grain.

Some interesting biological characteristics of the warehouse pirate bug are that it requires a low number of prey to complete its development and uses cannibalism to survive when prey are absent.
Grain stored pest predators