استفاده از اشعه ایکس برای کنترل شب‌پره مدیترانه‌ای آرد، Ephestia kuehniella Zeller

The Mediterranean flour moth, Ephestia kuehniella Zeller, is one of the most important pests of stored products which causes a lot of damage. Controlling stored product pests by chemical pesticides has resulted in numerous side effects such as environmental pollution and increasing of pest resistance. The use of X-ray is an appropriate non-chemical strategy to control storage pests. In the present study, the effect of X-ray on the population growth parameters of Mediterranean flour moth during 24 h irradiation (0.5 Gy/h) was investigated in laboratory conditions. The experiments were performed by irradiating fifth-instar larvae (24 h old) and comparing them with untreated ones (control) in 40 replicates. The results showed that X-rays caused abnormalities in the adult males and females obtained from the treated larvae. The mean percentage mortality of irradiated larvae (37.5%) was significantly higher than the mortality in control group (10.11%). The larval and pupal durations, males and females’ longevity were increased compared to the control and the number of eggs laid by female insects originating from treated larvae was decreased (p < 0.05). The intrinsic rate of population increase (r), net reproductive rate (R0), and finite rate of population increase (λ) of the treated insects were significantly lower than the control (p < 0.05). The mean percentage of the egg hatch was significantly decreased in mating between the treated parents (at least one of the treated parents) compared to the control. According to the results of the current study, X-rays had a favorable control on the Mediterranean flour moth, and they can be introduced as a suitable alternative to conventional pesticides for future researches.