Parasites of beetles which are pests of grain and products of its processing

Abstract

Crop pests are the cause of economic damage in many developing countries, including Ukraine, where annual loss of crop harvest on average equals 6 million tons, valued at 840 million dollars. Pests consume grain, causing its pollution and creating favorable conditions for development of mold, which significantly decreases the food and seeding properties of grain and products of its processing. This article presents basic data on biological control and its advantages, demonstrates the variety of natural enemies of the pest beetles, which are used in biological control, analyses studies of the biological control of main crop pests and products of its processing belonging to the families Curculionidae and Tenebrionidae, and also the role of competition in  biological control. The analysis of studies on the effectiveness of different natural enemies of the main crop pest-beetles shows that the most studied parasites are Sitophilus granarius, S. zeamais, Tribolium confusum, T. castaneum, Oryzaephilus surinamensis, Rhyzopertha dominica, Acanthoscelides obtectus and Callosobruchus maculatus. Natural enemies of the rest of the species are poorly studied, and there is no data on Caulophilus latinasus, Tenebroides mauritanicus, Dermestes lardarius, Ptinus fur and Bruchidius incarnatus. The most commonly used natural enemies are Xylocoris flavipes, Anisopteromalus calandrae, the entomopathogenic fungi Metarhizium anisopliae and Beauveria bassiana, and also nematodes of the Steinernema and Heterorhabditis genera. Despite the broad spectrum of natural enemies of the main pests of the grain supply, it is necessary to further study the parasites of every species of beetle which causes economic damage. Using biological control is the most promising method against pests of crops and products of its processing, which meets the current requirements to the sanitary-ecological condition of agricultural production.