First Records Of A Stored Products Pest, Oryzaephilus Acuminatus Halstead, From The Western Hemisphere

A commercial nursery in Fort Myers, Florida imported seeds of the neem tree (Azadirachta indica A. Juas) from India to be used for their purported insecticidal properties. Beetles were discovered in the storage area on 11 January, 1983 and were sent to the Florida Department of Agriculture for identification. They were identified by the senior author as Oryzaephilus acuminatus Halstead, constituting the first U.S. record. Recommendations were immediately made to fumigate the area where the seed was stored in order to prevent establishment of the pest.

A previous shipment of 1,000 kilos of the seed was made a year earlier, but no beetles were noted then. The present shipment, consisting of 3,000 kilos, left India in September 1982, arriving in Los Angeles (San Pedro) on 12 December, 1982. It was then shipped to Miami and stored for about 3 weeks before being shipped to Fort Myers. There it was stored in a room with part of the previous shipment. Thousands of beetles (all stages) were found in the storage area. This area was fumigated with 98% methyl bromide and 2% chloropicrin, (at the USDA recommended rate), the surrounding nursery was treated with Dursban (2EC), 2 pints/100 gal. water, and greenhouse areas were sprayed with Lanate (20 oz./100 gal. water). All subsequent inspections have been negative (after 9 months), and no infestation is known.