Impact of physical and biological factors on susceptibility of Tribolium castaneum and Tribolium confusum (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) to new formulations of hydroprene

Three separate experiments were conducted to: (1) evaluate two new commercial formulations (202-080 and 202-084) of the insect growth regulator hydroprene, (2) determine residual efficacy of hydroprene-treated concrete stored at different environmental conditions, and (3) assess the impact of accumulated flour on residual efficacy. In the first test, late instars of Tribolium castaneum (Herbst), the red flour beetle, and Tribolium confusum (du Val), the confused flour beetle, were exposed on concrete treated with hydroprene. At 40% relative humidity (r.h.), there was no difference between species regarding the percentage of individuals that stopped development in the larval stage (arrested larvae), but at 75% r.h. there were more arrested T. castaneum than T. confusum in all treatments except the low rate of formulation 202-084. No adult T. castaneum lived after emergence (live adults) at either relative humidity, but the percentage of live adult T. confusum ranged from 1.0% to 41.0%, depending on treatment. In the second test, late instars of T. confusum were exposed at 6 and 12 weeks post-treatment on concrete treated with the two experimental formulations and stored under different environmental conditions. At 6 weeks there was no difference between formulations. At 12 weeks, fewer live adults and more dead emerged adults with gross morphological deformities were found on concrete treated with formulation 202-084 and stored at 32°C, 75% r.h. compared to other treatment combinations. In the final experiment, wheat flour was added to treated concrete for 5 weeks before the bioassays were conducted with late-instar T. confusum. There were few live adults produced in the initial bioassays, and dead adults with gross morphological deformities ranged from 83.1% to 97.6%. However, in bioassays conducted with late-instar larvae at 6 weeks, most adults eventually emerged with few deformities. The presence of the flour apparently compromised residual control and the hydroprene was no longer effective. In summary, the new hydroprene formulations were equivalent to the registered product Gentrol. Tribolium confusum was less susceptible than T. castaneum, and residual control of T. confusum on a clean surface without flour lasted about 6-12 weeks.