Penetration of Seven Common Flexible Packaging Materials by Larvae and Adults of Eleven Species of Stored-Product Insects

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Abstract
The ability of larvae to penetrate flexible packaging materials was determined for large and small larvae of 11 species of stored-product insects. These insects were confined individually, with or without food, in small pouches made of cellophane, polyethylene, paper, polyvinylchloride, aluminum foil, polyester, or polypropylene. Larvae of Oryzaephilus mercator (Fauvel), Cathartus quadricollis (Guérin-Méneville), and Cryptolestes pusillus (Schönherr) made no penetrations. Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) larvae were very weak penetrators. Only Tenebroides mauritanicus (L.) and Trogoderma variabile Ballion larvae penetrated all 7 materials. Larvae of the 5 other species, Dermestes maculatus De Geer, Lasioderma serricorne (F.), Ephestia cautella (Walker), Corcyra cephalonica (Stainton), and Plodia interpunctella (Hübner), penetrated 5 of the 7 materials. Foil, polyester, and polypropylene were generally the most resistant to penetration. Larvae of all species generally showed a much greater propensity to penetrate when confined without food. Many penetrations occurred within 24 h and most occurred within 1 wk. Some larvae that did not penetrate and subsequently transformed into adults made more penetrations as adults than as larvae. The locations of the penetrations in the vertically positioned pouches were predominantly in the bottom 1/2 of the pouches and in a zone 0–1 cm from the folds.

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