Effects of Low Doses of Ethylene Dibromide on Some Stages of the Confused Flour Beetle, Tribolium confusum1

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Abstract
Eggs, pupae, and adults of the confused flour beetle, Tribolium confusum Duv., were exposed to low doses of ethylene dibromide in modified Strand flasks. Female adults were more susceptible than males to low doses of this fumigant and survivors laid few eggs during a postfumigation period of 10 days. Eggs laid by female survivors combined with male survivors showed reduced hatchability. Progeny from survivors developed normally. Hatchability of treated 1-day-old eggs decreased with increasing concentration but larvae from hatchable eggs developed normally. At the doses used, 4-day-old eggs failed to hatch. Eight-day-old pupae were more susceptible than 2-day-old ones and females more than males. Mature pupae showed abnormal darkening of the cuticle and abnormal development at metamorphosis. No strong evidence of a strain of flour resistance was found. The question of resistance in the field is discussed.