Distribution and Relative Abundance of Stored-Product Insects in California: A Method of Obtaining Sample Populations1

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Abstract
Use of a sheltered food packet to obtain sample populations of stored-product insects-provides an excellent basis for quantitative assessment of the distribution and relative abundance of species in various regions of California. Populations of insects obtained in the food packets developed from infestations occurring at the site of exposure, and development was influenced directly by the climate of the area. The food packet adopted for use contained a mixture of part each, by weight, of poultry laying mash, rolled barley, wheat, and corn. About ½ lb of the food mixture was tied up in cheesecloth, then covered with ⅛-in-mesh hardware cloth. Non storage facilities such as carports, garages, equipment sheds, inactive dairy barns and poultry houses, old livestock barns, and other structures not being used to store dry food products or seeds or feeds, provided shelters for food packets exposed to natural infestation during the spring and summer, usually for 4-5 months. Differences in distribution and abundance of insects obtained in sample populations reflected differences in climates of various regions of the State. The type of non storage facility used for shelter had little, if any, influence on the kind of insects or abundance of each species in sample populations.

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