Plodia interpunctella and Corcyra cephalonica infestation of cricket-based flour

The continuous population growth is raising the food demand. In this context, the interest in novel food such as insect-based products is increasing. These products could be attacked by stored product pests, including pyralid moths that are among the main pests of food industry. The present work aims to evaluate whether cricket-based flour (CF) is susceptible to infestation by Plodia interpunctella (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) and Corcyra cephalonica (Stainton) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae). Plodia interpunctella and C. cephalonica were reared separately on CF and on a standard diet (SD) as control. Data collected included survival and performance of emerged adults and the t-test was used to determine the statistically differences. Results showed the ability of both species to develop on CF. Nevertheless, in both cases the number of emerged adults was significantly lower on CF, compared to SD. Diets also affected the adult dimension and determined a delay in the emergence for adults derived from larvae reared on CF. Moreover, both species showed a lower offspring produced when reared on CF. Cricket flour has shown to be susceptible to P. interpunctella and C. cephalonica infestation, thus the protection of cricket-food products must be taken into account to avoid stored product moth damage.