Mating disruption technique for the European grain moth infestations

Nemapogon granellus (L.) (Lepidoptera: Tineidae) is a stored-product moth, found to infest stored animal products such as meat, sausages and cheese. Damages are caused by larvae digging tunnels for feeding on cured meat and cheese. Control method based on the use of sexual pheromone to prevent or limit mating between N. granellus males and females was evaluated.The trials were conducted in two ham factories where the European grain moth was infesting cured meat during storage in warehouse. A treated area and a control area were selected in each ham factory: in the treated ones, dispensers loaded with 10 mg of N. granellus pheromone were positioned at a density equal to 1 unit/22.5 m3 (factory A) and 1 unit/25 m3 (factory B). The efficacy of mating disruption was evaluated on the reduction in the number of mated females, captured in a plastic container filled with water and placed in the control and test warehouses. The results showed a significant reduction of mated females in the test warehouses compared to the control warehouses, in both ham factories. The total number of mated females was greater than 90% in untreated warehouses, less than 50% in warehouses with mating disruption. These results indicate that the use of pheromones to reduce the couplings is a technique that can be successfully applied in the integrated management of N. granellus in ham factories.