The purpose of this study was to elucidate the mechanism by which the Indian meal moth,
P. interpunctella, invaded wrapped dried figs and to study its biology on dried figs. Two film-wrapped dried figs were placed in a plastic container (15 cm in diameter, 6 cm deep) together with 2 mg of eggs and 10 last-instar larvae (20 days old) of
P. interpunctella, respectively. The plastic containers were kept at 24±1℃, 70%RH and 16L8D. The number of invading larvae and newly emerged adults from the dried figs were recorded. Last-instar larvae could not invade the dried figs covered with wrapping film, whereas newly-hatched larvae could. It appears that newly hatched larvae invaded the dried figs through gaps in the wrapping film. The developmental period from first-instar larvae to adults of
P. interpunctella was found to be 63.8±3.5 days (males,
N=12) and 69.6±3.9 days (females,
N=12) at 24±1℃, 70%RH and 16L8D on dried figs. The adult emergence rate was 83.3% in this experiments.
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