The beetle is small about 4 mm long, slender, cylindrical, polished dark brown or black, with a roug

1
Lesson 6 Lesser Grain Borer
The beetle is small (about 4 mm long), slender,
cylindrical, polished dark brown or black, with a
roughened wing surface (Fig.). The head is
turned down and covered by a hood-shaped thorax
which bears small patches around the edge.
Adults lay from 300 to 500 eggs singly or in
clusters on grains or in powdery material over a
period of 3-6 weeks.
Lesser Grain Borer Beetle
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Lesson 6 Lesser Grain Borer
Eggs hatch in about 5-11 days into fleshy grubs,
which appear swollen at the extremities and bore
into grains and feed inside (Fig.). The larval
period lasts from 25 to 50 days depending on the
season.
Lesser Grain Borer Grub eating the grain
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Lesson 6 Lesser Grain Borer
Damage This beetle pest is cosmopolitan in its
distribution and infestation can be very
heavy. It is also a serious pest on paddy,
wheat, maize etc. The grub bores and feeds on
the grain.
Lesser Grain Borer Damage to grain
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Lesson 6 Lesser Grain Borer
Management Grain should be stored in a dry,
clean condition in insect-proof containers. If
keeping the grain dry is not practicable,
fumigation with Aluminum phosphide tablets may
be the only feasible protection.
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Module 5 Storage Pests
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With this, the Lesson 6 on Lesser Grain Borer,
a stored product pest, and also this Module on
Storage Pests in Sorghum concludes. If you want
to check your understanding on about storage
pests in sorghum, please click on Exercise
button given above. The last Module in this
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insect pests that affect sorghum crop. Click
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