Life Table Parameters and Digestive Enzyme Activity of Araecerus fasciculatus (Coleoptera: Anthribidae) Feeding on Different Stored Products
by
, , and
Lingyan Jian
1,†, 
Yuping Yang
1,†,
Songhai Xie
1,
Yibin Lou
1,
Ling Chen
1,
Fanglian Dai
1,
Paraskevi Agrafioti
2
,
Yu Cao
1,*,
Christos G. Athanassiou
2,*
and
Can Li
1 1
Guizhou Provincial Key Laboratory for Rare Animal and Economic Insect of the Mountainous Region, Guizhou Key Laboratory of Agricultural Biosecurity, Guiyang University, Guiyang 550005, China
2
Laboratory of Entomology and Agricultural Zoology, Department of Agriculture, Crop Production and Rural Environment, University of Thessaly, 38446 Nea Ionia, Greece
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Insects 2025, 16(4), 428; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects16040428
Submission received: 10 March 2025
/
Revised: 13 April 2025
/
Accepted: 15 April 2025
/
Published: 18 April 2025
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Controlling Insect Pests in Postharvest Agricultural Products Using Non-Chemical Methods)
Simple Summary
Araecerus fasciculatus (De Geer, 1775) is a globally significant pest of stored products. Dietary differences can influence the physiological and ecological traits of insects. In this study, we examined the population development and digestive enzyme activities of A. fasciculatus reared on five distinct commodities: coffee, jujube, maize, wheat, and kansui. The results revealed that A. fasciculatus fed on coffee beans exhibited the shortest developmental period, highest adult survival rate, and highest fecundity. Conversely, kansui supported the longest developmental period, the lowest survival rate, and the lowest fecundity. Similarly, the highest values for both the intrinsic rate of natural increase (rm) and the net reproductive rate (R0) were recorded on coffee beans, whereas the lowest values were observed on kansui. Furthermore, when fed on different stored products, A. fasciculatus demonstrated the highest activities of key digestive enzymes, including α-amylase, pepsin, and cellulase, on coffee beans, while the lowest enzyme activities were detected on kansui. These findings indicate that dietary variations significantly influenced the metabolism of A. fasciculatus, which in turn may profoundly affect its population development. In summary, the results suggest that coffee beans represent the most suitable host food for the development of A. fasciculatus, whereas kansui is the least suitable.
Abstract
Araecerus fasciculatus (De Geer, 1775) is an important stored-product pest worldwide. In this study, the development time, survival rate, oviposition, and digestive enzyme (α-amylase, cellulase, pepsin, and lipase) activities of A. fasciculatus fed on five commodities (coffee, jujube, maize, wheat, and kansui) were investigated. Our results showed that the developmental duration of A. fasciculatus from egg to adult was shortest on coffee beans (51.41 days) and longest on kansui (69.65 days). The survival rate of A. fasciculatus adults was lowest on kansui (42.22%) and highest on coffee beans (63.33%). Significant differences in fecundity were also observed, with the greatest number on coffee beans (80.78 eggs/female) and the lowest on kansui (50.43 eggs/female). Araecerus fasciculatus showed the greatest intrinsic rate of natural increase (rm) on coffee beans (0.141), followed by jujube (0.129), maize (0.117), wheat (0.105), and kansui (0.097). The net productive rate (R0) showed a similar trend to rm, with values of 48.42, 42.53, 35.39, 27.53, and 21.47, respectively, on these stored products. Although no significant differences were observed in the lipase activities when A. fasciculatus was fed on different stored products, activities of α-amylase, pepsin, and cellulase were highest on coffee beans and lowest on kansui. The variation in the population development of A. fasciculatus associated with different foods may be related to its digestive enzyme performance. These results indicated that coffee beans were the most suitable host food, while kansui was the least suitable for the development of A. fasciculatus.
