Food securityUsing technology to defeat a tiny beetle which threatens grain stores
Invasive insect species pose a considerable threat to U.S. agriculture and natural resources – making it imperative that known invasive species are detected and their introduction prevented throughout global trade pathways. The tiny khapra beetle poses a major threat to unprotected grain stores. Scientists at the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) are helping the DHS Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal Plant Health Inspection Services (APHIS) Plant Protection Quarantine (PPQ) find an easier, more effective way to inspect bulk food supply for khapra beetles.
Invasive insect species pose a considerable threat to U.S. agriculture and natural resources – making it imperative that known invasive species are detected and their introduction prevented throughout global trade pathways.
Smaller than a grain of rice (three millimeters or less than an eighth inch long), the khapra beetle is difficult to control and can survive nearly anywhere they are protected from cold temperatures. Preferring low-moisture foods, khapra beetle larvae can destroy a significant proportion of unprotected grains stores due to their “dirty eating” behavior — a feeding habit, in which the beetle eats only a little of a single grain before moving on to others.
In addition, khapra beetle contamination in food products presents a food safety concern as the hairs associated with larvae and cast skins are potential allergens and respiratory hazards, particularly for young children. Notorious as the only stored product pest with quarantine status in the United States, the khapra beetle is also the only pest, which automatically triggers rejection of import shipments based solely on discovery of non-living life stages, cast skins or other body parts of the insect.
Current inspection methods involve targeting imports from countries where khapra beetles are known to be present, and visually examining high-risk commodities. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists are required to open shipping containers to look for evidence of khapra infestation — a task which is extremely difficult considering the size of the insect, and puts surrounding shipping containers at risk for contamination. Detection of khapra beetle is particularly challenging as the beetle is capable of living for years without food and can be found in non-food commodities such as textiles or packaging materials.
The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) says to address the khapra issue, scientists at the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) are helping the DHS Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal Plant Health Inspection Services (APHIS) Plant Protection Quarantine (PPQ) find an easier, more effective way to inspect bulk food supply for khapra beetles.
In a project funded by the DHS S&T Seedling Program and leveraging support from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), ECBC researchers in partnership with iSense LLC, are studying the use of colorimetric sensor arrays, or CSAs, to detect this invasive species in shipping containers.
