MANHATTAN, KANSAS, US — Kansas State University (KSU) and US Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists have launched a $799,976 project to improve biosecurity against the khapra beetle and the larger grain borer, which infest grain after harvest and value-added foods from grain.

Tom Phillips, professor of entomology at KSU, said the university will lead the project, which is funded by the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The project aims to upgrade monitoring devices by using automated, remote trapping devices. Researchers also will test novel fumigants for their effectiveness against these two pests.

In the early 1950s, the United States spent $125 million to eradicate the khapra beetle in three Southwestern states. The larger grain borer has been found crossing the southern border from its normal distribution in South and Central America.

“There are very few invasive or quarantine stored product insects,” said Rob Morrison, a research entomologist with the USDA’s Agriculture Research Service Center for Grain and Animal Health Research in Manhattan. “However, khapra beetle and larger grain borer are two species that are considered quarantined, or species-of-concern. They are both highly destructive; larger grain borer feeds mostly on corn and cassava, while khapra beetle is much less discriminate.”

Morrison said that as trade increases globally, the number of khapra beetle discoveries also increases. The World Conservation Union lists khapra beetle as one of the world’s 100 worst invasive species.

“If these pests get into the food supply, it would not only raise our food costs, but would also likely bring hardship to the grain industry by limiting exports, and the resulting devaluation on infested, bulk-stored grains,” Morrison said.

The five-year project began this summer and will continue through 2029. In addition to Phillips and Morrison, key collaborators on the project include Alison Gerken and Deanna Scheff from the USDA lab in Manhattan; and Christos Athanassiou, a professor at the University of Thessaly (Greece).