D3184: (2nd Place) Long-term flight patterns of Indian meal moth

Indian meal moth (IMM; Plodia interpunctella) is a common household and stored grain product pest. In conjunction with other stored product insects, IMMs are responsible for 1/3 of post-harvest grain damage throughout the world. IMM are short lived as adults and will often have to fly long distances to successfully find mates, oviposition substrates, and suitable food sources for their offspring. They use a combination of chemical cues (pheromone and food) as they traverse the landscape. Although we know that food and pheromone cues impact IMM mating behavior, it is unclear how they influence flight activity. It is also unclear whether sex, age, or mating status has an impact on flight behavior as well. The purpose of my work was to measure flight activity in unmated IMM males and females in the absence (control) of the female produced pheromone (E,Z) 9, 12-tetradecadienyl acetate (ZETA) over a five-day post eclosion timespan. Both sexes were tested and replicated for a total of n=24 per sex. This experiment helps us uncover the long-term flight patterns of IMM in the presence of ZETA which impacts improvement opportunities for behavioral management methods, like mating disruption, a currently deployed strategy by stored product pest managers.