Language: English
From the introduction:
"In recent years in India many individuals with little entomological training, esspecially pest control operators, veterinary physicians, sanitarians, experimental biologists and people connected with grain and seed trade, have become interested in insects infesting stored foods. Insects attack the food we eat constantly, from the field crops and throughout the storage period in warehouses, grain and seed mills, farm bins, grain elevators, bakeries, stores and in our kitchens. [...] Insects which damage stored grain and their products belong mainly to two groups: Coleoptera: beetles, and Lepidoptera: chiefly moths. Beetles are more harmful than moths as they can feed and bore both in adult and larval stages, whereas moths are harmful only in larval stages.[...]Information about identification, biology, ecology and distributon of beetle pests of stored products have been published from time to time, but are scattered and not always quickly or easily obtainable. Moreover, during recent times we have received many queries from different organizations such as Agricultural Universities and Research Institutes, Governmental Plant Quarantine and Fumigation departments and general Universities from all over India regarding identification and other inforrnation of various stored product beetles. The maximum queries received are on Tribolium castaneum, Alphitobius laevigatus, Sitophilus oryzae, Lasioderma serricorne, Callosobruchus chinensis, Rhizopertha dominica, Necrobia rufipes and Oryzaephilus surinamensis, whereas queries on other species dealt with in this paper are comparatively few. An attempt has been made here to provide an easy key (along with a pictorial one) to the common species of Indian beetles associated with stored products for identification. Information on their host, associate insects, life history, diagnostic characters, and an illustration of each species are also given."