Data From: Using microencapsulated liquid pheromone for the control of Indian meal moth (Plodia interpunctella) in a retail environment

The pet food and accessories industry is a multi-billion-dollar business. Goods are shipped and stored in a scheduled manner, but consumers also dictate what is bought and when, introducing extreme variability in the retail system. These products are susceptible to stored product insect pests, such as the Indian meal moth, Plodia interpunctella Hübner (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) which can cause significant damage to the product. Mating disruption is a form of control where extremely high doses of sex pheromone are used to disable mating. A new formulation of microencapsulated P. interpunctella female sex pheromone was tested in four pet food retail stores from 2021 to 2022 with monthly monitoring. Three stores, classified as high, medium/low, and low starting populations were sprayed with microencapsulated pheromone at 90-day intervals for a year. The fourth store remained an untreated control. Data were analyzed by store, month, and host product category (cat food and supplies; dog food and supplies; cat litter; fish, bird, and small animal products; and backroom area). Stores that were treated with encapsulated pheromone showed significantly lower populations over time. Heat maps demonstrated how unpredictable human interactions in this unique environment. These results show that this new formulation significantly reduces P. interpunctella populations over time and in combination with other IPM strategies can be recommended and brought to the forefront in a challenging commercial retail environment.

The stores that are labeled "Not Used" were assessed for baseline populations but numbers were so low that they were not used in further analyses. The numbers in each month column indicate counts of P. interpunctella moths caught in each trap.