Miller Magazine Issue 107 / November 2018

84 MILLER / NOVEMBER 2018 “The species can build easily extremely high population densities, that are devastating for the commodity. It some countries, it is particularly abundant on wheat and barley, but it can be frequently found in non-preferred commodities, such as rice. Apart from the infestation per se, it produces a lot of feces and cast skins, causing additional qualitative degradations to the products. The presence of cast skins, hair etc. from the larvae can cause serious allergenic reactions and respiration problems.” Distribution of the khapra beetle Trogoderma granarium is a Coleopteran spe- cies, that belongs to the family Dermestidae. Globally, it is known as “khapra beetle” and it is a quarantine pest for many countries, such as Canada, US, Australia and many more. The khapra beetle is currently considered as the most important quarantine post-harvest insect species, globally (Myers and Hagstrum 2012, EPPO 2013). The pest originates from India and is currently present in Western Africa and the Middle East, as well as in some countries of Asia and Europe (EPPO 2013). Moreover, apart from the records of established populations, the number of interceptions of T. granarium in non-khapra beetle countries has been notably increased during the recent years (Myers and Hagstrum 2012, Day and White 2016, EPPO 2016). The increased number of interceptions in wider geographical areas constitutes T. granari- um an emerging pest of major importance. The species is classified among the 100 most impor- tant invasive species globally (Lowe et al. 2000). Key biology characteristics The khapra beetle is generally a very success- The khapra beetle: Enemy at the gates Prof. Christos G. Athanassiou University of Thessaly, Greece athanassiou@agr.uth.gr