Characterizing spatial distribution of trap captures of beetles in retail pet stores using SADIE (R) software

The weevils, Sitophilus spp., drug store beetle, Stegobium paniceum (L.), and red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) in two retail pet stores in Kansas, USA, were sampled with pitfall traps on five separate occasions before and four separate occasions after a thorough sanitation in areas with high trap captures. Trap captures of Sitophilus spp. and S. paniceum in store 1 and those of T castaneum and Sitophilus spp. in store 2, were analyzed using the Spatial Analysis of Distance IndicEs (SADIE(C)) software. Captures of Sitophilus spp. in store 1 and T castaneum in store 2 increased immediately after sanitation, but subsequently were similar to levels before sanitation, whereas captures of S. paniceum in store 1 and Sitophilus spp. in store 2 were unaffected by sanitation. In store 1, S. paniceum trap captures were randomly distributed on all sampling occasions, while Sitophilus spp. captures were spatially aggregated immediately before and after sanitation. During the 6 months of trapping, the Sitophilus spp. trap capture centroids gradually moved northwards, and those of S. paniceum moved southwards. In store 2, trap captures of T castaneum and Sitophilus spp. were uniformly distributed before sanitation and were predominantly spatially aggregated after sanitation. During the 6 months of trapping, trap capture centroids of both T castaneum and Sitophilus spp. gradually moved northwards. The impact of a thorough sanitation performed once on the spatial distribution patterns of insects in the two retail stores was not consistent. Sanitation was also ineffective in reducing captures of the insect species. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.