*4.6.4 Foreign grain beetle (*Ahasverus advena *(Waltl, 1834) Coleoptera: Silvanidae)*

*Distribution:* Foreign grain beetle mainly occurs in the tropics and sub-tropics. This pest can complete the development at temperatures between 20°C and 35°C.

*Host range*: This pest mainly attacks cereals, grains, oilseeds, spices, and dried fruits.

*Bionomics*: The foreign grain beetle is a small, cosmopolitan, reddish-brown beetle. It spends its most time on damp and moldy grains and less on clean grains. This pest mainly measures about 2 mm in length. It can be easily differentiated by the slight projections on each front corner of the pronotum and the antennae are club-shaped. The larvae are mainly cream-colored, worm-like, and almost 3 mm long before they start pupation into darker adults. Males and females are alike in form both as larva as well as adults.

*Damage symptoms*: Poor storage conditions and spoiled food is mainly indicated by the presence of the beetle.

### *4.6.5 Mexican bean beetle (*Epilachna varivestis *Mulsant, 1850 (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)*

*Distribution*: The Mexican bean beetle is mainly found in Mexico and the Eastern United States. It is largely found in wet and highly irrigated areas especially in the west of the Rocky Mountains. It cannot tolerate extremely dry conditions.

*Host range*: This pest is mainly feeding on flower, leaf, or pod tissues on beans and other legumes. The pest is generally found in different varieties of bean plants including thicket bean, cowpea, common bean, soybean. Besides it also feeds on other legumes such as alfalfa and many others.

*Bionomics*: The Mexican grain beetle is a deep brown, highly polished, long antennae, and usually breeds in grain and grain products. The adult is mainly oval shaped almost 6–7 mm in length it bears eight black spots on its elytron. The Color of the adult is highly variable ranges from bright red to rusty brown to golden yellow. Almost 1.3 mm long eggs are generally yellow and are glued in clusters on the underside of the leaves. The larvae are yellow in color. Almost 1.6 mm long when they first emerge but they grow almost a centimeter long before pupation.

*Damage symptoms*: Places wet and highly irrigated are the main infested regions by this pest.
