Estimation of losses in some advanced sorghum genotypes incurred by red flour beetle,Tribolium castaneum L. (Herbst.) (Tenebrionidae: Coleoptera)

Tribolium castaneum (herbst.) is a cosmopolitan stored grains insect pest posing severe threat to post-harvest storage of grain foods such as sorghum,which is a major staple crop of pakistan. this study was done to assess some quantitative and qualitative losses incurred by t. castaneum to some advanced sorghum genotypes viz; hegari,f-114,j.s-2002,m.r.sorghum-2011 and p.c-1 and to screen out the most resistant genotype against t. castaneum. quantitative (insect pest adult emergence,damaged grains percentage,frass weight and grains weight loss) and quantitative (crude protein,fat,ash and fiber contents) were determined after a 90-d incubation of sorghum grains in dark at three different temperatures i.e. 28,32 and 35°c. m.r.sorghum-2011 was found the most susceptible genotype,while the genotype hegari was found the most resistant one against t. castaneum. on average basis,maximum adult emergence and frass weight were recorded in m.r.sorghum-2011,while these were minimum in hegari genotype. regarding qualitative losses,minimum losses of t. castaneum infestation were recorded in hegari followed by j.s-2002,f-114 and p.c-1,while high nutritive losses were observed in m.r.sorghum-2011. furthermore,qualitative losses to sorghum grains were high for all genotypes at 32°c,followed by 35°c and were least at 28°c. the results will aid in future breeding programs for finding promising sorghum genotypes and for better assessment of storage losses due to t. castaneum. copyright 2016 zoological society of pakistan.