The khapra beetle, Trogoderma granarium Everts (Coleoptera: Dermestidae), is an important pest of stored wheat worldwide. The current study assessed the efficacy of five Iraqi isolates of entomopathogenic fungi, including Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuillemin (Cordycipitaceae) isolate Bb25, Lecanicillium attenuatum (Petch) Zare & Gams (Cordycipitaceae) isolate La90, Metarhizium anisopliae (Metchnikoff) Sorokin (Clavicipitaceae) isolate Ma42, Isaria fumosorosea (Wize) (Clavicipitaceae) isolate P10 and Chaetomium globosum (Kunze) (Chaetomiaceae) isolate CHG20, compared to a commercially produced B. bassiana strain GHA (Mycotrol® ESO). We also assessed the effects of fungal infection on the fecundity and longevity of adult female beetles under laboratory conditions of 30 ± 2°C and 65 ± 5% RH. Beauveria bassiana isolate Bb25 and M. anisopliae isolate Ma42 had the highest virulence compared to L. attenuatum isolate La90, C. globosum isolate CHG20, I. fumosorosea isolate P10 and Mycotrol® ESO. Abbott-corrected mortality of T. granarium after exposure to either B. bassiana or M. anisopliae, at 10⁶ conidia ml^–1, varied according to the beetle's developmental stage. First, second and third instars were more susceptible compared with fourth, fifth instars and adults at 10 d post-treatment. Beauveria bassiana isolate Bb25 and M. anisopliae isolate Ma42 caused about 50% reduction in total fecundity and about 20% reduction in longevity of the female adults. The results demonstrate that the two Iraqi isolates of B. bassiana and M. anisopliae have potential as a biological control agents of T. granarium; however, further studies under commercial storage conditions are required.

Acanthoscelides obtectus (Say) and Acanthoscelides obvelatus (Bridwell) (Coleoptera: Bruchidae) are two sympatric beetle species that infest bean seeds (Phaseolus vulgaris L.; Fabaceae). Using field-sampled wild P. vulgaris pods and data of population density, body size, and parasitoid pressure for both species across elevation and temperature gradients in the Mexican Altiplano, we explored whether interspecific competition occurs between the two bruchids. We expected that population density, body size, and parasitoid pressure of A. obtectus and A. obvelatus to be inversely related to one another. We found that population densities of the two species differed among the elevations, but their body sizes were independent of expected density patterns. Moreover, the parasitoid emergence rate was correlated to A. obvelatus abundance but not A. obtectus abundance. Our data suggest that niches of A. obtectus and A. obvelatus overlap only to such extent that interspecific competition seems unlikely due to a) alternative hosts are available for A. obtectus, and b) P. vulgaris seeds and alternative legumes are a fairly common resource in the studied area.