Seven species of stored grain pests were found infesting underground storage pits “bakars” in the Bay Region of Somalia. These species and their relative abundance (%) in “bakars” are as follows: Alphitobius laevigatus (Fabricius) (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae) (3.7%), Palorus subdepressus (Wollaston) (6.1%), Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) (29.2%); Rhizopertha dominica (Fabricius) (Bostrichidae) (23.9%); Sitophilus oryzae (Linneaeus) (Curculionidae) (4.7%); Cryptolestes ferrugineus (Stephens) (Cucujidae) (32.4%); Sitotroga cerealella Oliver (Lepidoptera, Gelechiidae) (unsampled). The mean percentage damage by insects for the region was 10.4 and by rats was 8.4 for sorghum grain stored as heads in 100 “bakars”. Actellic, K-Othrine and Malathion, applied as a 2% dust to threshed durra sorghum grain stored in sacks above ground, provided 99.2, 99.5 and 94.5% control, respectively.
