Whitmire Micro-Gen’s Allure MD Controls Stored Product Moths

ST. LOUIS — Whitmire Micro-Gen’s Prescription Treatment brand Allure MD reduces stored product moths through mating disruption. This new technology controls by proactive prevention instead of the current reactive treatment techniques.

Allure MD works by interfering with the male moth’s ability to locate female moths and successfully mate with them. Allure MD dispensers release synthetic moth sex pheromone, which mimics the natural pheromone of females and results in a disruption of the mating process. If male moths cannot find females and mate, the females cannot lay fertile eggs, causing the moth population to decline.

In addition to Indian meal moths, Allure MD is labeled for Mediterranean flour moths, tropical warehouse moths, almond moths, tobacco moths and raisin moths. Each dispenser lasts 90 days, and the dispenser technology reduces clean-up and shutdown costs associated with other treatment methods. Its low mammalian toxicity makes Allure MD ideal for sensitive areas such as food processing plants, warehouses and retail stores.

“Indian meal moths are the most common and among the most destructive stored food pests in the world,” said Tom Phillips, head of the Department of Entomology at Kansas State University, and a leading developer of Allure MD. “Mating disruption has proven successful in other pest treatment settings such as tree fruits, some row crops and grape vineyards, but this is the first time the technology has been approved by EPA for use indoors against stored food pests. Mating disruption is ideal for food processing plants, mills, warehouses, grocery distribution centers and shopping centers as an alternative to chemical insecticides.”