Abundance of insects in rice mills in Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka

Monitoring of insect population is a prerequisite for integrated pest management attempts. The complex structures/machines in rice milling facilities, however, limit surveying attempts aggravating the ignorance of insect fauna associated with such facilities. Furthermore, insect surveys conducted in Sri Lanka are very rare. The objective of the current study was to determine the presence, diversity, and abundance of insects in rice mills of varying capacity as found in a major rice processing area in Sri Lanka. A group of large-, medium-, and smallscale mills were used for the survey. Samples were collected from different locations in the mills, and the density of insects at each location was determined. Insect species and their abundance varied with the type of mill as well as with the location in the mill. This information is useful to design and implement pest management for the mills.