Institut de l’Environnement et de Recherches Agricoles (INERA), Département Environnement et Forêts (DEF), station de Saria, BP 10 Koudougou, Burkina Faso
Shea kernels are generally stored by Burkinabè households. A prospective study conducted in Ziro province revealed the damage caused by insects. The objective of this study was to inventory the pests associated with shea kernel stocks. Samples of shea kernels were collected from farmers’ stocks in three localities of the province over a six-month period. At each period, 4 samples were taken from each locality to constitute 12 batches that were brought to the Laboratory of Fundamental and Applied Entomology of the Joseph KI-ZERBO University. Each batch was analyzed and kept for insect emergence monitoring for 45 days. Six (06) species of predators were identified, among which Ephestia cautella (Walker) was the most abundant (87.33% of individuals). Four (04) species of the order Coleoptera, were recorded with proportions of individuals lower than 4%. Bracon hebetor (Say), a parasitic Hymenoptera, was recorded with a proportion of 7.26%. The rate of perforation of kernels, which was significant at the beginning of storage (28.87%), increased progressively to reach a maximum of 57.73% after six months of storage. It is important to study the behavior of H. hebetor toward E. cautella in order to clarify its status and possibly consider the implementation of a biological control against this pest.