Irradiation is technically effective in the
quarantine treatment for pests. In products,
particularly those irradiated for quarantine
purposes, it must be ascertained that any living
insects will not be able to survive or proliferate in
a new location. Nation et al. (1995a) suggested
that an indicator that could be used easily for
identifying irradiated insects might lie in the
irradiation causing inhibition of the darkening or
melanization that usually followed death or injury
in a living insect. Supawan et al. (2005) reported
the degree of melanization in non-irradiated azuki
bean weevil larvae to be significantly different
from the irradiated larvae.