Stored-product insects are a perennial problem in retail stores, where they damage
and contaminate susceptible merchandise such as food products and animal feed. Historically, pest
management in these stores has relied heavily on chemical insecticides, but environmental and
health issues have dictated use of safer methods, and these require better monitoring. A monitoring
procedure that employs an array of moth and beetle traps combined with spatial (contour) analysis
of trap catch was tested in three department stores and two pet stores. The rate of capture increased
with the level of infestation but was essentially constant over 4- to 5-d trapping periods. Contour
analysis effectively located foci of infestation and reßected population changes produced by applications
of the insect growth regulator (S)-hydroprene. The most abundant insects were Plodia
interpunctella (Hu¨bner), Lasioderma serricorne (F.), Oryzaephilus mercator (Fauvel), Tribolium
castaneum (Herbst), andCryptolestes pusillus (Scho¨nherr). The results indicate that contour analysis
of trap counts provides a useful monitoring tool for management of storage pests in retail stores. It
identiÞes trouble spots and permits selection, timing, and precision targeting of control measures to
achieve maximum pest suppression with minimum pesticide risk. It permits managers and pest
control operators to visualize pest problems over an entire store, to monitor changes over time, and
to evaluate the effectiveness of control intervention. The contour maps themselves, along with
records of control applications and stock rotation, provide permanent documentation of pest
problems and the effectiveness of pest management procedures