Season-long microbial dynamics from the cuticle of rice weevil originating at food facilities after dispersal to novel food patches.

This article investigates how the stored-product insect Sitophilus oryzae (rice weevil) vectors microbial growth and species richness over the course of a growing season and how temperature influences this vectoring capacity. Field-collected S. oryzae were introduced onto novel food patches (potato dextrose agar) weekly during 2022 and 2023, revealing that microbial growth and morphospecies richness increased significantly during wheat and maize harvest periods, with microbial growth positively correlated with maximum and minimum temperatures in the week preceding insect collection. The study highlights that microbial communities vectored by S. oryzae build up over the season, posing variable food safety risks linked to seasonal temperature fluctuations and harvest timing in grain storage environments. These findings emphasize the importance of considering temporal and climatic factors in managing microbial contamination associated with stored-product insects in food facilities.