The red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum, is one of economically important pests and can transmit several fungalspecies with their movement in stored grains. We collected T. castaneum samples from 34 rice processing complexes(RPC) nationwide during 2016-2017 and identified the contamination of fungal species on the surface of T. castaneum.Using sequence analysis of ITS region, 24 fungal genera were found. Among them, the genus Aspergillus spp. (28.8%)was the most frequently presented, followed by Cladosporium spp. (12.3%), Hyphopichia spp. (8.9%), Penicillium spp.(8.2%), and so on. In addition, as a known mycotoxin-producing fungal species, Aspergillus flavus (16 isolates) and Fusariumspp. (3 isolates) were also identified. Our study indicates that T. castaneum would play an important role in the contaminationof fungi and contribute potential production of mycotoxin in storage rice.

• Sook-Young Park
• Tae-Sung Yun
• Jihyun Yu
• Yujin Hwang
• Ki-Jeong Hong