Entomology Commons^™

Age Status Effects On Female Silk Production And Male Courtship Response In Dolomedes Scriptus, Joseph Osborne

Student Scholar Showcase

Female Dolomedes scriptus, the striped fishing spider, serve as model organisms exhibiting pheromone production as a means of chemical signaling. Previous work has shown that male fishing spiders are responsive to female silk, and preferentially court in the presence of silk from mature virgins. In our research, we hypothesized that mature females produced larger quantities of silk than penultimate females in an attempt to elicit greater male mating response. Female spiders of both age statuses were kept for two days in a gridded tank. Sub-sampling of silk lines that crossed a random portion of the grid produced results signifying …

A Chemical In Filter Paper Interferes With Trail Following Behavior In The Termite Reticulitermes Hesperus (Banks), Kathryn Vest

Student Scholar Showcase

Termites follow chemical trails. In previous experiments we dissolved and diluted chemicals in acetone to test if they elicited trail following. Each trail was a straight line across the arena drawn with 10 µl using a glass capillary (Microcaps). We noticed a minor but stable response to trails laid with pure acetone. The response could be caused by contaminated acetone or by a chemical in the filter paper (Watman #5) that lined our arena (petri dish, 10cm diameter). We could confirm that the termites respond to acetone alone. Soxkhlet extraction for 8 hours removed the signal from the filter paper. …

Photocatalytic Degradation Of Profenofos And Triazophos Residues In The Chinese Cabbage, Brassica Chinensis, Using Ce-Doped Tio2, Xiangying Liu, You Zhan, Zhongqin Zhang, Lang Pan, Lifeng Hui, Kailin Liu, Xuguo Zhou, Lianyang Bai

Entomology Faculty Publications

Pesticides have revolutionized the modern day of agriculture and substantially reduced crop losses. Synthetic pesticides pose a potential risk to the ecosystem and to the non-target organisms due to their persistency and bioaccumulation in the environment. In recent years, a light-mediated advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) has been adopted to resolve pesticide residue issues in the field. Among the current available semiconductors, titanium dioxide (TiO₂) is one of the most promising photocatalysts. In this study, we investigated the photocatalytic degradation of profenofos and triazophos residues in Chinese cabbage, Brassica chinensis, using a Cerium-doped nano semiconductor TiO₂ (TiO …

Nanomaterials For Double-Stranded Rna Delivery, Stuart Lichtenberg

Theses and Dissertations--Plant and Soil Sciences

RNA interference has enormous potential as a potent, specific, and environmentally friendly alternative to small molecule pesticides for crop protection. The use of exogenous double-stranded RNA offers flexibility in targeting and use in crops in which transgenic manipulation is not an option. The combination of RNAi with nanotechnology offers further advantages that are not available with dsRNA alone. In this work, I have evaluated several different combinations of nanomaterials and polymers for use in RNAi-based pest control systems. First, I have characterized the use of chitosan/dsRNA polyplex nanoparticles for gene knockdown using the model nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Though chitosan/dsRNA …

Compound-Specific Isotope Analysis Of Amino Acids In Biological Tissues: Applications In Forensic Entomology, Food Authentication And Soft-Biometrics In Humans, Mayara Patricia Viana De Matos

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

In this work we demonstrate the power of compound-specific isotope analysis (CSIA) to analyze proteinaceous biological materials in three distinct forensic applications, including: 1) linking necrophagous blow flies in different life stages to their primary carrion diet; 2) identifying the harvesting area of oysters for food authentication purposes; and 3) the ability to predict biometric traits about humans from their hair.

In the first application, we measured the amino-acid-level fractionation that occurs at each major life stage of Calliphora vicina (Robineau-Desvoidy) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) blow flies. Adult blow flies oviposited on raw pork muscle, beef muscle, or chicken liver. Larvae, pupae …