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Full-Text Articles in Agriculture
Polymorphism And Plasticity In The Termite Caste System, Austin Merchant
Polymorphism And Plasticity In The Termite Caste System, Austin Merchant
Theses and Dissertations--Entomology
Developmental plasticity, manifested as a caste system, is integral to the success of eusocial insects because of the way in which it decouples the various tasks that a single, solitary organism would normally be responsible for, allowing individuals to specialize towards their given roles while keeping vulnerable members of the colony, such as those responsible for reproduction, safe from harm. Termites exhibit particularly complex caste systems that can be divided into three types of castes: workers perform manual labor, such as foraging and brood care; soldiers defend the nest; and reproductives lay eggs. Each of these castes, as well as …
Computational Identification And Molecular Verification Of Mirna In Eastern Subterranean Termites (Reticulitermes Flavipes), Tian Yu
Theses and Dissertations--Entomology
Reticulitermes flavipes is one of the most common termite species in the world, and has been an intriguing research model due to its ecological and biological and economic significance. The fundamental biological question addressed by this study is to elucidate the role of miRNAs in termite development and how miRNA can influence labor division. miRNAs are short non-coding RNAs that have an important role in gene regulation at post-transcriptional level, and can potentially be involved in the regulation of caste polyphenism. Using a computational approach, I identified 167 conserved and 33 novel miRNAs in the dataset. miR-iab-4 and 19 other …
An Economic Analysis Of Homeowners' Preferences And Perceptions Regarding Termite Prevention And Control In Louisiana, Doleswar Bhandari
An Economic Analysis Of Homeowners' Preferences And Perceptions Regarding Termite Prevention And Control In Louisiana, Doleswar Bhandari
LSU Master's Theses
This thesis used a mail survey to collect data on homeowners' preferences and perceptions regarding termite prevention and control in four metropolitan areas of Louisiana (Monroe, Alexandria, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans). Respondents were asked to rank four different alternatives differing in cost, treatment choice, and number of inspections on termite control options. These ordered preference data were then analyzed using a contingent ranking method to determine the homeowner's choice for termite control. It was found that more than three-fourths (77%) of homeowners preferred to control termites and were willing to pay for it. In addition to contingent ranking, willingness …