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Articles 241 - 270 of 552

Full-Text Articles in Entomology

Radical Social Ecology As Deep Pragmatism: A Call To The Abolition Of Systemic Dissonance And The Minimization Of Entropic Chaos, Arielle Brender May 2018

Radical Social Ecology As Deep Pragmatism: A Call To The Abolition Of Systemic Dissonance And The Minimization Of Entropic Chaos, Arielle Brender

Student Theses 2015-Present

This paper aims to shed light on the dissonance caused by the superimposition of Dominant Human Systems on Natural Systems. I highlight the synthetic nature of Dominant Human Systems as egoic and linguistic phenomenon manufactured by a mere portion of the human population, which renders them inherently oppressive unto peoples and landscapes whose wisdom were barred from the design process. In pursuing a radical pragmatic approach to mending the simultaneous oppression and destruction of the human being and the earth, I highlight the necessity of minimizing entropic chaos caused by excess energy expenditure, an essential feature of systems that aim …

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Preferensi Petani Terhadap Keragaan Padi (Oryza Sativa) Unggul Untuk Lahan Sawah Di Wilayah Pangandaran Dan Cilacap, Muhammad Khais Prayoga, Neni Rostini, Mieke Rochimi Setiawati, Tualar Simarmata, Silke Stoeber, Kustiwa Adinata Apr 2018

Preferensi Petani Terhadap Keragaan Padi (Oryza Sativa) Unggul Untuk Lahan Sawah Di Wilayah Pangandaran Dan Cilacap, Muhammad Khais Prayoga, Neni Rostini, Mieke Rochimi Setiawati, Tualar Simarmata, Silke Stoeber, Kustiwa Adinata

Jurnal Kultivasi

The object that conducted in this study is farmer's preferences of rice plant charac-teristics. This study was taken in 3 villages which are village Ciganjeng, village Pamotan, and village Rawaapu. The method used in this study was quantitative design with descriptive analysis. The respondents were 64 rice plant farmers. Measuring instrument used was questionnaire and interview. The result of this study showed that farmers has its own preference for the character of rice plants. Conclution of this study is farmers preferred rice plants which has an average height of plants, wide leaves, leave's surface, leave's angle, and rice straw's type; …

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Individual And Combined Effects Of Herbicide Tribenuron-Methyl And Fungicide Tebuconazole On Soil Earthworm Eisenia Fetida, Jiqiang Chen, Muhammad Saleem, Caixia Wang, Wenxing Liang, Qingming Zhang Feb 2018

Individual And Combined Effects Of Herbicide Tribenuron-Methyl And Fungicide Tebuconazole On Soil Earthworm Eisenia Fetida, Jiqiang Chen, Muhammad Saleem, Caixia Wang, Wenxing Liang, Qingming Zhang

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

Earthworms are soil engineers that alter the soil bio-physical properties to favor plant growth whereas pesticides represent a significant threat to their abundance and soil health. Thus, we investigated the toxic effects of tribenuron-methyl (TBM) and tebuconazole (TEB) on the soil earthworm, Eisenia fetida. The TBM demonstrated low toxicity to E. fetida in the contact filter paper and artificial soil tests, with median lethal concentrations (LC50) of 135.6 μg cm−2 at 48 h and 511 mg kg−1 on day 14, respectively. Similarly, TEB also showed low toxicity to E. fetida in the artificial …

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A Model Species For Agricultural Pest Genomics: The Genome Of The Colorado Potato Beetle, Leptinotarsa Decemlineata (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), Sean D. Schoville, Yolanda H. Chen, Martin N. Andersson, Joshua B. Benoit, Anita Bhandari, Julia H. Bowsher, Kristian Brevik, Kaat Cappelle, Mei-Ju M. Chen, Anna K. Childers, Christopher Childers, Olivier Christiaens, Justin Clements, Elise M. Didion, Elena N. Elpidina, Patamarerk Engsontia, Markus Friedrich, Inmaculada García-Robles, Richard A. Gibbs, Chandan Goswami, Alessandro Grapputo, Kristina Gruden, Marcin Grynberg, Bernard Henrissat, Emily C. Jennings, Jeffery W. Jones, Megha Kalsi, Sher A. Khan, Abhishek Kumar, Fei Li, Vincent Lombard, Subba Reddy Palli, June-Sun Yoon Jan 2018

A Model Species For Agricultural Pest Genomics: The Genome Of The Colorado Potato Beetle, Leptinotarsa Decemlineata (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), Sean D. Schoville, Yolanda H. Chen, Martin N. Andersson, Joshua B. Benoit, Anita Bhandari, Julia H. Bowsher, Kristian Brevik, Kaat Cappelle, Mei-Ju M. Chen, Anna K. Childers, Christopher Childers, Olivier Christiaens, Justin Clements, Elise M. Didion, Elena N. Elpidina, Patamarerk Engsontia, Markus Friedrich, Inmaculada García-Robles, Richard A. Gibbs, Chandan Goswami, Alessandro Grapputo, Kristina Gruden, Marcin Grynberg, Bernard Henrissat, Emily C. Jennings, Jeffery W. Jones, Megha Kalsi, Sher A. Khan, Abhishek Kumar, Fei Li, Vincent Lombard, Subba Reddy Palli, June-Sun Yoon

Entomology Faculty Publications

The Colorado potato beetle is one of the most challenging agricultural pests to manage. It has shown a spectacular ability to adapt to a variety of solanaceaeous plants and variable climates during its global invasion, and, notably, to rapidly evolve insecticide resistance. To examine evidence of rapid evolutionary change, and to understand the genetic basis of herbivory and insecticide resistance, we tested for structural and functional genomic changes relative to other arthropod species using genome sequencing, transcriptomics, and community annotation. Two factors that might facilitate rapid evolutionary change include transposable elements, which comprise at least 17% of the genome and …

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Large Effect Quantitative Trait Loci For Salicinoid Phenolic Glycosides In Populus: Implications For Gene Discovery, Scott A. Woolbright, Brian J. Rehill, Richard L. Lindroth, Stephen P. Difazio, Gregory D. Martinsen, Matthew S. Zinkgraf, Gerard J. Allan, Paul Keim, Thomas G. Whitham Jan 2018

Large Effect Quantitative Trait Loci For Salicinoid Phenolic Glycosides In Populus: Implications For Gene Discovery, Scott A. Woolbright, Brian J. Rehill, Richard L. Lindroth, Stephen P. Difazio, Gregory D. Martinsen, Matthew S. Zinkgraf, Gerard J. Allan, Paul Keim, Thomas G. Whitham

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Genomic studies have been used to identify genes underlying many important plant secondary metabolic pathways. However, genes for salicinoid phenolic glycosides (SPGs)—ecologically important compounds with significant commercial, cultural, and medicinal applications—remain largely undescribed. We used a linkage map derived from a full-sib population of hybrid cottonwoods (Populus spp.) to search for quanti- tative trait loci (QTL) for the SPGs salicortin and HCH-salicortin. SSR markers and primer sequences were used to anchor the map to the V3.0 P. trichocarpa genome. We discovered 21 QTL for the two traits, including a major QTL for HCH-salicortin (R2 = .52) that colocated with a …

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Fate Of Methoprene In Temperate Salt Marsh Ditches Following Aerial Applications, David J. Tonjes, Anne E. Mcelroy, Robin K. Barnes, Dominick V. Ninivaggi, Walter Dawydiak, Gregory T. Greene, Bruce J. Brownawell Jan 2018

Fate Of Methoprene In Temperate Salt Marsh Ditches Following Aerial Applications, David J. Tonjes, Anne E. Mcelroy, Robin K. Barnes, Dominick V. Ninivaggi, Walter Dawydiak, Gregory T. Greene, Bruce J. Brownawell

Technology & Society Faculty Publications

Aerial applications of liquid methoprene are used in salt marshes to control mosquitoes by preventing adult emergence. Despite concern about toxicity to non-target organisms, little is known about environmental concentrations after applications, nor methoprene's persistence in salt marsh environments. Aqueous and sediment samples were collected from two marshes receiving weekly applications. Aqueous samples were collected as early as 30 minutes after applications and as long as nine days afterwards; sediment samples were taken within hours of application and as long as 19 days post-application. Use of time-of-flight liquid chromatography – mass spectral analysis allowed for ultra low detection limits (0.5 …

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Can Increasing Grass-Fungal Endophyte Symbiotic Diversity Enhance Grassland Ecosystem Functioning?, Mahtaab Bagherzadeh Jan 2018

Can Increasing Grass-Fungal Endophyte Symbiotic Diversity Enhance Grassland Ecosystem Functioning?, Mahtaab Bagherzadeh

Theses and Dissertations--Plant and Soil Sciences

The relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning is important in maintaining agroecosystem sustainability. Plant-microbe symbioses, such as exists between the grass tall fescue (Schedonorus arundinaceum) and the asexual fungal endophyte Epichloë coenophiala, can be utilized to enhance agroecosystem functions, such as herbivore resistance. “Novel” E. coenophiala strains that vary in the production of mammal- and insect-toxic compounds have been identified, inserted into tall fescue cultivars, and are planted in pastures globally. Novel fungal endophyte-tall fescue associations may have divergent ecosystem function effects. This study assessed effects of different fescue-endophyte symbiotic combinations on pasture ecosystem function, including aboveground …

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Temperature-Dependent Models Of Development And Survival Of An Insect Pest Of African Tropical Highlands, The Coffee Antestia Bug Antestiopsis Thunbergii (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), Abdelmutalab G.A. Azrag, Lucy K. Murungi, Henri E.Z. Tonnang, Dickson Mwenda, Régis Babin Dec 2017

Temperature-Dependent Models Of Development And Survival Of An Insect Pest Of African Tropical Highlands, The Coffee Antestia Bug Antestiopsis Thunbergii (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), Abdelmutalab G.A. Azrag, Lucy K. Murungi, Henri E.Z. Tonnang, Dickson Mwenda, Régis Babin

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

The antestia bug Antestiopsis thunbergii (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) is a major pest of Arabica coffee in African tropical highlands. It feeds on coffee plant vegetative parts and berries leading to a direct reduction in coffee yield and quality. This study aimed to determine A. thunbergii thermal requirements, and to obtain new information on the pest demography as influenced by temperature. Temperature-dependent models were developed using the Insect Life Cycle Modelling software (ILCYM) through a complete life table study at seven constant temperatures in the range 18–32 °C. Non-linear functions were fitted to A. thunbergii development, mortality, fecundity and senescence. Model parameters …

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Vegetation And Arthropod Responses To Brush Reduction By Grubbing And Stacking, Carter Crouch, J. Alfonso Ortega-Santos, David B. Wester, Fidel Hernández, Leonard A. Brennan, Greta L. Schuster Nov 2017

Vegetation And Arthropod Responses To Brush Reduction By Grubbing And Stacking, Carter Crouch, J. Alfonso Ortega-Santos, David B. Wester, Fidel Hernández, Leonard A. Brennan, Greta L. Schuster

National Quail Symposium Proceedings

Grubbing is a mechanical brush-reduction technique that allows targeting of mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) and huisache (Vachellia farnesiana) and can be used to open lanes for hunting northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus). Follow-up treatments of stacking allow the piling up of downed brush. We initiated this study on the Santa Gertrudis Division of the King Ranch, Inc., Texas, to determine effects of grubbing and stacking on vegetation and arthropod communities important to bobwhite. We hypothesized that grubbing and stacking would be able to selectively remove mesquite and huisache while leaving mixed brush species largely intact. We …

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The Behavior Response Of Antlion Larvae To Alternating Magnetic Fields, Lindsey Wagner, Caleb L. Adams Oct 2017

The Behavior Response Of Antlion Larvae To Alternating Magnetic Fields, Lindsey Wagner, Caleb L. Adams

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

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Potential Distribution Dataset Of Honeybees In Indian Ocean Islands: Case Study Of Zanzibar Island, Sizah Mwalusepo, Eliud Muli, Kiatoko Nkoba, Everlyn Nguku, Joseph Kilonzo, Elfatih M. Abdel-Rahman, Tobias Landmann, Asha Fakih, Suresh Raina Oct 2017

Potential Distribution Dataset Of Honeybees In Indian Ocean Islands: Case Study Of Zanzibar Island, Sizah Mwalusepo, Eliud Muli, Kiatoko Nkoba, Everlyn Nguku, Joseph Kilonzo, Elfatih M. Abdel-Rahman, Tobias Landmann, Asha Fakih, Suresh Raina

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Honeybees (Apis mellifera) are principal insect pollinators, whose worldwide distribution and abundance is known to largely depend on climatic conditions. However, the presence records dataset on potential distribution of honeybees in Indian Ocean Islands remain less documented. Presence records in shape format and probability of occurrence of honeybees with different temperature change scenarios is provided in this article across Zanzibar Island. Maximum entropy (Maxent) package was used to analyse the potential distribution of honeybees. The dataset provides information on the current and future distribution of the honey bees in Zanzibar Island. The dataset is of great importance for improving stakeholders …

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Effects Of A Prescribed Burn On The Adult Butterfly Assemblage Of A Coastal Grassland, J. Nicole Desha, Joseph Colbert, Kimberly M. Andrews, Scott Coleman, C. Tate Holbrook Sep 2017

Effects Of A Prescribed Burn On The Adult Butterfly Assemblage Of A Coastal Grassland, J. Nicole Desha, Joseph Colbert, Kimberly M. Andrews, Scott Coleman, C. Tate Holbrook

Georgia Journal of Science

Coastal grasslands are globally threatened by development and natural succession. In the southeastern United States, these increasingly rare ecosystems are being managed using prescribed fire, but ecological responses to fire management are largely unknown, particularly among nontargeted species. We tested for short-term effects of controlled burning on the abundance and species richness of adult butterflies, which utilize coastal grasslands for nectaring resources and as migratory stopover sites. In February 2015, four plots of coastal grassland on Little St. Simons Island, GA were burned and paired with unburned (control) plots of equal size. Throughout the following summer-fall flight season, we conducted …

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Impact Of Habitat Degradation On Species Diversity And Nest Abundance Of Five African Stingless Bee Species In A Tropical Rainforest Of Kenya, Nkoba Kiatoko, Suresh Kumar Raina, Frank Van Langevelde Sep 2017

Impact Of Habitat Degradation On Species Diversity And Nest Abundance Of Five African Stingless Bee Species In A Tropical Rainforest Of Kenya, Nkoba Kiatoko, Suresh Kumar Raina, Frank Van Langevelde

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Natural habitat degradation often involves the reduction or disappearance of bee species. In Africa, stingless bees are hunted for honey, which is used as food, for medicinal purposes, and for traditional rituals. Severe habitat degradation due to human settlement is hypothesized to have a negative impact on the species diversity of the African stingless bee species. In this paper, we assess the impact of habitat degradation on the diversity of five stingless bee species across different habitats in the tropical rainforest of Kenya (indigenous forest, mixed indigenous forest) and its neighbouring landscape (grassland, village) in western Kenya. The species fauna, …

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You Are What You Eat: Food-Drug Interaction In Honey Bees (Apis Mellifera), Allison G. Kelley, Liao Ling-Hsiu, May Berenbaum Jul 2017

You Are What You Eat: Food-Drug Interaction In Honey Bees (Apis Mellifera), Allison G. Kelley, Liao Ling-Hsiu, May Berenbaum

PRECS student projects

The research featured in this poster examined how phytochemicals in nectar and pollen (quercetin and p-coumaric acid), which are known to upregulate cytochrome P450 detoxification enzymes, affect honey bee survival in combination with the pesticides propiconazole, a fungicide, and chlorantraniliprole, an insecticide. While consuming either phytochemical in the absence of pesticides can prolong longevity, consumption of pesticides reduced bee lifespan significantly with or without phytochemicals present.

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Honey Bee Gut Dysbiosis: A Novel Context Of Disease Ecology, Kirk E. Anderson, Vincent A. Ricigliano Jun 2017

Honey Bee Gut Dysbiosis: A Novel Context Of Disease Ecology, Kirk E. Anderson, Vincent A. Ricigliano

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

The honey bee microbiota has become a hot-spot of recent research. Highly co-evolved with its host, the hindgut microbiota of a worker honey bee consists of six bacterial species shown to occur reliably in particular proportions. Altered microbiota structure is associated with host deficiencies, and a variety of bacteria found throughout the hive environment can dominate the worker gut suppressing or displacing microbiota function. The synthesis presented here suggests environmental insults alter gut bacterial balance, leading to decreased host function and disease progression. Specific functional groups of native bacteria represent a model system to investigate dysbiosis and the evolution of …

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Advances In Crop Insect Modelling Methods—Towards A Whole System Approach, Henri E.Z. Tonnang, Bisseleua D.B. Hervé, Lisa Biber-Freudenberger, Daisy Salifu, Sevgan Subramanian, Valentine B. Ngowi, Ritter Y.A. Guimapi, Bruce Anani, Francois M.M. Kakmeni, Hippolyte Affognon, Saliou Niassy, Tobias Landmann, Frank T. Ndjomatchoua, Sansao A. Pedro, Tino Johansson, Chrysantus M. Tanga, Paulin Nana, Komi M. Fiaboe, Samira F. Mohamed, Nguya K. Maniania, Sunday Ekesi, Christian Borgemeister Jun 2017

Advances In Crop Insect Modelling Methods—Towards A Whole System Approach, Henri E.Z. Tonnang, Bisseleua D.B. Hervé, Lisa Biber-Freudenberger, Daisy Salifu, Sevgan Subramanian, Valentine B. Ngowi, Ritter Y.A. Guimapi, Bruce Anani, Francois M.M. Kakmeni, Hippolyte Affognon, Saliou Niassy, Tobias Landmann, Frank T. Ndjomatchoua, Sansao A. Pedro, Tino Johansson, Chrysantus M. Tanga, Paulin Nana, Komi M. Fiaboe, Samira F. Mohamed, Nguya K. Maniania, Sunday Ekesi, Christian Borgemeister

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

A wide range of insects affect crop production and cause considerable yield losses. Difficulties reside on the development and adaptation of adequate strategies to predict insect pests for their timely management to ensure enhanced agricultural production. Several conceptual modelling frameworks have been proposed, and the choice of an approach depends largely on the objective of the model and the availability of data. This paper presents a summary of decades of advances in insect population dynamics, phenology models, distribution and risk mapping. Existing challenges on the modelling of insects are listed; followed by innovations in the field. New approaches include artificial …

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Control Policies And Sensitivity Analysis In A Cutaneous Leishmaniasis Model: A Case Study In Cusco Region, Peru., Rocio M. Caja-Rivera, Ignacio Barradas May 2017

Control Policies And Sensitivity Analysis In A Cutaneous Leishmaniasis Model: A Case Study In Cusco Region, Peru., Rocio M. Caja-Rivera, Ignacio Barradas

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

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Elucidating The Effects Of Thiamethoxam Neonicotinoid On Honey Bee Learning Using The Proboscis Extension Response, David J. Shepherd May 2017

Elucidating The Effects Of Thiamethoxam Neonicotinoid On Honey Bee Learning Using The Proboscis Extension Response, David J. Shepherd

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In this study, the effects of the neonicotinoid pesticide, thiamethoxam, are examined through the Proboscis Extension Response (PER) in honey bees (Apis mellifera). PER is a form of classical conditioning applied to honey bees through scent and reward association which quantifies learning rates. Results between groups treated with thiamethoxam did not differ significantly from untreated control groups. Potential reasons for these results are discussed. The method and experimental apparatus for testing the PER assay are also discussed.

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Unity In Defence: Honeybee Workers Exhibit Conserved Molecular Responses To Diverse Pathogens, Vincent Doublet, Yvonne Poeschl, Andreas Gogol-Döring, Cédric Alaux, Desiderato Annoscia, Christian Aurori, Seth M. Barribeau, Oscar C. Bedoya-Reina, Mark J.F. Brown, James C. Bull, Michelle L. Flenniken, David A. Galbraith, Elke Genersch, Sebastian Gisder, Ivo Grosse, Holly L. Holt, Dan Hultmark, H. Michael G. Lattorff, Yves Le Conte, Fabio Manfredini, Dino P. Mcmahon, Robin F.A. Moritz, Francesco Nazzi, Elina L. Niño, Katja Nowick, Ronald P. Van Rij, Robert J. Paxton, Christina M. Grozinger Mar 2017

Unity In Defence: Honeybee Workers Exhibit Conserved Molecular Responses To Diverse Pathogens, Vincent Doublet, Yvonne Poeschl, Andreas Gogol-Döring, Cédric Alaux, Desiderato Annoscia, Christian Aurori, Seth M. Barribeau, Oscar C. Bedoya-Reina, Mark J.F. Brown, James C. Bull, Michelle L. Flenniken, David A. Galbraith, Elke Genersch, Sebastian Gisder, Ivo Grosse, Holly L. Holt, Dan Hultmark, H. Michael G. Lattorff, Yves Le Conte, Fabio Manfredini, Dino P. Mcmahon, Robin F.A. Moritz, Francesco Nazzi, Elina L. Niño, Katja Nowick, Ronald P. Van Rij, Robert J. Paxton, Christina M. Grozinger

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Background: Organisms typically face infection by diverse pathogens, and hosts are thought to have developed specific responses to each type of pathogen they encounter. The advent of transcriptomics now makes it possible to test this hypothesis and compare host gene expression responses to multiple pathogens at a genome-wide scale. Here, we performed a meta-analysis of multiple published and new transcriptomes using a newly developed bioinformatics approach that filters genes based on their expression profile across datasets. Thereby, we identified common and unique molecular responses of a model host species, the honey bee (Apis mellifera), to its major pathogens and parasites: …

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Temperature-Dependent Phenology Of Plutella Xylostella (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae): Simulation And Visualization Of Current And Future Distributions Along The Eastern Afromontane, Benignus V. Ngowi, Henri E.Z. Tonnang, Evans M. Mwangi, Tino Johansson, Janet Ambale, Paul N. Ndegwa, Sevgan Subramanian Mar 2017

Temperature-Dependent Phenology Of Plutella Xylostella (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae): Simulation And Visualization Of Current And Future Distributions Along The Eastern Afromontane, Benignus V. Ngowi, Henri E.Z. Tonnang, Evans M. Mwangi, Tino Johansson, Janet Ambale, Paul N. Ndegwa, Sevgan Subramanian

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

There is a scarcity of laboratory and field-based results showing the movement of the diamondback moth (DBM) Plutella xylostella (L.) across a spatial scale. We studied the population growth of the diamondback moth (DBM) Plutella xylostella (L.) under six constant temperatures, to understand and predict population changes along altitudinal gradients and under climate change scenarios. Non-linear functions were fitted to continuously model DBM development, mortality, longevity and oviposition. We compiled the best-fitted functions for each life stage to yield a phenology model, which we stochastically simulated to estimate the life table parameters. Three temperature-dependent indices (establishment, generation and activity) were …

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A Comparison Of Benthic Macroinvertebrate Assemblages Between Perennial And Intermittent Headwater Streams Of The Mattole River In Northern California, Usa, Mason S. London Jan 2017

A Comparison Of Benthic Macroinvertebrate Assemblages Between Perennial And Intermittent Headwater Streams Of The Mattole River In Northern California, Usa, Mason S. London

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Intermittent streams are common throughout the world and comprise 60% or more of total river lengths in the conterminous United States. Despite their prevalence, intermittent streams are understudied, particularly first-order headwater streams, which are vital for maintaining the function, health and biotic diversity of river networks. In June 2016, I sampled five intermittent and five perennial headwater streams in the Mattole River watershed in northwestern coastal California, USA, to compare benthic macroinvertebrate (BMI) assemblages between intermittent and perennial streams. BMI samples were collected using a 500µm mesh D-net at eight randomly located riffles along a 150-m reach, and then composited, …

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Interactive Effects Of Cover Crops, Invertebrate Communities And Soil Health In Corn Production Systems, Claire Lacanne Jan 2017

Interactive Effects Of Cover Crops, Invertebrate Communities And Soil Health In Corn Production Systems, Claire Lacanne

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The adoption of regenerative farming practices is gaining traction, but the costs and benefits are not often considered on a systems level. Encouraging biodiversity and soil health is the goal of many agricultural practices used in regenerative farming; regenerative systems employ practices which abide by the two main principles of increasing biodiversity and decreasing disturbance, with the goal of encouraging ecosystem functioning to minimize inputs and maximize the productivity of a farm. I examined the management of corn (Zea mays) fields across four states in the Upper Midwest region of the United States. Regenerative systems in this study …

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Blow Fly (Diptera: Calliphoridae) Responses To Different Colors Of Baited Traps, Oluwadamilola Olufunso Oke Jan 2017

Blow Fly (Diptera: Calliphoridae) Responses To Different Colors Of Baited Traps, Oluwadamilola Olufunso Oke

Honors College Theses

Blow flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) are usually the first insects to colonize human remains. By determining the time of colonization, a postmortem interval (PMI), or “time of death”, can be estimated. To develop more accurate PMI estimates, it is important for forensic entomologists to understand the cues that Blow flies use to locate vertebrate remains. The purpose of this study was to determine whether Blow flies use visual cues, in addition to olfactory cues, to locate carrion. Two colors of fly traps, clear and green, were constructed and chicken gizzard used as bait. Three Blow fly species exhibited a significant preference …

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The Plant As A Habitat For Entomophagous Insects, L. Kaiser, P. Ode, S. Van Nouhuys, P. A. Calatayud, S. Colazza, A. M. Cortesero, A. Thiel, J. Van Baaren Jan 2017

The Plant As A Habitat For Entomophagous Insects, L. Kaiser, P. Ode, S. Van Nouhuys, P. A. Calatayud, S. Colazza, A. M. Cortesero, A. Thiel, J. Van Baaren

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Populations of herbivorous insects are naturally consumed by other predacious or predatory insect species. These entomophagous insects are thus plant-dwelling organisms that use the plant for several vital functions and are affected by plant traits at the evolutionary, organism and population levels. Many entomophagous species are used for the biological control of insect pests worldwide. The aim of this chapter is to provide an exhaustive review of mechanisms underlying the interactions between plants and entomophagous insects, including those governing life history traits at the individual level, as well as those acting on population and community structure and dynamics. We detail …

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Entomopathogens Routinely Used In Pest Control Strategies: Orchards In Tropical Climate, N. K. Maniania, S. Ekesi, C. Dolinski Jan 2017

Entomopathogens Routinely Used In Pest Control Strategies: Orchards In Tropical Climate, N. K. Maniania, S. Ekesi, C. Dolinski

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Fruit and nut trees such as mango, pineapples, papaya, banana, guava, cashew, passion fruit, and avocado are important components of tropical ecosystems. They are sources of vitamins, minerals and carbohydrates and have great economic importance as sources of both household incomes and national revenues. Fruit and nut trees provide important adaptive values and tend to be more resilient to climate change due to their perennial nature, and they have the property of sequestering carbon. World production and trade of fresh tropical fruit are expected to expand over decades, with developing countries accounting for about 98% of total production, while developed …

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Plant–Insect Interactions In A Changing World, S. Pincebourde, J. Van Baaren, S. Rasmann, P. Rasmont, G. Rodet, B. Martinet, P. A. Calatayud Jan 2017

Plant–Insect Interactions In A Changing World, S. Pincebourde, J. Van Baaren, S. Rasmann, P. Rasmont, G. Rodet, B. Martinet, P. A. Calatayud

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Global change is resetting the spatial and ecological equilibrium of complex co-evolutionary relationships between plants and their insect herbivores. We review the mechanisms at play in the responses of plant–insect interactions to global changes, including increased temperature and atmospheric CO2 concentrations, modification of land use and pollution. We distinguish between the direct effects of global changes on each partner from the indirect impacts on insects via the responses of plants. The indirect effects include a change in the nutritional quality of the plant tissues for herbivore insects, as well as a change in the microclimatic conditions at the leaf surface. …

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Predicting Post-Fire Change In West Virginia, Usa From Remotely-Sensed Data, Michael Strager P. Strager, Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, Aaron E. Maxwell Nov 2016

Predicting Post-Fire Change In West Virginia, Usa From Remotely-Sensed Data, Michael Strager P. Strager, Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy, Aaron E. Maxwell

Journal of Geospatial Applications in Natural Resources

Prescribed burning is used in West Virginia, USA to return the important disturbance process of fire to oak and oak-pine forests. Species composition and structure are often the main goals for re-establishing fire with less emphasis on fuel reduction or reducing catastrophic wildfire. In planning prescribed fires land managers could benefit from the ability to predict mortality to overstory trees. In this study, wildfires and prescribed fires in West Virginia were examined to determine if specific landscape and terrain characteristics were associated with patches of high/moderate post-fire change. Using the ensemble machine learning approach of Random Forest, we determined that …

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Molecular Comparison Of Cattle Fever Ticks From Native And Introduced Ranges, With Insights Into Optimal Search Areas For Classical Biological Control Agents, John A. Goolsby, F. D. Guerrero, John F. Gaskin, K. G. Bendele, P. Azhahianambi, D. Amalin, M. Flores-Cruz, J. Kashefi, Alexis Racelis Sep 2016

Molecular Comparison Of Cattle Fever Ticks From Native And Introduced Ranges, With Insights Into Optimal Search Areas For Classical Biological Control Agents, John A. Goolsby, F. D. Guerrero, John F. Gaskin, K. G. Bendele, P. Azhahianambi, D. Amalin, M. Flores-Cruz, J. Kashefi, Alexis Racelis

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Cattle fever ticks, the southern cattle tick, Rhipicephalus microplus (Canestrini), and cattle tick, Rhipicephalus annulatus (Say), are livestock pests endemic to Mexico and invasive along the Texas-Mexico border. Resistance to acaricide, alternate wildlife hosts, and pathogenic landscape-forming weeds present challenges for sustainable eradication of this pest in the U.S. Classical biological control is being explored as a strategy to control cattle fever ticks, especially on alternate hosts such as nilgai antelope, Boselaphus tragocamelus (Pallas), and white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus (Zimmermann). Molecular genetic tools were used to compare populations of cattle fever ticks from native and introduced ranges to provide insights …

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Chemical Parameters And Bacterial Communities Associated With Larval Habitats Of Anopheles, Culex And Aedes Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) In Western Kenya, Thomas Ogao Onchuru, Yvonne Ukamaka Ajamma, Marion Burugu, Martin Kaltenpoth, Daniel Masiga, Jandouwe Villinger Sep 2016

Chemical Parameters And Bacterial Communities Associated With Larval Habitats Of Anopheles, Culex And Aedes Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) In Western Kenya, Thomas Ogao Onchuru, Yvonne Ukamaka Ajamma, Marion Burugu, Martin Kaltenpoth, Daniel Masiga, Jandouwe Villinger

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Aquatic larval habitat conditions influence the development, fitness and vectorial capacity of mosquitoes. In turn, human activities can influence these conditions and shape mosquito vector distribution, thus affecting pathogen circulation and transmission. We measured environmental factors (chemical and microbial) in mosquito larval habitats and evaluated their potential as predictors for the occurrence of different mosquito species in an arbovirus and malaria endemic region of western Kenya.We found significantly greater proportions of Aedes aegypti mosquito larvae in ammonium and phosphate rich habitats, suggesting that fertilizer usage could potentially increase aquatic habitat suitability and Aedes vectored disease transmission. Anopheles gambiae larval habitats …

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Ifly: Code Development For An App To Support Automating Entomological Data Collection, Michael P. Cosentino, Trevor Stamper Aug 2016

Ifly: Code Development For An App To Support Automating Entomological Data Collection, Michael P. Cosentino, Trevor Stamper

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

We are developing a prototype entomological data-collection application called "iFly," which runs on a field-capable iPad device. In this phase, we tackled refining screens and introducing a database manager to streamline operations as info is entered, stored, retrieved and delivered. We used SQLite3 database in Apple's Xcode Integrated Development Environment (IDE). Xcode gives mixed programming results. Apple's iOS environment ensures functional and fairly error-free apps can be built. But the sophisticated Xcode IDE requires specialist developers and valuable project time is spent as new programmers learn key techniques. The iFly prototype was advanced with improved database integration; however, more work …

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