Entomology Commons^™

Investigating Physiological Collaborations Between A Lower Termite And Its Symbionts, Brittany F. Peterson

Open Access Dissertations

This project was completed in an effort to better understand the contributions of symbiotic microbes to the biology of Reticulitermes flavipes, the eastern subterranean termite. Lower-termites, like R. flavipes, house symbionts from all three domains of life within their hindgut paunch. This intimate association is reflected in nearly every aspect of termite biology. Here, I investigate these physiological collaborations as they relate to digestion and immunity. My efforts focused on 1) quantifying the role of bacteria in wood digestion within the termite gut, 2) evaluating the role of symbionts in protection against pathogens, and 3) identifying gene products that bacterial …

Nebline, March 2016

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Feature: It’s Easier Than Ever to Connect with Extension — Mobile Device and Social Media are Changing the Way People Learn

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Program And Abstracts Of The 62nd Annual Conference Of The Mississippi Entomological Association, October 19-20, 2015, Mississippi Entomological Association

Midsouth Entomologist

No abstract provided.

One Health: Students' Perspective, Kristine T. Edwards

Midsouth Entomologist

No abstract provided.

Ross River Virus Runs Rampant On The Gold Coast Of Australia, Brandon Gerhart

Midsouth Entomologist

The first outbreak of Ross River Virus (RRV) occurred in 1928 in South Wales, Australia. I reviewed RRV literature published between 2001 and 2015. The virus is carried by a mosquito and transmitted through a wallaby as its most common intermediate host. Researchers arrived at their findings by conducting extensive lab work on both mosquitos and humans. Signs and symptoms of RRV include joint inflammation, pain, fatigue, and muscle aches. It takes 3-21 days for symptoms to appear, with an average of 9 days. There is no cure to RRV, and there is no vaccine currently being developed. The best …

Antibody Titers To Bed Bug Salivary Proteins In Chickens From An Infested Broiler Breeder House, J. Goddard, J. S. Portugal, K. Maschek

Midsouth Entomologist

Bed bugs (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) might be significant pests in poultry operations, especially in broiler breeder houses. In this study, chickens in breeder houses, known to be infested with bed bugs, demonstrated antibodies to bed bug salivary gland extract, while those not exposed to bed bugs, did not. Antibody titers ranged from 1:160 to 1:640. These results document for the first time that chickens in commercial production, when exposed to bed bug biting, produce antibody responses to proteins contained in bed bug saliva.

Cryptosporidium Parvum: Is It Invincible?, Caitlin Wonnacott

Midsouth Entomologist

Cryptosporidium is a coccidian protozoan parasite that can affect mammals, reptiles, and birds. A coccidian is a single-celled protozoan that affects the epithelial lining of the intestinal walls of hosts it parasitizes. This parasite has a unique life cycle and can withstand common measures of sterilization. The infective oocyte stage is resistant and hardy. It takes on two forms where each goes to different places within the host. Contamination of water sources has led to large outbreaks of cryptosporidiosis, even though the water met and passed the standards for drinking water. Conclusions from previous studies will help lead the way …

What Is Leishmaniasis?, Kimberly Wilson

Midsouth Entomologist

Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease that can cause painful sores to cover one's body. It is found in parts of the tropics, subtropics, and southern Europe. Leishmaniasis is caused by infection with a complex of protozoan organisms, Leishmania spp, which are spread by the bite of infected phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae). There are several different forms of leishmaniasis in people. The most common are cutaneous and visceral. The cutaneous type causes skin sores. The visceral type affects internal organs like the spleen, liver, and sometimes bone marrow.

Impact Assessment Of Integrated Pest Management (Ipm) Strategy For Suppression Of Mango-Infesting Fruit Flies In Kenya, Beatrice W. Muriithi, Hippolyte D. Affognon, Gracious M. Diiro, Sarah W. Kingori, Chrysantus M. Tanga, Peterson W. Nderitu, Samira A. Mohamed, Sunday Ekesi

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

We utilized two waves of data collected from a sample of mango farmers in Meru County in Kenya to evaluate the impact of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategy for controlling fruit flies in mango-production. We specifically explored the effect of five IPM practices including parasitoids (p) and Metarhizium anisopliae-based biopesticides (biop), orchard sanitation (os), spot spray of food bait (fb) and male annihilation technique (mat) on three outcome indicators: farmer pesticide expenditure, farm-level mango fruit yield losses and profit. We fitted difference-in-difference and household fixed effects regression models that account for unobserved heterogeneity across households. Our estimates differentiated the impact …

Visual, Vibratory, And Olfactory Cues Affect Interactions Between The Red Spider Mite Tetranychus Evansi And Its Predator Phytoseiulus Longipes, Ginette Yèyinou Azandémè-Hounmalon, Baldwyn Torto, Komi Kouma Mokpokpo Fiaboe, Sevgan Subramanian, Serge Kreiter, Thibaud Martin

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Phytoseiulus longipes Evans (Mesostigmata: Phytoseiidae) is an exotic predator widely used in biological control programs for the red spider mite Tetranychus evansi Baker & Pritchard (Acari: Tetranychidae) in East Africa. However, little is known about the cues mediating this prey/predator interaction. Here, we performed behavioral assays to test the involvement of visual, vibratory, and olfactory cues using a combination of dead/living insects enclosed in either perforated or non-perforated transparent/opaque capsules. We monitored insect responses with a video tracking system and analyzed the data with Ethovision software. Our results showed avoidance behavior of T. evansi in the presence of live P. …

Choreography Of Silk Spinning By Webspinners (Insecta: Embioptera) Reflects Lifestyle And Hints At Phylogeny, David Mcmillan, Kyle Hohu, Janice Edgerly-Rooks

Biology

Silk spinning defines the morphologically constrained embiopterans. All individuals spin for protection, including immatures, adult males and the wingless females. Enlarged front tarsi are packed with silk glands and clothed with ejectors. They spin by stepping with their front feet and releasing silk against substrates and onto preexisting silk, often cloth-like. Spinning is stereotypical and appears to differ between species in frequency and probability of transition between two spin-step positions. This spinning choreography was assessed using thousands of spin-steps scored in the laboratory for 22 species to test: (1) the body size hypothesis predicting that spinning would be more complex …

Genome-Wide Comparative Analysis Of Chemosensory Gene Families In Five Tsetse Fly Species, Rosaline Macharia, Paul Mireji, Edwin Murungi, Grace Murilla, Alan Christoffels, Serap Aksoy, Daniel Masiga

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

For decades, odour-baited traps have been used for control of tsetse flies (Diptera; Glossinidae), vectors of African trypanosomes. However, differential responses to known attractants have been reported in different Glossina species, hindering establishment of a universal vector control tool. Availability of full genome sequences of five Glossina species offers an opportunity to compare their chemosensory repertoire and enhance our understanding of their biology in relation to chemosensation. Here, we identified and annotated the major chemosensory gene families in Glossina. We identified a total of 118, 115, 124, and 123 chemosensory genes in Glossina austeni, G. brevipalpis, G. f. fuscipes, G. …

A Specialist Herbivore Pest Adaptation To Xenobiotics Through Up-Regulation Of Multiple Cytochrome P450s, Fang Zhu, Timothy W. Moural, David R. Nelson, Subba R. Palli

Entomology Faculty Publications

The adaptation of herbivorous insects to their host plants is hypothesized to be intimately associated with their ubiquitous development of resistance to synthetic pesticides. However, not much is known about the mechanisms underlying the relationship between detoxification of plant toxins and synthetic pesticides. To address this knowledge gap, we used specialist pest Colorado potato beetle (CPB) and its host plant, potato, as a model system. Next-generation sequencing (454 pyrosequencing) was performed to reveal the CPB transcriptome. Differential expression patterns of cytochrome P450 complement (CYPome) were analyzed between the susceptible (S) and imidacloprid resistant (R) beetles. We also evaluated the global …

Host Stage Preference And Performance Of The Aphid Parasitoid Diaeretiella Rapae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) On Brevicoryne Brassicae And Lipaphis Pseudobrassicae (Hemiptera: Aphididae), Sylvia W.R. Khakasa, Samira A. Mohamed, Zipporah O. Lagat, Fathiya M. Khamis, Chrysantus M. Tanga

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

We assessed the host stage preference and performance of the aphid parasitoid Diaeretiella rapae (McIntosh) on two aphid species, Brevicoryne brassicae (L.) and Lipaphis pseudobrassicae (Davis). Although the parasitoid parasitized all nymphal instars of both aphid species, it showed a higher oviposition preference for 2nd (48.2 ± 7.74%) and 3rd (41.0 ± 7.82%) instars of L. pseudobrassicae, and for the 3rd (40.0 ± 4.59%) instar of B. brassicae. Across the host species, there was no significant difference in parasitoid preference between the 3rd and 4th instars, while 1st and 2nd instars of L. pseudobrassicae were significantly more preferred than their …

Unique Features Of A Global Human Ectoparasite Identified Through Sequencing Of The Bed Bug Genome, Joshua B. Benoit, Zach N. Adelman, Klaus Reinhardt, Amanda Dolan, Monica Poelchau, Emily C. Jennings, Elise M. Szuter, Richard W. Hagan, Hemant Gujar, Jayendra Nath Shukla, Fang Zhu, M. Mohan, David R. Nelson, Andrew J. Rosendale, Christian Derst, Valentina Resnik, Sebastian Wernig, Pamela Menegazzi, Christian Wegener, Nicolai Peschel, Jacob M. Hendershot, Wolfgang Blenau, Reinhard Predel, Paul R. Johnston, Panagiotis Ioannidis, Robert M. Waterhouse, Ralf Nauen, Corinna Schorn, Mark-Christoph Ott, Frank Maiwald, Subba R. Palli

Entomology Faculty Publications

The bed bug, Cimex lectularius, has re-established itself as a ubiquitous human ectoparasite throughout much of the world during the past two decades. This global resurgence is likely linked to increased international travel and commerce in addition to widespread insecticide resistance. Analyses of the C. lectularius sequenced genome (650 Mb) and 14,220 predicted protein-coding genes provide a comprehensive representation of genes that are linked to traumatic insemination, a reduced chemosensory repertoire of genes related to obligate hematophagy, host-symbiont interactions, and several mechanisms of insecticide resistance. In addition, we document the presence of multiple putative lateral gene transfer events. Genome …

Nebline, February 2016

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Feature: Tips to Keep Your Heart Healthy — February is Heart Health Month

Food & Health

Family Living

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4-H & Youth

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Insect Bronzes Of George Foster, Stéphane Le Tirant, Brett C. Ratcliffe

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

The artist’s fabulous bronze insect sculptures, including magnificent scarabs, have been exhibited at the Montréal Insectarium, the Canadian Museum of Nature, the Museum of the University of Nebraska, and many art galleries. Others are in permanent exhibition at the Insectarium of Hong Kong and elsewhere in Asia. George Foster appeared in the episode “Living Art” of the Insectia TV series in 1999. Some sculptures are part of the personal collection of Stéphane Le Tirant, Brett C. Ratcliffe, and the late Henry F. Howden and Roger-Paul Dechambre. We want to acquaint the readers of Scarabs about this artist.

Effect Of Cry1f Maize On The Behavior Of Susceptible And Resistant Spodoptera Frugiperda And Ostrinia Nubilalis, Ana María Vélez, Analiza P. Alves, Erin E. Blankenship, Blair Siegfried

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

Understanding the behavior of pests targeted with Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner (Bt) crops is important to define resistance management strategies. Particularly the study of larval movement between plants is important to determine the feasibility of refuge configurations. Exposure to Bt maize, Zea mays L. (Poaceae), has been suggested to increase larval movement in lepidopteran species but few studies have examined the potential for resistance to interact with behavioral responses to Bt toxins. Choice and no-choice experiments were conducted with Spodoptera frugiperda (JE Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) and Ostrinia nubilalis (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) to determine whether Cry1F resistance influences neonate movement. Leaf discs …

Benefits Of Size Dimorphism And Copulatory Silk Wrapping In The Sexually Cannibalistic Nursery Web Spider, Pisaurina Mira, Alissa G. Anderson, Eileen Hebets

Eileen Hebets Publications

In sexually cannibalistic animals, male fitness is influenced not only by successful mate acquisition and egg fertilization, but also by avoiding being eaten. In the cannibalistic nursery web spider, Pisaurina mira, the legs of mature males are longer in relation to their body size than those of females, and males use these legs to aid in wrapping a female’s legs with silk prior to and during copulation. We hypothesized that elongated male legs and silk wrapping provide benefits to males, in part through a reduced likelihood of sexual cannibalism. To test this, we paired females of random size with …

Approximating Optimal Release In A Deterministic Model For The Sterile Insect Technique, Sergio Ramirez, Luis F. Gordillo

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications

Cost/benefit analyses are essential to support management planning and decisions before launching any pest control program. In particular, applications of the sterile insect technique (SIT) are often prevented by the projected economic burden associated with rearing processes. This has had a deep impact on the technique development and its use on insects with long larval periods, as often seen in beetles. Under the assumptions of long adult timespan and multiple mating, we show how to find approximate optimal sterile release policies that minimize costs. The theoretical framework proposed considers the release of insects by pulses and finds approximate optimal release …

Identification Of Aphid (Hemiptera: Aphididae) Species Of Economic Importance In Kenya Using Dna Barcodes And Pcr-Rflp-Based Approach, G. Kinyanjui, F. M. Khamis, S. Mohamed, L. O. Ombura, M. Warigia, S. Ekesi

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Aphids are among pests of economic importance throughout the world. Together with transmitting plant viruses, aphids are capable of inflicting severe crop production losses. They also excrete honeydew that favours the growth of sooty mold which reduces the quality of vegetables and fruits and hence their market values. Rapid and accurate identification of aphids to the species level is a critical component in effective pest management and plant quarantine systems. Even though morphological taxonomy has made a tremendous impact on species-level identifications, polymorphism, morphological plasticity and immature stages are among the many challenges to accurate identification. In addition, their small …

Developing And Deploying Insect Resistant Maize Varieties To Reduce Pre-And Post-Harvest Food Losses In Africa, Tadele Tefera, Stephen Mugo, Yoseph Beyene

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Maize grain yield in Africa is low, 1.5 t ha−1 compared to the global average of 4.9 t ha−1. Maize production in Africa is constrained by various abiotic (drought, soil fertility) and biotic factors (insect pests, weeds and diseases). Stem borers and postharvest insect pests play considerable roles in reducing maize yield through damaging the leaves, stems, ears, and kernels. Stem borers can cause 10–15 % yield losses while the postharvest insect pests, particularly, the larger grain borer and maize weevil, can cause 14–36 % grain losses. The use of chemical insecticides has been recommended; however, in addition to health …

Genome-Wide Transcriptomic And Proteomic Analyses Of Bollworm-Infested Developing Cotton Bolls Revealed The Genes And Pathways Involved In The Insect Pest Defence Mechanism, Saravanan Kumar, Kanakachari Mogilicherla, Dhandapani Gurusamy, Krishan Kumar, Prabhakaran Narayanasamy, Padmalatha Kethireddy Venkata, Amolkumar Solanke, Savita Gamanagatti, Vamadevaiah Hiremath, Ishwarappa S. Katageri, Sadhu Leelavathi, Polumetla Ananda Kumar, Vanga Siva Reddy

Entomology Faculty Publications

Cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera, is a major insect pest that feeds on cotton bolls causing extensive damage leading to crop and productivity loss. In spite of such a major impact, cotton plant response to bollworm infection is yet to be witnessed. In this context, we have studied the genome-wide response of cotton bolls infested with bollworm using transcriptomic and proteomic approaches. Further, we have validated this data using semi-quantitative real-time PCR. Comparative analyses have revealed that 39% of the transcriptome and 35% of the proteome were differentially regulated during bollworm infestation. Around 36% of significantly regulated transcripts and 45% …

Spatial Analysis Of Forest Crimes In Mark Twain National Forest, Missouri, Karun Pandit, Eddie Bevilacqua, Giorgos Mountrakis, Robert W. Malmsheimer

Journal of Geospatial Applications in Natural Resources

Forest crime mitigation has been identified as a challenging issue in forest management in the United States. Knowledge of the spatial pattern of forest crimes would help in wisely allocating limited enforcement resources to curb forest crimes. This study explores the spatial pattern of three different types of forest crimes: fire crime, illegal timber logging crime, and occupancy use crime in the Salem-Patosi Ranger District of Mark Twain National Forest. Univariate and bivariate Ripley’s K-functions were applied to explore the spatial patterns in crime events, like clustering and attraction among forest crime types. Results reveal significant clustering for each forest …

Comparison Of Terrain Indices And Landform Classification Procedures In Low-Relief Agricultural Fields, Derek A. Evans, Karl W. J. Williard, Jon E. Schoonover

Journal of Geospatial Applications in Natural Resources

Landforms control the spatial distribution of numerous factors associated with agronomy and water quality. Although curvature and slope are the fundamental surface derivatives used in landform classification procedures, methodologies for landform classifications have been performed with other terrain indices including the topographic position index (TPI) and the convergence index (CI). The objectives of this study are to compare plan curvature, the convergence index, profile curvature, and the topographic position index at various scales to determine which better identifies the spatial variability of soil phosphorus (P) within three low relief agricultural fields in central Illinois and to compare how two methods …

Discordant Data And Interpretation Of Results From Wildlife Habitat Models, Anita T. Morzillo, Michael G. Wing, Justin Long

Journal of Geospatial Applications in Natural Resources

Wildlife habitat management is an important part of natural resource management. As a result, there are a large number of models and tools for wildlife habitat assessment. A consequence of the many assessment tools is inconsistency when comparing results between tools, which may lead to potential confusion management decisions. Our objective was to compare results from two wildlife habitat models – one being relatively coarse (HUC5) scale and not spatially dynamic and the other being finer scale spatial data based on a 30 m spatial resolution –for habitat assessment of three species across the West Cascades of Oregon: Northern spotted …

Evidence For The Fixation Of Gene Duplications By Positive Selection In Drosophila, Margarida Cardoso-Moreira, J. Roman Arguello, Srikanth Gottipati, Lawrence G. Harshman, Jennifer K. Grenier, Andrew G. Clark

Lawrence G. Harshman Publications

Gene duplications play a key role in the emergence of novel traits and in adaptation. But despite their centrality to evolutionary processes, it is still largely unknown how new gene duplicates are initially fixed within populations and later maintained in genomes. Long-standing debates on the evolution of gene duplications could be settled by determining the relative importance of genetic drift vs. positive selection in the fixation of new gene duplicates. Using the Drosophila Global Diversity Lines (GDL), we have combined genome-wide SNP polymorphism data with a novel set of copy number variant calls and gene expression profiles to characterize the …

Effects Of Olfactory Cues On The Foraging Behavior Of A Carabid Beetle, Calosoma Wilcoxi, A Predator Of A Forest Defoliator., Kennesha J. Myrick-Bragg, Karen Kester, Derek M. Johnson

Rice Rivers Center Research Symposium

Arthropod predators use environmental cues such as kairomones to locate herbivore prey. Several species have been shown to be attracted to volatiles emitted by herbivore host plants, as well as olfactory cues produced by the herbivore. Calosoma wilcoxi is a voracious predator that specializes on lepidopteran larvae often found in the forest canopy, showing a preference for the fall cankerworm. It is unknown whether C. wilcoxi uses olfactory cues associated with prey or their host plants to locate foraging sites.

The objective of this study is to use fall cankerworm frass, caterpillars, damaged oak leaves, and conspecifics to determine if …

Suscetibilidade De Adultos De Bemisia Tabaci Biótipo B A Inseticidas, Danilo A.S. Esashika, Miguel Michereff-Filho, Cristina S. Bastos, Alice K. Inoue-Nagata, Antônio M. Dias, Matheus G.P.M. Ribeiro

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

A associação de alguns vírus fitopatogênicos com seus vetores pode ou não alterar a ação do controle químico. Este trabalho objetivou avaliar a suscetibilidade de moscas-brancas virulíferas (com aquisição do begomovírus Tomato severe rugose virus, ToSRV) e avirulíferas (sem aquisição do ToSRV) aos principais inseticidas registrados para o seu controle na cultura do tomateiro. Foram realizados ensaios com plantas de tomateiro e discos foliares de feijão- -de-porco. Os tratamentos foram arranjados em esquema fatorial de 7 (seis inseticidas + controle) e de 5 (quatro inseticidas + controle) x 2 [mosca-branca (MB) virulífera (V) ou avirulífera (AV)] e dispostos no delineamento …

Use Of Chromatin Remodeling Atpases As Rnai Targets For Parental Control Of Western Corn Rootworm (Diabrotica Virgifera Virgifera) And Neotropical Brown Stink Bug (Euschistus Heros), Elane Fishilevich, Ana María Vélez, Chitvan Khajuria, Meghan L.F. Frey, Ronda L. Hamm, Haichuan Wang, Greg A. Schulenberg, Andrew J. Bowling, Heather E. Pence, Premchand Gandra, Kanika Arora, Nicholas P. Storer, Kenneth E. Narva, Blair D. Siegfried

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

RNA interference (RNAi) is a gene silencing mechanism that is present in animals and plants and is triggered by double stranded RNA (dsRNA) or small interfering RNA (siRNA), depending on the organism. In the western corn rootworm (WCR), Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), RNAi can be achieved by feeding rootworms dsRNA added to artificial diet or plant tissues transformed to express dsRNA. The effect of RNAi depends on the targeted gene function and can range from an absence of phenotypic response to readily apparent responses, including lethality. Furthermore, RNAi can directly affect individuals that consume dsRNA or the effect …