Muhammad Saeed

Effect of morpho-physio chemical plant factors on preference of Lasioderma serricorne (f.) (Coleoptera: Anobiidae) on four cultivars of tobacco

Callosobmchus maculatus is reported to be the most damaging pest of legume seeds in the tropics and subtropics. In this research work, the biology of this pest was investigated on cowpea seeds in the research laboratory of Biological sciences, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta. This experiment began with the eggs laid by each Callosobrnchus maculatus on different cowpea seeds and it continues till the emergence of adults. The results shows that female Callosobrnchus maculatus that are exposed to 20 cowpea seeds (highest cowpea seeds for the experiment) laid the highest eggs per female (an average of 59 eggs) and also produce the highest number of progeny (average of 44 per female) while those exposed to 5 cowpea seeds (lowest for the experiment) laid an average of 52 eggs and produce the lowest number of progeny (average of 22 per female). This shows that eggs of Callosobrnchus maculatus survive best when they have more space for their larvae to survive.Four tobacco cultivars viz. Flue-cured Virginia (FCV), Sun-cured Rustica (SCR), Dark Air-cured (DAC) and Air-cured Burley (ACB) were evaluated for preference by larvae and adults of Lasioderma serricorne. Leaf thickness (LT), moisture content (MC), nicotine, total sugars (TS), starch, chlorides and potassium contents were determined and the impact of these factors on beetle preference was worked out. FCV tobacco was highly preferred by both larvae (2.18) and adults (1.49) due to high percentages of MC (12.50), TS (15.84) and starch (6.89). ACB was least preferred due to low contents of MC (11.40%), TS (1.29%) and starch (1.14%). Potassium had negatively significant effect on the beetle’s preference. Regression analyses revealed a positive relationship of larvae and adults with MC (0.780, 0.803) TS (0.866, 0.713) and starch (0.888, 0.765) while a negative relationship with potassium (-0.684, -0.407). LT (0.155, 0.101) nicotine (-0.047, -0.277) and chlorides (0.163, 0.305) had non-significant association with preference by both larvae and adults respectively. The relationship between MC, TS and starch is direct curvilinear as their increase had encouraged the population of L. serricorne.The experiments were conducted during 2009-011 seasons in Gedarif Research Station laboratory, Agricultural Research Corporation. To study biology and webbing (spinning) behaviour of sesame webworm, A. catalaunalis Dup. under laboratory conditions during the period of September to November 2006. Eggs incubation period was 2.45 days, while larval period lasted for 10.2± 1.05 days, completing five larval instars. The pupation occurred both inside the webbed leaves and the in the soil, and the average pupal period was 4.9±0.21 days. The average adults longevity was 6.18± 0.2 days. The webbing behaviour revealed that the area of the leaves greatly influenced the webbing process. The larger area of the leaves, the greater number of stitches made and the longer time taken for completing the webbing. The larva changed the position while webbing, if the leaf area was large. Smaller leaves were webbed quickly, even if the length of the larvae was short.The use of insects as food by the people of the Niger Delta in Nigeria is not new. A survey of the insects used by the people of this region revealed a total of twenty species used as food. The species cut across six orders namely: Isoptera, Orthoptera, Coleoptera, Lepidotera, Hemiptera and Diptera. Order Coleoptera had the highest number of species (6) followed closely by orders Lepidoptera and Orthoptera with 5 species each. The species consumed differed in each of the assessed states however, the most commonly consumed species were termitesxa0 recording 29% on a pie-chart followed closely by R. phoenicis larva with 22%. These insects are sourced from the wild. The different times in the year they are harvested are listed. They are prepared for eating either by boiling, frying or roasting while some are eaten raw. These insects form an integral part of the people of the Niger Delta region of my country as they are consumed by all ages in the population. Key words : Entomophagy, Niger Delta, Nigeria, WildI greatly contributes to the global malaria incidence. The existence of various vector species, congenial environment for the propagation of both; vector and the parasite, the malaria susceptible human host all make India the best opportune hotspot for persisting malaria disease. In Southeast Asian malaria incidences; contribution of India is about 60%. In India two major human malaria parasites P.falciparum and P.vivax are widely distributed. P.vivax causes the most widespread malaria in the country with equal frequency as P.falciparum and is the reason for high morbidity in its host. The disease severity of P.vivax is the emerging scenario in the country. Severe and fatal vivax malaria is an emerging recognized entity challenging the perception of P.vivax as benign disease making it pertinent to understand the emergence of severe vivax malaria. The chronicity of the malaria disease is attributed to the variant surface antigens (VSAs) encoded by the multigene families of Plasmodium. P. vivax genome also contains a multigene superfamily vir (variant interspersed repeats), present in the subtelomeric region which might have a possible role in immune evasion like the var gene in P. falciparum. From five different epidemiological regions of the country 148 blood samples were collected to study the existing diversity of vir genes in natural infections. Sequence analysis of vir genes in field isolates showed immense diversity between them and also revealed the presence of synonymous and non-synonymous mutations in amino acid sequences. The results indicate that vir genes in different P. vivax populations in India are highly divergent both within and between isolates. By taking the presence of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) into consideration, basic population genetic structure was deduced. Minimum Evolution phylogenetic analysis was used to conclude that there was a random distribution of samples which was not region specific. Detailed knowledge of the genetic variation among the vir genes will help in understanding the evolutionary aspects of vir genes and may also provide tools with which to design an effective vaccine. This is the first population based study from India of P. vivax vir genes, hypothesized to have a possible functional role in malaria pathogenesis. Vineeta Singh, Entomol Ornithol Herpetol 2013, 2:2 http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2161-0983.S1.004T addition of moringa, rice bran filtrates (1%) to the nucleopolyhedrovirus (SpliMNPV) of the cotton leaf worm Spodoptera littoralis (Bosid.) provided almost complete protection to the PIB’s following exposure to artificial UV irradiation (30 min) in laboratory test. This work focuses on testing inexpensive additives that may sustain effectiveness of virus biocontrol agent, green tea filtrates and cacao were used as comparative additives. Polyhedra inclusion bodies were mixed with these plant extracts at (1%, 5% and 10%) concentrations exposed to artificial UV in two steps as a thin films in Petri dishes. The different treatments of NPV suspension were bioassayed using neonate healthy larvae. The concentration of 1% of Moringa additive preserved the activity of polyhedral inclusion bodies after UV-exposure resulting in 93.25% mortality of larvae and it was 91.69 %, 90.51 %and 66.42 %for rice bran, cacao and green tea respectively while it was the lowest (15.04 %) with virus alone treatments (positive control) 5 hr post application, similar trend was recorded in the second step using the 5, 10 % concentrations 5hr post application. The mixtures of baculovirus PIB’s and additives were measured with spectrophotometer under 400 nm length before and 10 hr post application. The suspension absorbance at 400nm showed narrow differences with moringa followed by cacco, rice bran and green tea respectively. These findings indicate that theses plant extracts could be promising UV protective additives for SpliNPV and they should be further investigated in the field large scale to obtain the best formulation for the control of agriculture important insect pest. A. El-Helaly, Entomol Ornithol Herpetol 2013, 2:2 http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2161-0983.S1.004