Ramadhani Eka Putra

Cellular and humoral immune defenses of Oxya japonica (Orthoptera: Acrididae) to entomopathogenic fungi Metarhizium anisopliae

One Indonesian isolate of the fungus Metarhizium anisopliae, named Majalengka strain, was evaluated not only for its virulence but also for the immune response of rice grasshopper Oxya japonica (Orthoptera: Acrididae) as a target organism. Five aqueous suspensions with different conidia concentrations in logarithmic series were prepared. The fungus showed high virulence as it caused 100% mortality at low conidia concentration (1.5 × 102 conidia/mL). Remarkable changes in the cellular and humoral responses were also observed when adult grasshoppers were infected with the fungus. The number of hemocytes decreased significantly within 12 h after infection. In addition, the total number of granulocytes increased rapidly in the first 12 h then gradually decreased 24 and 48 h after infections, while the number of coagulocytes fluctuated over time. The infection influenced the humoral response by increasing the phenoloxidase activity.

The influence of trichome characters of soybean (Glycine max Merrill) on oviposition preference of soybean pod borer Etiella zinckenella Treitschke (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in Indonesia

Study of oviposition behavior of Etiella zinckenella Treitschke on several Indonesian local cultivars of soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merrill was conducted with multiple choice and no choice tests. This study confirmed that sequence of eggs oviposition of E. zinckenella on tropical region does not differ with other results on non-tropical region. Total number of egg deposited and oviposition frequency of E. zinckenella do not correlate with trichome density, trichome length and pod surface when they do not have a choice of host plants. On the contrary, on the condition of many host plants to choose, E. zinckenella prefers to deposit eggs on the cultivar with many short trichomes. The preference test based on soybean phenology showed that the E. zinckenella prefers R4 stage (fully filled pod) for oviposition.

Monitoring pyrethroid resistance in field collected Blattella germanica Linn. (Dictyoptera: Blattellidae) in Indonesia

The German cockroach, Blattella germanica, is a major and the most common pest in public areas in Indonesia. Although intensive control measures have been carried out to control the populations of this pest, results have been far from successful, which is believed to be because of its resistance to insecticides. A standard World Health Organization (WHO) glass jar test was carried out to determine the resistance level of this insect to pyrethroid insecticides, the most commonly used insecticides for cockroach control in Indonesia. A susceptible S1 strain collected from Tembagapura Papua was compared with four strains collected from Bandung, West Java: strain S2, from a local restaurant; strain S3, from the Bandung train station; and strains S4 and S5, from two different hotels. All strains showed low resistance to the pyrethroid, except the S5 strain, which had a Resistance Ratio (RR)50 of 95 for permethrin. The addition of piperonyl butoxide (PBO) suggests that the detoxifying enzyme mixed function oxidases (MFO) played an important role in the development of resistance to permethrin in the S5 strain, suggested by the high Synergist Ratio (SR) of 70.4. However, the low level of resistance to cypermethrin was not affected by PBO, suggesting that other mechanisms of pyrethroid resistance are involved. Our study is the first report of German cockroach resistance to permethrin in Indonesia, and the findings can be used in formulating potential strategies for cockroach resistance management.

Application of Asiatic Honey Bees (Apis cerana) and Stingless Bees (Trigona laeviceps) as Pollinator Agents of Hot Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) at Local Indonesia Farm System

In Indonesia, hot pepper (Capsicum annuum) is one of the most important spices. Despite the fact that high yield cultivars and fertilizers have been applied to increase the annual production of this spice, local farming is always unable to maintain constant production. Studies to find the explanation of this problem mostly focused on pest attack while possibility of low fruit production due to lack of pollination was neglected. In this study, the effect of pollinator visitation to fruit set and quality was assessed by application of two local domesticated honey bees, Asiatic honey bees (Apis cerana) and stingless bees (Trigona laeviceps) as potential pollinator agents at hot pepper plantation. This study found that both bees had similar visitation rate while A. cerana spend less time in flowers. Visitation by A. cerana and Trigona laeviceps improved fruit set, fruit production per plant, average fruit weight, and fruit size. This result confirms the importance of cross pollination for hot pepper production and both species could be used as pollination agent for hot pepper. Advantages and disadvantages for each species as pollination agent for local Indonesia farm system are discussed in this paper.

The impact of insecticides to local honey bee colony Apis cerana indica in laboratory condition

Heavy use of insecticides considered as one of common practice at local farming systems. Even though many Indonesian researchers had stated the possible detrimental effect of insecticide on agriculture environment and biodiversity, researches on this subject had been neglected. Therefore, our purpose in this research is observing the impact of insecticides usage by farmer to non target organisme like local honey bee (Apis cerana indica), which commonly kept in area near agriculture system. This research consisted of field observations out at Ciburial, Dago Pakar, Bandung and laboratory tests at School of Life Sciences and Technology, Institut Teknologi Bandung. The field observations recorded visited agriculture corps and types of pollen carried by bees to the nest while laboratory test recorderd the effect of common insecticide to mortality and behavior of honey bees. Three types of insecticides used in this research were insecticides A with active agent Chlorantraniliprol 50 g/l, insecticide B with acti...