bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Optimized simulation as an aid to modelling, with an application to the study of a population of tsetse flies, Glossina morsitans morsitans (Diptera: Glossinidae)
Authors: Hargrove J.W. , Williams B.G. 
Published: July 2009

AbstractA method is described for optimizing models by linking simulation procedures with a non-linear regression programme. It is then possible to work towards a parsimonious model which contains those, and only those, variables required for an optimum fit. Using the observed values, and the predicted values from each simulation, the optimizing routine calculates the value of an appropriate loss function. It then makes small changes in the parameters governing the simulation, recalculates the predicted values and the first and second derivative of the loss function with respect to each parameter. The algorithm uses this information to minimize the loss function for a given formulation of the model. The model is improved by adding variables which can be shown statistically to improve the fit, and by removing those which do not. The use of the technique is illustrated with reference to a series of weekly estimates of the total numbers, births and survival probabilities of a population of male and female tsetse flies Glossina morsitans morsitans Westwood. Simulation involved following the lives of cohorts of flies, and of all their progeny, from the time they were deposited as larvae. Development and reproduction were regarded as fixed functions of temperature, but mortality rates of pupae and of adult flies depended on meteorological and biological variables, plus the level of trapping imposed on the population. Potential factors were added singly and the model thereby improved in an objective, stepwise manner. The best fit was achieved when effects on adult survival due to maximum temperature, various modes of trapping, and an annual cycle were included in the model. The optimized simulation technique has been used here in improving a model which describes a biological population but it could equally be used to improve models in any situation where data are fitted using simulation procedures.
Seasonally contrasting activity of African black beetle, Heteronychus arator (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae): implications for populations, pest status and management
Authors: Matthiesse J.N. , Learmonth S.E. 
Published: July 2009

AbstractFlight and surface activity of the African black beetle, Heteronychus arator (Fabricius), detected by pitfall, light and window traps, was seasonally reversed. High surface activity relative to flight occurred in spring when beetles were mature, while relatively higher levels of flight occurred in autumn when they were immature. Pitfall trap captures were male-dominated in spring and female-dominated in autumn, and were a poor estimator of adult density. Light trap captures were consistently female-dominated. Although autumn flight was dispersive and inferred to have some role in population regulation, it was largely localized within the usual pasture habitat of the species. Some beetles flew into irrigated potato crops in autumn, but not specifically, as beetle abundance was consistently less than in surrounding dry pasture. High surface activity indicates spring is a strategic time for surface-applied control measures to prevent increase of H. arator in the next generation, a less disruptive alternative to conventional soil-incorporated insecticide directed at the new generation's larvae in summer. Such an approach would be best aimed early in the upsurge of activity, as most of the season's cohort of eggs was laid by the time surface activity peaked in mid-spring.
Selective host-feeding on parasitized hosts by the parasitoid Itoplectis naranyae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) and its implication for biological control
Authors: Ueno T. 
Published: July 2009

AbstractHost-feeding by parasitoid wasps has been viewed as a positive attribute for biological control, because hosts are killed as a result of host-feeding in addition to parasitism. Host acceptance and host-feeding responses o unparasitized vs. conspecifically parasitized hosts by the parasitoid wasp Itoplectis naranyae Ashmead were studied in the laboratory. Female I. naranyae selected to oviposit in unparasitized hosts and those that had been parasitized I h previously, in equal proportions, even when allowed access to both types of host. Females also fed upon both types of host equally. Females, however, avoided ovipositing in hosts parasitized 40 h and 70 h previously, and preferentially fed upon them when allowed access both to parasitized and to unparasitized hosts. Parasitoid progeny in hosts which had been used for host-feeding suffered a high degree of mortality. Females used host internal changes as cues for deciding whether to feed on hosts. It is suggested that immature parasitoid mortality can be increased due to female preference for using parasitized hosts for host-feeding. Hence, host-feeding by I. naranyae may not be an advantageous biological control characteristic. The adaptive significance of selective host-feeding is also discussed.
Ants in tropical irrigated rice: distribution and abundance, especially of Solenopsis geminata (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
Authors: Way M.J. , Islam Z. , Heong K.L. , Joshi R.C. 
Published: July 2009

AbstractAt least 62 species of ants were caught at baits in Philippine rice fields, notably in the bunds (levées) of irrigated rice. Many were relatively uncommon or localized. Apart from the ubiquitous Tapinoma sp. nr indicum Forel the most widespread was the aggressive Solenopsis geminata (Fabricius) which was often very abundant in fields with bunds that were disturbed by regular repair. This ant was scarce or absent in relatively undisturbed well-vegetated bunds where Pheidole spp. were sometimes common and where up to 14 different species were recorded in bunds of a single field. Colonies were spaced out along the bunds where foraging territories sometimes overlapped, except for those of the competing dominants S. geminata and Pheidole spp. In general, S. geminata retained its overall foraging areas from year to year but those of non-dominant ant species could vary considerably. Bunds of low-lying fields that are deeply flooded in the wet season were recolonized by S. geminata in the wet season. This ant occurred as separate colonies with workers from nests that differed in degree of mutual aggression. Such aggression was not observed in foraging areas. Solenopsis geminata and other species foraged into, and nested within, dry fallowed fields after the crop was harvested. In the crop season, they foraged across mud during periods of up to one week when farmers allow irrigated rice fields to drain before flooding. Solenopsis geminata workers also foraged across the closed crop canopy. At such times they were commonly observed preying on hemipteran and lepidopteran pests and on eggs and young golden snails (Pomacea canaliculata Lamarck) which are serious rice pests in the Philippines.
Use of a multi-component pheromone formulation for control of cotton bollworms (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae and Noctuidae) in Pakistan
Authors: Chamberlain D.J. , Critchley B.R. , Campion D.G. , Attique M.R. , Rafique M. , Arif M.I. 
Published: July 2009

AbstractA hand-applied ‘twist-ti’ pheromone formulation containing the combined pheromones of Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders) (Gelechiidae), Earias vittella (Fabricius) and E. insulana (Boisduval) (Noctuidae) was used in trials conducted in Pakistan from 1986 to 1988. In plots of cotton ranging in area from 2.8 to 6.0 ha, season-long control of the bollworm complex was achieved using the pheromone formulation applied alone or together with one conventional insecticide treatment, with the conventional insecticide spray programme requring up to five applications of insecticide to achieve a similar level of control. No significant differences were found in yield estimates from plots treated with pheromones compared with plots receiving conventional insecticide treatments. Significantly higher levels of boll infestation and lower yield estimates occurred in control plots where neither pheromones nor insecticides were applied.
Morphology, distribution, and the role of trichomes in cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) resistance to the legume pod borer, Maruca testulalis (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae)
Authors: Oghiakhe S. , Jackai L.E.N. , Makanjuola W.A. , Hodgson C.J. 
Published: July 2009

AbstractStudies on the morphology and distribution, and the role of trichomes in damage to cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) by the legume pod borer Maruca testulalis (Geyer) showed that trichome cover on individual cultivars varied in trichome length and density, but not in trichome type from different plant parts. Trichome density on different parts decreased with increasing plant age. Significant (P <0.05) negative correlations were obtained between total trichome density on pods, pod infestation and damage severity. In contrast, correlations between length of non-glandular trichomes on pods, pod infestation and damage severity were not significant. Results suggest that trichome length may be less important than density in reducing pod damage by M. testulalis in cultivated cowpeas. It is, therefore, concluded that breeding for a higher level of trichomes in high yielding and agronomically desirable cowpea cultivars, will serve as an important component in the integrated management of M. testulalis.
Flight behaviour of tsetse flies in thick bush (Glossina pallidipes (Diptera: Glossinidae))
Authors: Paynter Quentin , Brady John 
Published: July 2009

AbstractAn odour-baited electric net placed in thick bush caught more Glossina pallidipes Austen when sited at ground level (0.2–1.2 m) than when sited in the top of the bush (1.4–2.4 m) or just above it (2.6–3.6 m). However, a similar net running concurrently 4 m away in a game trail through the bush caught far more flies. When electric nets were placed in the centre of two adjacent game trails in this bush and then one of the trails was barricaded with branches from nearby bushes, the catch declined in that trail and increased proportionately in the other. It is inferred that tsetse flies navigate up host odour plumes by finding gaps in thick vegetation rather than by flying over the top or through it, and that game trails are important forms of such gaps. The implications for siting traps and targets are noted.
The Myzorhynchus group of Anopheline mosquitos in Malaya
Authors: Strickland C. 
Published: July 2009

The following is a summary of the conclusions arrived at in the foregoing paper:—(1) the species sinensis, barbirostris, umbrosus, albotaeniatus and asiatica have been considered valid;(2) the species vanus, annularis, minutus, paeditaeniatus and separatus have been rejected as invalid;(3) certain new characters of the valid species have been noticed;(4) the descriptions of the species have been revised;(5) the genus Patagiamyia has been rejected, as also the genus Lophoscelomyia, both having been included in the genus Myzorhynchus;(6) it is suggested that the Myzorhynchus group forms a series sufficiently distinct from other Anophelines to make it advisable to give it a separate generic title.
List of the Anophelines of the Malay Archipelago with special reference to Adults and Larvae of new or incompletely described Species or Varieties
Authors: Swellengrebel N. H. , Swellengrebel De Graaf J. M. H. 
Published: July 2009

The following species and varieties have been found in the Malay Archipelago*:—Myzomyia: ludlowi, rossii, vaga (indefinita), flava, minima, minima var. aconita.Neomyzomyia: leucosphyra.. punctulata var. tesselata.Cellia: kochi.Myzorhynchus: sinensis, sinensis var. vanus and var. separatus, barbiiostris, barbirostris var. pallidus, albotaeniatus, mauritianus, umbrosus, gigasNyssorhynchus: fuliginosus, maculatus, schiifEneri, karwari, jamesi, annulipes var. moluccensis.Stethomyia: aitkenii, aitkenii var. insulae-florum and var. papuae.
On a small Collection of Coccidae from Mesopotamia, with Description of a new Species
Authors: Green E. Ernest 
Published: July 2009

The collection was received through the Deputy Director of Agriculture (Research) and contained the following species, collected by the Assistant Entomologist, Rao Saheb Y. Ramachandra Rao:—Pseudococcus citri (Risso), on grape vine.Asterolecanium phoenicis, sp. n., on date palm.
Laboratory trials on the toxicity of hydramethylnon (Amdro; AC 217,300) to Reticulitermes santonensis Feytaud (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) and Microtermes lepidus Sjöstedt (Isoptera: Termitidae)
Authors: Logan James W. M. , Abood Faizah 
Published: July 2009

AbstractThe amidinohydrazone insecticide hydramethylnon, exhibited delayed toxicity to workers of Reticulitermes santonensis Feytaud and Microtermes lepidus Sjöstedt over a range of concentrations, with deaths starting two to six days after exposure. R. santonensis workers which had been exposed to hydramethylnon passed the insecticide to untreated termite workers, larvae and nymphs by trophallaxis. Laboratory colonies of R. santonensis exposed to hydramethylnon were killed completely within 20 days. The possible use of hydramethylnon impregnated baits for the control of subterranean termites is discussed.
Temephos resistance and the associated cross-resistance spectrum in a strain of Culex quinquefasciatus Say (Diptera: Culicidae) from Peliyagoda, Sri Lanka
Authors: Peiris H.T.R , Hemingway J 
Published: July 2009

AbstractA heterogeneous population (Pel) of Culex quinquefasciatus Say was selected, by single family rearing, to give a strain, Pel SS, which had low levels of hydrolysis of the esterase substrates α and β-naphthyl acetate. The level of temephos resistance was three-fold lower in this strain than the original parental population, and the levels of resistance to malathion, fenitrothion, pirimiphos-methyl, chlorpyrifos and permethrin were also reduced. In contrast, temephos selection increased the temephos-resistance in the Pel-RR strain ten-fold compared to the original parental population and 29-fold compared to Pel SS. The level of temephos-resistance in Pel RR compared to Pel SS at the LC50 level was 37-fold. Larval cross-resistance, at different levels, was observed to the organophosphorus insecticides, malathion, fenitrothion, parathion, pirimiphos-methyl, chlorpyrifos, fenthion and phoxim, and to the carbamates, propoxur and bendiocarb, but the level of fenthion, propoxur and bendiocarb resistance was less than three-fold. Adults showed cross-resistance to malathion and fenitrothion, but not to propoxur. There was negative cross-resistance to permethrin in both the larvae and adults of Pel RR compared to the Pel and Pel SS strains.
Ovarian ageing of tsetse flies (Diptera: Glossinidae) —interspecific differences
Authors: Wall Richard 
Published: July 2009

AbstractOvarian dissection of Glossina austeni Newstead, G. brevipalpis Newstead, G. morsitans morsitans Westwood and G. pallidipes Austen shows that there are significant interspecific differences in egg-follicle lengths. Differences between G. brevipalpis and G. pallidipes are slight as are those between G. austeni and G. m. morsitans, but the former two species have significantly larger eggs at all ages examined than the latter two. Egg-follicle length is positively related to species size (measured as wing vein length) but only weakly related to the size of individuals within a species. In the ovarian dissection technique for ageing tsetse flies, nulliparous females are usually divided into 0A (one to four days) and OB (five to eight days) categories, depending on whether the first egg follicle is less or more than 0.6 mm in length. The results presented, however, show that at four days the first egg follicle is about 1 mm in length in G. pallidipes and G. brevipalpis and 0.77 mm in length in G. m. morsitans and G. austeni. Thus, application of the 0.6 mm, four-day threshold will result in severe under-estimation of the proportion of females of the former two species of less than five days of age in a population.
Identity of the African coffee root mealybug, with descriptions of two new species of Planococcus (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae)
Authors: Watson Gillian W. , Cox Jennifer M. 
Published: July 2009

AbstractTwo new species of mealybug found on coffee roots are described from Africa. Planococcus fungicolasp. n. from Kenya is the species that has been known in Africa as the coffee root mealybug. This mealybug is almost always associated with the fungus, Diacanthodes novoguineensis (Hennings) Fidalgo. Planococcus radicumsp. n. is from Nigeria and Tanzania. Dactylopius coffeae Newstead is synonymized with Planococcus lilacinus (Cockerell) syn. n.
The Susceptibility of fourth-stage Larvae of Anopheles gambiae to DDT and Dieldrin
Authors: Christie M. , Webbe G. 
Published: July 2009

The validity of the MLD (Minimum Lethal Dose) as a practical concept for measuring toxicity, despite its obvious lack of precision, is discussed. Its use has justification.The 48-hour MLD of acetone-water suspensions and oil films of DDT and dieldrin for early fourth-stage larvae of Anopheles gambiae Giles have been measured.The results show A. gambiae to be relatively resistant to DDT.In acetone-water suspension dieldrin appears to be about six times as toxic as DDT. In oil solutions this difference is more marked, the ratio being in the neighbourhood of 20:1.
Host Specificity of Rhipicephalus sanguineus (Latreille) and R. secundus Feldman-Muhsam in Israel
Authors: Feldman-Muhsam B. 
Published: July 2009

The host specificity of R. sanguineus (Latr.), 1806, sens, sir., and R. secundus Feldman-Muhsam, 1952, in Israel was studied.It was found that 81 per cent, of R. sanguineus, sens, lat., found on the dog was R. sanguineus, sens, str., and 19 per cent. R. secundus, whereas on cattle, sheep and goats, 97, 94 and 91 per cent., respectively, were R. secundus and the remainder R. sanguineus, sens. str.It is suggested that this situation exists also in other countries in the Near East, since R. secundus was very common in material from Algeria, Turkey, Yugoslavia and Iraq.The problem of transmission of disease by R. sanguineus, sens, lat., should be re-investigated in the light of recent taxonomic data.
Studies on the Responses of the female Aëdes Mosquito. Part VII.—The Effect of Skin Temperature, Hue and Moisture on the Attractiveness of the Human Hand
Authors: Smart M. R. , Brown A. W. A. 
Published: July 2009

Hands of warm-skinned Caucasian individuals were significantly more attractive to Aëdes aegypti (L.) than cool-skinned individuals. An artificially cooled hand is very much less attractive than a normal one.Hands of Negroes were significantly more attractive than those of Orientals, and both were significantly more attractive than those of Caucasians. Hands of dark-skinned Caucasians were significantly more attractive than those of light-skinned Caucasians.Warmer skins were more attractive even if combined with a lighter skin hue, in Caucasian subjects. Thus skin hue is secondary to skin temperature in deciding the attractiveness of Caucasians.Hands of individuals with low moisture output were significantly more attractive than those of high moisture output. A hand induced to perspire freely was significantly less attractive than the normal hand.
Some Aspects of Mealybug Behaviour in Relation to the Efficiency of Measures for the Control of Virus Diseases of Cacao in the Gold Coast
Authors: Cornwell P. B. 
Published: July 2009

Mealybug populations (Pseudococcus njalensis Laing) originally present in piles of slash infected with the virus of swollen shoot of cacao are usually small. It is suggested that many of the insects leave the trees at an early stage in the development of infection.Slash piles offer conditions which induce mealybugs to remain within them. The piling of infected slash retards the rate of wilting of the cut wood and consequently retards the rate of migration of the mealybug population. The construction of piles protects the mealybugs from direct insolation and rainfall and leads to the persistence of the population on the cut wood. The colonies which survive the longest are those in the lower part of the heaps where death and desiccation of the material is most delayed.Mealybugs continue to live and to reproduce within heaps of slash for as long as nine weeks or more. Reproduction of the mealybugs is stimulated as the tissues of the felled trees become wilted and the resulting first-instar nymphs contribute numerous participants to such migration as does occur. There is evidence from laboratory experiments that these insects are not potential vectors.The concentrating of mealybugs in slash piles produces no increase in the population of Coccinellid or Cecidomyiid larvae within the piles.Mealybugs are capable of walking quite rapidly for long distances over smooth surfaces. They become incapable of movement when starved for a few days and the majority die within a week. A soil surface seriously impedes the progress of mealybugs which leave the slash heaps and this effect is more marked with the nymphal stages. Even on clean-weeded soil the rate of travel is slow and few. if any, insects can travel over appreciable distances in the period during which the virus may persist within them. Results of preliminary experiments were confirmed by the use of insects labelled with radioactive phosphorus.Some of the ants, which become associated with slash piles and which remain in attendance of the residual mealybug population, carry mealybugs, but the number of insects transported in this way is of little practical significance.The establishment of migrating mealybugs on seedlings and mature cacao is poor even in the presence of their attendant ants.All these factors make the possibility of infecting healthy trees from infected slash extremely remote. There is accordingly no reason to believe that the efficiency of “ cutting out ” is seriously reduced by the movement of vectors from the infected trees which are cut out.Without the co-operation of farmers in supporting the removal of contact trees no further recommendations can be advanced to improve the present method of control of swollen shoot.
A Study on the Identity ofBracon hebetorSay andBracon brevicornisWesmael (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)
Authors: Puttarudriah M. , Basavanna G. P. Channa 
Published: July 2009

Literature, mainly Indian, pertaining to the recorded hosts ofBracon hebetorSay andB. brevicornisWesm., and on the taxonomy of the two species, has been reviewed. Observations on different morphological characters, including the male and female genitalia, which have been used in establishing the identity of the two species, have been made. A large number ofB. hebetorspecimens reared in Bangalore onCorcyra cephalonica(Stnt.),Ephestia cautella(Wlk.),Adisura atkinsoniMoore and those collected in food-grain godowns, and ofB. brevicornisreared onC. cephalonicaandE. cautellain Bangalore, onNephantis serinopaMeyr. from Coimbatore (South India), onPyrausta nubilalis(Hb.) from Canada and on cotton bollworms (?) from Delhi (North India), have been examined.Differences in colour, relative proportions of antennal joints and punctation on the abdomen have been found to be variable and as such are not to be depended upon for distinguishing the two species. The number of antennal joints which has hitherto been considered to be the decisive character by which the two species may be separated is also not reliable as there is a wide range of variation even in the progeny of a single pair of parents. Above all, the fact that the two species interbreed and give rise to fertile offspring, which also show a fairly wide range of variation in the number of antennal joints, proves that the two are identical, and there is no ground to treat them as two distinct species, at least so far as the Indian specimens are concerned, for whichBracon hebetorSay is the valid name.