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Topic Review
Bed Bugs
The bed bugs (Cimex lectularius and C. hemipterus) have undergone a significant resurgence worldwide since the 1990s. Herein, we discuss on the main evolutionary events, from fossil evidence, dating from 11,000 years ago, until the present that has led to the current worldwide expansion of Cimicid species. We present the hypotheses on the possible dispersion pathways of bed bugs in light of the major historical and evolutionary events. A detailed classification of the Cimicidae family and finally, an illustrative map displaying the current distribution of known Cimex species in each geographical ecozone of Asia, Europe, Africa, the Americas, and Australia are presented.
  • 3.6K
  • 05 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Key Oil Palm Pests and Their Managements
Oil palm, Elaeis guineensis Jacq. (Arecales: Arecaceae), is a multipurpose plantation crop that is extensively grown in the humid tropics across Asia, Africa and the Americas for palm oil and other uses such as sauces, soap, wine, fertilizer (ashes), roofing (leaves), building material (trunk), medicines (roots), and ornamental purposes. Oil palm is attacked by numerous insect species globally, including defoliators, leaf/fruit scrapers, borers and sap feeders. The common oil palm pest management methods include synthetic insecticides, biopesticides, semiochemical lures, cultural practices, and integrated approaches.
  • 3.5K
  • 04 Jan 2023
Topic Review
Insect Pests of Brassica oleracea
The propagation and regeneration of Brassica species has been successful using seeds and different explants like petioles, cotyledons, stems and shoot tips. Shoot regeneration and rooting of Brassica species are successfully obtained from cotyledons and hypocotyl explants. The biological cycle length of Brassica species may either differ slightly or may not differ from one species to another. For instance, the seeds of Brassica oleracea take five days to germinate after sowing at 20–25 °C while the seeds of Brassica campestries take about three to five days to germinate after sowing at 20–25 °C. The most common insect pests of economic importance to Brassica oleracea in African smallholder farmers include Plutella xylostella, Helula undalis, Pieris brassicae, Brevycoryne brassicae, Trichoplusia ni and Myzus persicae. Those insect pests infest cabbages at different stages of growth, causing huge damage and resulting into huge yield losses. The African smallholder farmers use cultural and synthetic pesticides to control those insect pests and minimize infestations. The cultural practices are environmental friendly but are ineffective to control the insect pests. Due to ineffectiveness of cultural practices, African smallholder famers use broad-spectrum synthetic pesticides to effectively control the Brassica species insect pests. The improper and misuse of synthetic pesticides result into insect pests resistance towards the insecticides applied, environmental pollution and human health threats. Insect pests such as Plutella xylostella, Hellula undalis, Brevicoryne brassicae and Myzus persicae have developed resistance to a wide range of pesticides used such as cypermethrin, parathion, decamethrin, quinalphos and lamda-cyhalothrin. Therefore, that calls for search of the alternative products which can effectively be used to control those insect pests in the field.
  • 3.4K
  • 28 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Wood-Eating Insects and Wood Eaters
Dead wood is rich in sugars and can serve as an energy source when digested, but it lacks other nutrients, preventing the growth, development, and maturation of saproxylophages. Prokaryotic N fixation partially mitigates the limitations on saproxylophages by the scarcity of N, often the most limiting nutrient, what does not mitigate co-limitation by other physiologically essential nutrients. Fungal transport can shape nutrient dynamics early in wood decay, rearranging extremely scarce nutritional composition of dead wood environment during its initial stage of decomposition and assisting saproxylophage growth and development. This nutritional enrichment of dead wood creates a nutritional niche for xylophages that allows them to grow, develop, and reach maturity. Therefore, xylophagous insects (considered as “wood-eaters”) are unable to gather the necessary amounts of nutritional elements from pure dead wood to grow and mature, but instead must utilize fungal tissues.
  • 2.8K
  • 30 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Coffee Berry Borer (Hypothenemus hampei)
Coffee berry borer (CBB) is the most serious insect pest of coffee worldwide, causing more than US$500M in damages annually. Reduction in the yield and quality of coffee results from the adult female CBB boring into the coffee fruit and building galleries for reproduction, followed by larval feeding on the bean itself.
  • 2.0K
  • 23 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Methyl Benzoate as Insecticide
The methyl benzoate is an effective pesticide against a range of different agricultural, stored product, and urban insect pests. Methyl benzoate has several important modes of action, including as a contact toxicant, a fumigant, an ovicidal toxin, an oviposition deterrent, a repellent, and an attractant.
  • 1.9K
  • 31 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Concepts, Procedures and Techniques by Forensic Entomologists
Forensic entomology is a branch of forensic science that incorporates insects as a part of solving crime. Insect-based evidence recovered at a crime scene can be used to estimate the minimum postmortem interval, determine if a carcass/corpse has been relocated, and contribute to the cause and manner of death. Sampling and preservation of insect material is paramount if this evidence is presented in court.  To this end, a qualified forensic entomologist should attend the crime scene, however this is not always the case and such evidence is collected and preserved by a proxy.  After reading this paper and following a number of essential protocols, a proxy should be able to submit insect evidence that a forensic entomologist may be able to use and present a best estimate of the time since death.
  • 1.7K
  • 19 Jun 2023
Topic Review
Entomopathogenic Fungi
Numerous fungal microorganisms are pathogenic for many insect and nematode species and are able to control the natural populations of these by limiting their spread. There are more than one thousand species that infect and parasitize insects. Entomopathogenic Hypocreales are opportunistic pathogens highly adapted to infect insects and mites as a result of adaptations developed over time, such as the ability to overcome the host’s immune system defenses and the production of cuticular enzymes and degrading substances. They are globally and widely distributed in nature, ubiquitous across all environmental matrices, and can be easily grown in mass.
  • 1.7K
  • 09 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Entompathogen Wasps
Parasitoid wasps inject eggs into the host insect along with several factors that modulate the immune response, in addition these molecular structures and compounds, present at the surface of the gamete, contribute to the evasive and depressive strategies of the parasitoid by facilitating the development of eggs and larvae within the host body.
  • 1.5K
  • 09 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Biological Control of Bulb Mites
Mites of the genus Rhizoglyphus (Acari: Acaridae) are serious pests of plants belonging to the orders Liliales and Asparagales such as onions, garlic, lilies, and tulips. Their control by synthetic pesticides is becoming problematic as a result of resistance development in these mites and environmental and health issues. New pest control methods thus need to be developed. Efforts to develop biological control programs for bulb mites have taken place in a number of countries. Several biocontrol agents have been tested against Rhizoglyphus spp. under laboratory and some also under field conditions. The most promising results have been obtained with acaropathogenic/entomopathogenic fungi and predatory mites as described below. Other possible prospective control agents attacking mites are viruses, bacteria, and protista, but except for some bacteria their efficacy against bulb mites has not been investigated yet.
  • 1.5K
  • 29 Jul 2022
Topic Review
Cytochrome c oxidase in Insects
Flight dispersal represents a key aspect of the evolutionary and ecological success of insects, allowing escape from predators, mating, and colonization of new niches. The huge energy demand posed by flight activity is essentially met by oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) in flight muscle mitochondria. In insects, mitochondrial ATP supply and oxidant production are regulated by several factors, including the energy demand exerted by changes in adenylate balance. Indeed, adenylate directly regulates OXPHOS by targeting both chemiosmotic ATP production and the activities of specific mitochondrial enzymes. In several organisms, cytochrome c oxidase (COX) is regulated at transcriptional, post-translational, and allosteric levels, impacting mitochondrial energy metabolism, and redox balance.
  • 1.5K
  • 10 Jun 2021
Topic Review Video
Bee Nutritional Demands
For all bee species, the pollen quality determines the overall quality of the larval food, influences the development of individuals and shapes their populations. However, not all plants produce pollen that fully satisfies the nutritional requirements of bees. Lack of understanding of the nutritional requirements of wild bees may lead to unintended negative effects of conservation efforts. Ecological stoichiometry provides an approach to better understand the nutritional constraints on growing and developing organisms and their colonies and populations. It makes reference to elements that, if scarce in the environment, prevent the construction of biologically important organic molecules. The least understood aspect of the nutritional requirements of bees concerns stoichiometric balancing and the need for adequate ratios of nutritional elements in consumed food. This text provides theoretical foundation for the project aiming at determining the likely limitations imposed on wild bees by the lack of nutritionally balanced pollen. The following hypotheses may be tested: 1. Pollen stoichiometry vary among plant species and populations but will differ more widely among species than within different populations of the same species.2. The stoichiometry of bees will vary substantially among bee species and between sexes within a species, which suggests the existence of different nutritional demands. Therefore, it is expected that the stoichiometric mismatches experienced by bees will vary in a species-specific and sex-specific manner.3. For a given bee species, specific pollen species allow the overcoming of stoichiometric mismatches and will balance the diet. Accordingly, it is expected expect that flora diversity and, thus, pollen diversity matches the stoichiometric niches of bees. I predict that the occurrence of specific key host plant species that produce stoichiometrically desirable pollen allows bees to stoichiometrically balance their diets. The project may ask if and how floral diversity, particularly the accessibility of nutritionally desirable key species, may influence bee populations. The obtained data will allow the parameterization of a conceptual model of nutritional limitations (to be developed in the future), which will enable to predict how floral community influences wild bee populations via supply and demand of nutrients.
  • 1.3K
  • 05 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Semiochemicals and Entomopathogenic Microbials
Biological control agents and semiochemicals have become essential parts of the integrated pest management of insect pests over the last several years, as the incorporation of semiochemicals with natural enemies and entomopathogenic microbials has been gaining significance. Semiochemicals can enable the successful dispersal of entomopathogenic microbials. Using semiochemicals to disseminate microbial pathogens is still at the initial stage. For dispersal of entomopathogenic fungus semiochemicals have been successfully used in field conditions, however same can not be said about the other microbials such as  specially for bacterial and viral entomopathogens. 
  • 1.3K
  • 30 Oct 2020
Topic Review
List of Ant Genera
Ants (family Formicidae in the order Hymenoptera) are the most species-rich of all social insects, with more than 12,000 described species and many others awaiting description. Formicidae is divided into 21 subfamilies, of which 17 are extant and four subfamilies are extinct, described from fossils. In total more than 300 genera have been described. Ants have come to occupy virtually all major terrestrial habitats, with the exception of tundra and cold ever-wet forests. They display a wide range of social behaviors, foraging habits and associations with other organisms, which has generated scientific and public interest. The following is a list of worldwide ant genera organised by subfamily.
  • 1.3K
  • 09 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Lactic Acid Bacteria and Honey Bees
Honey bees play a pivotal role in the sustainability of ecosystems and biodiversity. Many factors including parasites, pathogens, pesticide residues, forage losses, and poor nutrition have been proposed to explain honey bee colony losses. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are normal inhabitants of the gastrointestinal tract of honey bees and their role has been consistently reported in the literature. 
  • 1.2K
  • 19 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Electrical Trap-and-Kill Fly Traps Using Electrified Insulated Conductors
Electrostatic insect exclusion is a physical approach to pest control in which an apparatus forming an electric field (EF) is applied to capture pests. The EF producer consisted of a negatively charged polyvinyl chloride membrane-insulated iron plate (N-PIP) and a non-insulated grounded iron plate (GIP) paralleled with the N-PIP. An EF was formed in the space between the plates. The magnitude of electric current from the fly was voltage-dependent, and detrimental effects caused by electricity release became more apparent as the applied voltage increased. Bioelectrical measurements showed that electric current caused acute damage and delayed the death of captured flies. 
  • 1.2K
  • 19 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Olfaction in Eusocial Ants
Eusocial ants (family Formicidae) engage in a broad range of social behaviors such as nursing the queen’s offspring, foraging for food, and defending their nest. Importantly, these behaviors critically depend on the exchange of information through the detection of chemical cues by a sophisticated olfactory system comprising among the largest number of odorant receptors (ORs) of any insect.
  • 1.2K
  • 05 Jul 2021
Topic Review
Opuntia (Cactaceae; Opuntioideae) Flower-Visiting Insects
Opuntia species are cacti with high ecological, economic and conservation interest in semiarid environments, particularly in Mexico. Despite the economic and cultural importance of Opuntia, there is a significant lack of knowledge about the flower-visiting insects and their taxonomic identity. Although some Opuntia species could be visited by birds such as hummingbirds, the most dominant taxonomic group of pollinators are the insects. 
  • 1.1K
  • 19 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Biological Control of Fall Armyworm
The fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda, is one of the most important invasive pests worldwide, resulting in considerable losses in host crops. FAW comprises two genetic strains, such as the “rice strain”, which prefers rice and other grass species, and the “maize strain”, which feeds upon maize and sorghum. Potential control measures are generally more applicable to the farmers who lack financial assets to buy chemical insecticides or costly pure seeds. The adverse effects of pesticides on the ecosystem and human’s health and the development of resistance to insect pests have exaggerated efforts to find an alternative strategy that is cost-effective, low-risk and target-specific. Therefore, biological control is widely considered as one of the most important options for insect pest management. 
  • 1.0K
  • 09 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Fireflies in Art
Fireflies are well-known bioluminescent beetles (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) of great cultural significance, especially in Japan. This study examined artistic representations of fireflies and depictions of how people interacted with these insects from a historical perspective, with a focus on Japanese woodprint prints from the Edo, Meiji, and Taishō periods. Visual information from the artwork was summarized, highlighting themes and connections to firefly biology and cultural entomology. The artwork highlights the complex interactions between fireflies and humans. Insect-related art can contribute to education and conservation efforts, particularly for dynamic insects such as fireflies that are facing global population declines.
  • 1.0K
  • 09 Sep 2022
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