Showing posts with label insects. Show all posts
Showing posts with label insects. Show all posts

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Bee populations collapsing worldwide

"Four previously abundant species of bumblebee are close to disappearing in the United States" 
~ Reuters news story about the research article "Patterns of widespread decline in North American bumble bees"











Colony Collapse Disorder + Bee pathology
Bees + Beekeeping
Also of interest...

    Thursday, September 2, 2010

    Bedbugs: infestations on the rise

















    You may have heard that blood-sucking bedbugs are spreading throughout the country and world, years after they were thought to have been largely eradicated in the United States.

    Bedbugs are insects in the Cimicidae family.
    Unfortunately, the 'common bedbug' Cimex lectularius now shows resistance to multiple types of pesticides.  Luckily, however, they have not been found to act as human disease vectors.

    Online:

    * Bed Bugs in Wisconsin [2008 UW Extension publication]

    Insect resistance management: biology, economics, and prediction

    * Encyclopedia of insects

    * How to control bed bugs [1976 USDA publication]

    * Results of experiments with miscellaneous substances against bedbugs, cockroaches, clothes moths, and carpet beetles [1918 USDA publication]

    * Bedbug [1916 USDA publication]

    * Treatise on the Cimex lectularius; or, bed bug [1793]

    Journals:
     



    In the libraries:

    * Global pesticide resistance in arthropods

    * Dark banquet: blood and the curious lives of blood-feeding creatures

    * Battling resistance to antibiotics and pesticides: an economic approach

    * Colour atlas of medical entomology

    * Evolution explosion: how humans cause rapid evolutionary change

    * Medical insects and arachnids

    * Biochemical sites of insecticide action and resistance

    * Plague of the Philistines, and other medical-historical essays

    * Insecticide resistance: from mechanisms to management

    * Monograph of Cimicidae (Hemiptera, Heteroptera)

    * Morphology and functional anatomy of the male and female reproductive systems of Cimex lectularius Linn.


    * Get rid of bedbugs for a clean house [1967 USDA publication]

    * Bed bugs: how to control them [1953 USDA publication]

    * Bedbug: its habits and life history and methods of control [1944 US Public Health Office publication]

    [Image: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic. louento.pix - http://www.flickr.com/photos/lou_bugs_pix/324776034/ ]

    Friday, July 16, 2010

    Insects and Biofuels

    Researchers are studying the interactions of insects, plants, fungi & microbes for clues to maximizing the production and efficiency of biofuels...

    • Special issue of Insect Science (June 2010): "Exploring and integrating cellulolytic systems of insects to advance biofuel technology"


    More resources:

    Tuesday, May 25, 2010

    Updated: Crop Protection Compendium













    UW-Madison Libraries subscribe to the Crop Protection Compendium database from CABI, which is now available on their new interface in beta.

    This online multi-media resource can be searched by keyword, or browsed by animals (arachnids, molluscs, nematodes, birds, mammals), bacteria, fungi, oomycetes, plants, protozoa, unknown aetiology, and viruses.  It includes:

    * 2,800+ detailed data sheets on crops, crop pests, diseases, weeds, invasive plants, natural enemies, pesticides and biopesticides

    * Information on an additional 27,000 species, including distribution maps

    * 8,000+ pictures to allow for easy identification and teaching

    * 200,000 article records from the CAB Abstracts database (updated weekly), including 6,500 full-text journal and conference articles

    * 9,000+ term interactive glossary

    Friday, April 30, 2010

    New soybean pest: Trochanter mealybug

    Infestations of the trochanter mealybug (Pseudococcus sorghiellus, in the Order Hemiptera, Suborder Homoptera, Superfamily Coccoidea and Family Pseudococcidae), an unarmored scale insect, were first identified in Midwestern soybean crops in 2008.  They can be found on the roots of soybeans that appear to be suffering from potassium deficiency (yellowing of the leaves).

    See also...

    * USDA NIFA grant - "Critical Issues: Emerging and New Plant and Animal Pests and Diseases"

    * Wisconsin Pest Bulletin (v.54 n.1, 4/23/2010)

    Related books & documents at UW-Madison:

    * A systematic catalogue of the mealybugs of the world (Insecta, Homoptera, Coccoidea, Pseudococcidae and Putoidae) : with data on geographical distribution, host plants, biology, and economic importance

    * Systematic analysis of the mealybugs in the Pseudococcus maritimus complex (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae)

    * Handbook of soybean insect pests

    * Pest management in soybean

    * Soybean pest management in Wisconsin

    * Pest management in Wisconsin field crops : a guide to managing weeds, insects, and diseases in corn, soybeans, forages, and small grains

    * Some aspects of the biology and ecology of Orius insidiosus (Say) (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) and a survey of arthropods on soybeans in south central Wisconsin

    * Sulfhydryl-dependent inducible phytoalexins in juvenile soybeans predict insect resistance in fully developed plants

    * Low-cost technology for controlling soybean insect pests in Indonesia

    * Appraisal of insect-resistant soybeans, in Economic, environmental, and social benefits of resistance in field crops

    * Two-spotted spider mite management in soybean and corn

    * A nucleopolyhedrovirus for control of velvetbean caterpillar in Brazilian soybeans, in Biological control : a global perspective : case studies from around the world

    * Biology and management of the soybean cyst nematode

    * Soybean resistance to stem-mining agromyzid beanflies (Diptera: Agromyzidae) 

    * American Soybean Association diagnostic guide

    * Sampling methods in soybean entomology

    Related research articles:

    * Biswas, J., Ghosh, A.B.. (2000). Biology of the mealybug, Planococcus minor (Maskell) on various host plants. Environment and Ecology, 18(4): 929-932.

    * Thippaiah, M.; Kumar, N.G. (1999). Dysmicoccus sp. (Pseudococcidae: Homoptera): a pest of soybean in Karnataka. Insect Environment, 5(2): 70.

    * Jadhav, R.G.; Madane, N.P.; Kathamale, D.K. (1996). Record of soybean as a new host in India for citrus mealybug. Insect Environment, 2(3): 90.

    * Kadiata, B.D.; Mulongoy, K.; Ntonifor, N.N. (1992). A severe mealybug infestation on some tree legumes. Nitrogen fixing tree research reports, 10: 70-72.

    * Srivastava, O.S. (1972). Soybean, a new host record of mealy bug, Nipaecoccus vastator (Mask.) (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) in India. Indian Journal of Entomology, 34(3): 351-352.

    Wednesday, February 10, 2010

    Entomology journals ranked by impact



    Top-ranking entomology journals

    The ISI Journal Citation Reports (JCR) "impact factor" is calculated by dividing the number of citations to articles published in a journal over a certain period by the total number of articles published in that journal during the same period.

    Only journals included in the "entomology" category of Journal Citation Reports were ranked. UW-Madison library subscriptions are included (in parentheses). For articles not available online, UW faculty, staff and students can request a PDF via Library Express.

    #1
    2008:
    Annual Review of Entomology (1956+ online, 1956-2007 in print)
    2004-2008: Annual Review of Entomology

    1981-2008: Annual Review of Entomology

    #2
    2008:
    Advances in Insect Physiology (1963+ in print)
    2004-2008: Advances in Insect Physiology
    1981-2008: Advances in Insect Physiology


    #3
    2008:
    Insect Molecular Biology (1997+ online, 1992-2005 in print)
    2004-2008: Insect Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
    1981-2008: Insect Biochemistry [became "Insect Biochemistry & Molecular Biology"]

    #4
    2008:
    Insect Biochemistry & Molecular Biology (1971+ online, 1971-2005 in print)
    2004-2008: Insect Molecular Biology
    1981-2008:
    Pesticides Monitoring Journal (1967-1981 in print)

    #5
    2008:
    Journal of Insect Physiology (1995+ online, 1957-2001 in print)
    2004-2008: Journal of Insect Physiology
    1981-2008: Ecological Entomology


    #6
    2008:
    Pest Management Science (1996+ online, 1970-2003 in print)
    2004-2008:
    Medical & Veterinary Entomology (1997+ online, 1989-2005 in print)
    1981-2008: Journal of Insect Physiology


    #7
    2008:
    Journal of Medical Entomology (2000+ online, 1964+ in print)
    2004-2008:
    Systematic Entomology (1997+ online, 1976-2005 in print)
    1981-2008: Insect Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

    #8
    2008:
    Biocontrol (1956-2000 in print)
    2004-2008: Journal of Medical Entomology

    1981-2008: Pesticide Biochemistry & Physiology (1971+ online, 1971-2002 in print)

    #9
    2008:
    Ecological Entomology (1997+ online, 1976-2005 in print)
    2004-2008: Ecological Entomology
    1981-2008: Insect Molecular Biology

    #10
    2008:
    Journal of Insect Conservation (1999-2004 in print)
    2004-2008:
    Arthropod Structure & Development (1995+ online, 1971-1997 in print)
    1981-2008:
    Physiological Entomology (1997+ online, 1976-2002 in print)

    ------------------------------------------

    [Source: Thomson Reuters, ScienceWatch.com]

    Thursday, July 2, 2009

    Ant symbiosis and Biofuels

    [Photo: B W Hoffman]

    UW-Madison Communications recently covered a project of the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center to sequence the genome of ants that break down and digest cellulose, along with their associated fungi and bacteria ("Sequencing effort to chart ants and their ecosystem").

    Recent publications by this project's researchers include:

    Adams, A.S., Currie, C.R., Cardozea, Y.J., Klepzig, K.D., & Raffa, K. 2009. Effects of symbiotic bacteria and tree chemistry on the growth and reproduction of bark beetle fungal symbionts. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 39(6): 1133–1147.

    Caldera, E.J., Poulsen, M., Suen, G., & Currie, C.R. 2009. Insect symbioses: a case study of past, present, and future fungus-growing ant research. Environmental Entomology 38: 78-92.

    Ivens, A.B.F.; Nash, D.R.; Poulsen, M.; Boomsma, J.J. 2009. Caste-specific symbiont policing by workers of Acromyrmex fungus-growing ants. Behavioral Ecology 20:2, 378-384.

    Little, A.E.F & Currie, C.R. 2008. Black yeast symbionts compromise the efficiency of antibiotic defenses in fungus-growing ants. Ecology 89: 1216-1222.

    Oh, D.C, Scott, J.J., Currie, C.R., & Clardy, J. 2009. Mycangimycin: a polyene peroxide from a symbiotic Streptomyces sp. Organic Letters 11: 633-636.

    Oh, D.C., Poulsen, M., Currie, C.R., & Clardy, J. 2009. Dentigerumycin: the bacterially produced molecular mediator of a fungus-growing ant symbiosis. Nature Chemical Biology 5: 391-393.

    Oh, D.C., Scott, J.J., Poulsen, M.Z., Currie, C.R., & Clardy, J. 2008. Discovery of new secondary metabolites mediating insect-microorganism symbioses. Planta Medica 74(9): 906.

    Poulsen, M., Fernandez-Marin, H., Wcislo, W.T., Currie, C.R., & Boomsma, J.J. (in press). Ephemeral windows of opportunity maintain horizontal transmission of fungal symbionts in leaf-cutting ants. Evolution.

    Poulsen, M. & Currie, C.R. 2009. On ants, plants and fungi. New Phytologist 182(4): 785-788.

    Scott, J.J., Oh, D.C., Yuceer, M.C., Klepzig, K.D., Clardy, J., et al. 2008. Bacterial protection of beetle-fungus mutualism. Science 322: 63.

    Monday, May 18, 2009

    Gypsy moths in Wisconsin



    The gypsy moth caterpillar (Lymantria dispar, formerly Porthetria dispar) is known for defoliating over 200 species of trees, as well as plants.

    In Wisconsin, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) manages the gypsy moth population with quarantines and insecticides, including aerial spraying of the bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki (Btk).

    Books, Dissertations, & Government documents (selected):

    Gypsy moth websites:


    [Image: Wisconsin DNR]

    Friday, May 1, 2009

    Invasive species



    Invasive plant and insect species have ecological, economic and health impacts. With changes in human geography and climate, management of biological invasions is of increasing concern.

    Books:
    Journals:

    Dissertations & Theses:

    Government Documents & Technical Reports:

    Video:

    See also:

    Saturday, April 25, 2009

    Plants & insects in the National Archives


    The United States National Archives contains a wealth of information in multiple formats. Search the Archival Research Catalog for topics of interest, or search by departments such as:

    • Records of the U.S. Food Administration, 1917 - 1920

    • Records of the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine, 1863 - 1956

    • Records of the Office of the Secretary of Agriculture, 1839 - 1981

    • Records of the Extension Service, 1888 - 1995

    • Records of International Conferences, Commissions, and Expositions, 1825 - 1972

    • Records of the Office of Government Reports, 1932 - 1947

    • Records of the Bureau of Land Management, 1685 - 2006

    • Records of the Bureau of Plant Industry, Soils, and Agricultural Engineering, 1879 - 1972

    • Records of the U.S. Geological Survey, 1839 - 2002

    • Records of the Work Projects Administration, 1922 - 1944

    • Records of the National Park Service, 1785 - 2005

    • Records of the Forest Service, 1870 - 2000

    • Records of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, 1875 - 1977

    • Records of the Bureau of Reclamation, 1889 - 2008

    • Records of the National Agricultural Statistics Service, 1909 - 1992

    • Records of the Environmental Protection Agency, 1944 - 2000

    • General Records of the Department of Energy, 1915 - 2003

    • Audiovisual Collection, 1957 - 2006

    • Records of U.S. Foreign Assistance Agencies, 1942 - 1961

    • Records of the Cooperative State Research Service, 1888 - 1989

    • Records of the Office of Education, 1870 - 1979

    • Records of the Office of the Secretary of the Interior, 1826 - 1981

    • Records of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, 1876 - 1959

    • Records of the Office of War Information, 1926 - 1951

    • Records of the Agency for International Development, 1948 - 2003
    Sample record:

    "Photographs Relating to Entomological Research, compiled ca. 1898 - ca. 1942"
    • Series from Record Group 7: Records of the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine, 1863-1956

    • Contact: Still Picture Records Section, Special Media Archives Services Division (NWCS-S), National Archives at College Park, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD, 20740-6001. PHONE: 301-837-3530; FAX: 301-837-3621; EMAIL: stillpixorder@nara.gov

    • Subjects Represented in the Archival Material:

    • Agricultural experiment stations
      Agricultural machinery
      Agricultural research
      Crops
      Flowers
      Insects
      Clarksville (Montgomery county, Tennessee)
      Columbus (Franklin county, Ohio)
      Farmville (Chatham county, North Carolina)
      Madison (Dane county, Wisconsin)
      Phoenix (Maricopa county, Arizona)
      Richmond (Virginia)
      Ventura (Ventura county, California)
      Whittier (Los Angeles county, California)

    • Contributors to Authorship and/or Production of the Archival Materials:
      Department of Agriculture. Federal Horticultural Board. (08/21/1912 - 07/01/1928), Photographer

    • Scope & content: This series consists of images relating to entomological research conducted on plants and insects from 1898 to 1942. These images were collected primarily from offices within the Division of Entomology and later the Bureau of Entomology and Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine. The photographs show experimental farm fields and orchards, agricultural research facilities, pests, insect damage to various crops, including mushrooms and potatoes; and insect eradication efforts. There are also images of agency research activities, including field work and various types of machinery and equipment used in Bureau facilities in Clarksville, Tennessee; Farmville, North Carolina; Columbus, Ohio; Madison, Wisconsin; Phoenix, Arizona; Richmond, Virginia; Hogen, Utah; Whittier, California; and Ventura, California. In addition, there are a few of the photographs obtained from the Federal Horticultural Board that show flower bulbs, insect pests, insect damage to flowers, and pest eradication efforts.

    Wednesday, April 15, 2009

    Open access journals via Wiley-Blackwell



    Wiley-Blackwell offers various
    open access options, including "OnlineOpen" (author or funding agency pays for individual articles to be publicly-accessible); policies regarding the NIH, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and Wellcome Trust mandates; and "Open Access Backfiles" (society or funding agency pays for digitization of past issues). Journal backfiles available for free to the public include:

    Wednesday, March 4, 2009

    Plant + insect movie archive



    The Internet Archive is a non-profit organization that preserves public access to websites, out-of-copyright book texts, audio (including live music), and video in digital format.
    Over 158,000 movies can be watched online, or downloaded as files, including:
    • Andy Leigh: Terrestrial Plant Ecophysiology (2008) - "Biologist Andrea Leigh speaks to Shannon Jones about her research into how leaves deal with heat." University of Technology, Sydney, Australia.

    • Gardening (1940) - "Follows a boy and a girl through a garden-raising project from the selection of seeds to the harvesting of the crops. Includes radishes, carrots, tomatoes and potatoes. Emphasizes aspects of soils, growth, role of the sun, insect pests and the various parts of plants used for food--leaves, stems, buds and roots."

    • Goodbye, Mr. Roach (ca.1959) - "Detailed film about cockroaches, their habits and methods of extermination, with a harrowing sequence of roach nymphs hatching." Clemson College Extension Service.

    • Goodbye, Mrs. Ant (1959) - "The life cycle and habits of the ant, and how to control and exterminate them with insecticides. Begins with a wonderful sequence in which we hear ants screaming "We're hungry! We're hungry!"" University of Georgia, Agricultural Extension Service.

    • Hemp for Victory (1942) - "U.S. government propaganda film made during WWII touting the virtues of hemp. The film was aimed at farmers at a time when the miltary was facing a shortage of hemp, it shows how hemp is grown and processed into rope and other products."

    • The Plow that Broke the Plains (1936) - "Classic drama which details the Great Plains during the Depression. With Cinematography by Leo Hurwitz, Ralph Steiner, Paul Ivano and Paul Strand. Selected for the 1999 National Film Registry of "artistically, culturally, and socially significant" films."

    • The Southerner (1945) - "Jean Renoir's classic tale of a cotton picker (Zachary Scott) who moves his wife (Betty Field) and children to a run down farm in hopes that they can grow their own cotton and make for a better future."

    • Weed Ecology: Competition (2008) - "[Powerpoint] lecture about crop/weed competition for resources." Andrew Kniss, University of Wyoming.

    • Who Shall Reap? (1969) - "Insects or humans? Weeds, diseases, and other pestilence that confound farmers and threaten the worlds food supply."

    • Zaagkii Wings & Seeds Project: Northern Michigan teens and KBIC tribal youth protecting pollinators (2008) - "Northern Michigan teens are on a mission to protect pollinators by helping butterflies and restoring native plants to areas of the Upper Peninsula."

    Thursday, February 5, 2009

    Crop-eating caterpillars cause state of emergency


    Achaea catocaloides rena has been identified as the insect destroying coffee, cocoa, banana and plantain farms, and contaminating water sources, across Liberia and Guinea in Africa.

    According to CABI, "More than 20,000 people have so far had to evacuate their homes."

    A. catocaloides rena is a member of the Noctuidae or "Owlet" moth family in the order Lepidoptera.

    See also:
    [Image of A. janata caterpillar (not A. catocaloides) by Djovani. Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic. http://www.flickr.com/photos/14126791@N03/1678406276]
    [Copyrighted image of A. catocaloides rena moth used by permission of the Royal Museum for Central Africa, Belgium. http://www.metafro.be/lepidoptera/butterflies/RMCA-2171/taxon]

    Friday, January 30, 2009

    Locust swarms and serotonin



    Original article:
    Anstey, M.L., Rogers, S.M., Ott, S.R., Burrows, M., & Simpson, S.J. (30 January 2009). Serotonin mediates behavioral gregarization underlying swarm formation in desert locusts. Science 323 (5914): 627-630. [DOI: 10.1126/science.1165939]
    • Includes links to a longer commentary (Perspectives) and shorter commentary (ScienceNow), an author interview podcast and podcast transcript
    You may also be interested in:
    [Photo by niv. License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic. http://www.flickr.com/photos/antichrist/34263361]

    Videos on Diseases with Insect Vectors



    "
    Kill or Cure" is a series of 25-minute films on diseases faced by people living in developing nations, some of which have insect vectors. Subjects include:
    • Malaria (mosquito)
    • River blindness (black fly)
    • Kala Anzar / Visceral Lieshmaniasis (sand fly)
    • Chagas (kissing bug)
    • Dengue fever (mosquito)
    • Encephalitis (mosquito)
    • Trachoma (flies)
    Rockhopper.tv distributes these documentaries, and provides free streaming online access.

    [Photo by James Jordan. License: Creative Commons
    Attribution-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesjordan/2612506038]

    Wednesday, January 14, 2009

    Science teachers: Entomology training program

    USDA/Agricultural Research Service FUTURE SCIENTISTS Project

    This nationally recognized professional development opportunity for science teachers (grades 7-12) is offering four, 2-day summer workshops in June 2009. The focus is on insect life cycles, environmental science and ecology.

    Goals:

    1. To infuse excitement about cutting edge scientific research into the classroom

    2. To increase use of hands-on, inquiry-based science activities

    3. To make USDA/ARS labs accessible as an educational resource

    Dates:

    • Parlier, CA: June 18-19, 2009
    • Riverside, CA: June 15-16, 2009
    • Tombstone, AZ: June 9-10, 2009
    • Tucson, AZ: June 11-12, 2009

    Participating teachers:

    1. Should work in schools within commuting distance of the USDA/ARS lab site

    2. Are paid a stipend of $300

    3. Are provided free insects during the school year for student research

    1. During the year, select 4 students to return with them to the USDA/ARS lab in May 2010 to present the school’s research findings at a Student Research Presentation Day

    Download more information:
    Teacher info letter: http://www.science.tamu.edu/files/doc/letterforminiinstitute2009.doc

    Tombstone Application
    Tucson Application
    Riverside Application

    Parlier Application

    This is a collaborative project between:
    • USDA/Hispanic Serving Institutions National Program (HSNINP)
    • Center for Mathematics & Science Education (CMSE) within the College of Science at Texas A&M University
    • USDA/ARS labs nationwide