Diversity of Anopheles species and trophic behavior of putative malaria vectors in two malaria endemic areas of northwestern Thailand

We determined the species diversity, blood‐feeding behavior, and host preference of Anopheles mosquitoes in two malaria endemic areas of Tak (Mae Sot District) and Mae Hong Son (Sop Moei District) Provinces, located along the Thai border with Myanmar, during a consecutive two‐year period. Anopheline mosquitoes were collected using indoor and outdoor human‐landing captures and outdoor cow‐baited collections. Mosquitoes were initially identified using morphological characters, followed by the appropriate multiplex AS‐PCR assay for the identification of sibling species within Anopheles (Cellia) complexes and groups present. Real‐time PCR was performed for parasite‐specific detection in mosquitoes (Plasmodium spp. and Wuchereria bancrofti). A total of 7,129 Anopheles females were captured, 3,939 from Mae Sot and 3,190 from Sop Moei, with 58.6% and 37% of all anophelines identified as An. minimus, respectively. All three malaria vector complexes were detected in both areas. One species within the Minimus Complex (An. minimus) was present along with two related species in the Funestus Group, (An. aconitus, An. varuna), two species within the Dirus Complex (An. dirus, An. baimaii), and four species within the Maculatus Group (An. maculatus, An. sawadwongporni, An. pseudowillmori, and An. dravidicus). The trophic behavior of An. minimus, An. dirus, An. baimaii, An. maculatus, and An. sawadwongporni are described herein. The highest An. minimus densities were detected from February through April of both years. One specimen of An. minimus from Mae Sot was found positive for Plasmodium vivax.     

The goatfish Pseudupeneus maculatus and its follower fishes at an oceanic island in the tropical west Atlantic

The influence of a substratum-disturbing forager, the spotted goatfish Pseudupeneus maculatus on the assemblage of its escorting, opportunistic-feeding fishes was examined at Fernando de Noronha Archipelago (tropical west Atlantic). Followers attracted to spotted goatfish foraging singly differed from followers of spotted goatfish foraging in groups in several characteristics. The larger the nuclear fish group, the greater the species richness and number of individuals of followers. Moreover, groups of foraging spotted goatfish attracted herbivores, not recorded for spotted goatfish foraging singly. The size of follower individuals increased with the size and the number of foraging spotted goatfish. The zoobenthivorous habits of the spotted goatfish and its ability to disturb a variety of soft substrata render it an important nuclear fish for several follower species of the reef fish assemblage at Fernando de Noronha.     

CONSÉQUENCE DE LA VARIATION DES EFFECTIFS DES FEMELLES DE DINARMUS VAGABUNDUS,SUR LE PARASITISME DE L'UN DE LEURS HÔTES CALLOSOBRUCHUS MACULATUS

Lorsque 2 femelles ou 3 femelles de l'ectoparasite D. vagabundus parasitent conjointement un même lot d'hôtes l'intensité du grégarisme larvaire s'accroît par rapport à celui observé en présence d'une seule femelle pondeuse. Cela se traduit par une augmentation significative du nombre moyen de descendants des 2 sexes mais la production moyenne en fils est toujours très inférieure à celle des filles. Cependant, lorsque la densité de femelles pondeuses passe de 1 à 3, le rapport des sexes mâles/femelles des descendants évolue vers l'unité traduisant une augmentation plus rapide de l'effectif des fils que des filles.     

Contagious egg-distribution on host pods and avoidance of pods received eggs in a wild bruchidKytorhinus sharpianus

The present study investigated the way a wild bruchid, Kytorhinus sharpianus, distributes its eggs on host pods. First, we counted the number of eggs per pod on the host plant (Sophola flavescens) in the field. The egg-distributions by the overwintered-generation adults in July and by the second-generation adults in mid October did not deviate from Poisson distribution because of small numbers of eggs laid. However, the egg-distribution in late August when many first-generation adults emerged was significantly contagious. The deposition of eggs was determined for three types of pods: (A) clean pods, (B) pods with eggs, and (C) those which eggs had been laid on but were removed from later. The numbers of eggs laid newly on three types of pods were significantly different; A>C>B, suggesting that an oviposition marker pheromone (O.M.P.) caused females to avoid pods on which eggs were deposited. Egg-shells reinforced that response. Monte Carlo simulations for the egg-distribution on pods predicted that even if females avoid pods with heavy egg-load through O.M.P., the egg-distribution becomes contagious when there is a large heterogeneity in quality of the pods.     

Temporal/spatial structure and the dynamical property of laboratory host-parasitoid systems

The effects of spatial structure in terms of local capacity, or the maximum number of larvae surviving competition at resource patches, and temporal structure in terms of the period vulnerable to parasitoid attack in host populations on the persistence of host-parasitoid systems were quantitatively evaluated by laboratory experiments and well-parameterized model analyses. One of two bruchid beetles,Callosobruchus maculatus andC. phaseoli, were used as a host with Heterospilus prosopidis used as the parasitoid.C. maculatus, in which few larvae survive competition to become adults in each bean, andC. phaseoli, in which many larvae become adults in each bean, along with two kinds of beans, the mung and the azuki, were combined to construct four (2×2) resource-herbivorous host-parasitoid systems that differed in local capacity and vulnerable period. The mung-C. maculatus system with the parasitoid was the most persistent, i.e., took the longest time for extinction of either the host or parasitoid to occur. Since this resource-herbivorous host combination exhibited the lowest local capacity and the shortest vulnerable period, these two conditions possibly promoted the persistence of the system. A model incorporating the host population structure supported the observed persistence. Furthermore, the possible contribution of the timing of density-dependent competition of the host on the host-parasitoid persistence is predicted.     

Resistance to the cowpea weevil (Callosobruchus maculatus) larva in pods of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata)

Thirty cowpea, Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walpers, cultivars were evaluated as intact pods to determine if any possessed resistance to the cowpea weevil, Callosobruchus maculatus (Fabr.). Pod resistance was measured as pre-establishment larval mortality (PreM); those larvae dying after egg hatch but before penetrating into the seeds, and as post-establishment within-seed mortality (PostM); those larvae dying after penetrating into the seeds. Among the 30 varieties examined, PreM ranged from 57.9% to 99.4% and PostM ranged from 6.7% to 82.6%. Ten varieties exhibited total intact pod mortality (mortality from egg hatch to adult emergence from the seed) greater than 95%.Physical measurements were made of several pod and seed characteristics to ascertain whether the observed pod resistance was due to seed factors, pod-wall factors, or to interactions between the pod and seeds. Although resistance to breakage (from handling plus pod dehiscence) is a necessary characteristic for overall pod protection against C. maculatus; other factors are also important. Among the other pod and seed characteristics measured to identify major resistance factors, seed coat thickness was the one most highly correlated with pod resistance. Our results suggest that interactions between pod-wall and seed coat characteristics play a large role in pod resistance of cowpeas to C. maculatus.     

Contest and scramble competitions in two bruchid species,Callosobruchus analis andC. phaseoli (Coleoptera: Bruchidae)

Larval competition between contest and scramble strategists was investigated using the two bruchid species, C. analis (contest species) and C. phaseoli (scramble species) with two different sized mung beans (large and small beans). In both sized beans, the adult emergences of each species dependen on total density of the initial larval densities of the two species and the ratio of the two densities. The emergence of one species was suppressed by the existence of the other species when the initial larval density per bean of the former species was less than that of the latter one. There were many cases in which both C. analis and C. phaseoli emerged from one bean in large beans, but such cases were quite rare in small beans. C. analis performed interference behavior only at late larval stages, whereas C. phaseoli was superior in exploitative competition all through their larval stages. These, combined with the niche segregation inside a bean, are throught to be the major factors of observed density- and frequency-dependent competition results. Based on the above experimental results, long-term competition results between the contest and scramble species were predicted.     

The effects of competition on fitness depend on the sex of both competitors

In intraspecific competition, the sex of competing individuals is likely to be important in determining the outcome of competitive interactions and the way exposure to conspecifics during development influences adult fitness traits. Previous studies have explored differences between males and females in their response to intraspecific competition. However, few have tested how the sex of the competitors, or any interactions between focal and competitor sex, influences the nature and intensity of competition. We set up larval seed beetles Callosobruchus maculatus to develop either alone or in the presence of a male or female competitor and measured a suite of traits: development time, emergence weight; male ejaculate mass, copulation duration, and lifespan; and female lifetime fecundity, offspring egg–adult survival, and lifespan. We found effects of competition and competitor sex on the development time and emergence weight of both males and females, and also of an interaction between focal and competitor sex: Females emerged lighter when competing with another female, while males did not. There was little effect of larval competition on male and female adult fitness traits, with the exception of the effect of a female competitor on a focal female's offspring survival rate. Our results highlight the importance of directly measuring the effects of competition on fitness traits, rather than distant proxies for fitness, and suggest that competition with the sex with the greater resource requirements (here females) might play a role in driving trait evolution. We also found that male–male competition during development resulted in shorter copulation times than male–female competition, a result that remained when controlling for the weight of competitors. Although it is difficult to definitively tease apart the effects of social environment and access to resources, this result suggests that something about the sex of competitors other than their size is driving this pattern.     

Expression of the Arcelin 1 gene from Phaseolus vulgaris L. in cowpea seeds (Vigna unguiculata L.) confers bruchid resistance

Persistent decrease in the productivity of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) has been partly due to attack by bruchids including Zabrotes subfasciatus and Callosobruchus maculatus. Resistance to these insects in Phaseolus vulgaris L. has been shown to be associated with arcelins, a family of seed proteins encoded by a multigenic family of lectins on the APA locus. In this work, we report the construction of an expression vector containing Arc1 gene isolated from P. vulgaris and introduced into cowpea as a strategy to confer resistance to insect attack. Following transformation and selection, feeding experiments in which C. maculatus and Z. subfasciatus were fed with transgenic (L3 and L5) and non-transgenic (control) grains showed that introduced gene protected the transgenic line. Significant differences (p < .05 and p < .01) were found in the number of eggs laid, the number of emerging insects and the loss of grain mass in L3, compared with control, for both insects. Similar observations were made in L5 with the exception of the number of laid eggs. The strategy here described may form the basis for the development of a cowpea variety tolerant to bruchids in a crop cultivated by farmers throughout Latin America and Africa.     

Importance of plant extract formulations in managing different pests attacking beans in new reclaimed area and under storage conditions

Field evaluation of some botanical formulations like Neem Azal T/S, Neem Azal T/S + TS/fort and petroleum ether extract of Curcuma longa for the management of different pests attacking broad bean crop in a new reclaimed area at El- Noubaria and under storage conditions has been carried out. All tested formulations could be considered efficient in controlling Aphis craccivora infesting broad bean under field conditions. As to the leafminer, the number of living Liriomyza trifolii larvae decreased significantly compared to non-treated control. The number of living larvae continued to decrease until seven days post-treatment after which an increase in their number was noticed after 14 days post-treatment. Neem Azal T/S + additive (TS/fort) ranked first in comparison to other treatments for the control of aphids and leafminers attacking broad bean in the field either by killing, deterrent or antifeedant effect. The yield of treated crop increased significantly in comparison to the control. Another spray was used before harvesting the crop with the same formulations for protection of the stored crop. Neem Azal T/S with adjuvant (TS/fort) protected broad bean seeds from weevil attack for one year. Petroleum ether extract of C. longa could protect the stored crops for two months only. The percentage weight loss in one kg stored seeds treated in the field with Neem formulation + adjuvant was very small compared with those seeds treated with petroleum ether extract of C. longa and control.