入侵害虫扶桑绵粉蚧在中国的风险分析

2008年12月16日调查发现,扶桑绵粉蚧Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley在广州市的扶桑(Hibiscus rosa-sinensis)树上多点发生。采用GARP生态位模型分析预测该虫在中国的潜在地理分布,并参照国际上有害生物危险性分析方法,对扶桑绵粉蚧在中国的危险性作出综合评价。结果表明:中国海南、广东、广西、福建、台湾、浙江、江西、湖南、贵州、云南、重庆、湖北、安徽、上海、江苏、山东、河南等17省区的大部分区域,新疆、四川、甘肃、宁夏、陕西、山西、河北、北京、天津、辽宁、内蒙古等11省区的部分地区,都是该虫的适生区。危险性综合评价值为0.886,在中国的危害风险性很大。     

新入侵种刺桐姬小蜂在中国的危险性评估

采用GARP生态位模型预测分析了刺桐姬小蜂Quadrastichus erythrinaeKim在中国的潜在地理分布,并参照国际上有害生物危险性定量分析方法,对刺桐姬小蜂在中国的危险性作出综合评价。结果表明:中国东南部大部分地区都是该虫的适生区。在福建、广东、海南地区风险值为2.0585,存在高度危险性;在其他东南部省区存在中度危险性。据此提出了针对性的风险管理措施。     

新入侵种桉树枝瘿姬小蜂的危险性评估

采用GARP生态位模型预测分析桉树枝瘿姬小蜂Leptocybeinvasa Fisher&La Salle在中国的潜在地理分布,并参照国际上有害生物危险性定量分析方法,对桉树枝瘿姬小蜂在中国的危险性作出综合评价。结果表明:中国东南部大部分地区都是该虫的适生区,该虫在我国潜在分布区风险评估R值为2.14,存在高度危险性。据此提出针对性的风险管理措施。     

Paratransgenesis as a potential tool for pest control: review of applied arthropod symbiosis

Research funds for addressing practical plant pest or disease problems are justified by the size of the threat and the financial burden it imposes. When new technology is developed for pest or disease control, regulatory costs to pay for risk assessments make sense when projected income from a new product can be charged to expected income from a future market. When a pest or disease problem affects a minor crop, the research to address regulatory issues does not have such a clear‐cut funding origin. Ironically, a very selective biopesticide designed to address a local pest or disease problem is the ideal form of sustainable pest management, but has the smallest market of any pest control strategy and therefore the smallest amount of financial support. In this sphere of modest financial resources, regulatory needs can force research away from solving the problem at hand to address assessment issues that add considerable cost. When genetic modification is a part of the proposed new strategy, an added burden is placed on the developers. This burden can defy logic and can also come largely from peers, not the public.     

Host-associated differentiation of target pests should be assessed before using gene drive as a pest control tool − an opinion

Advances in gene editing have made feasible the potential use of gene drive for pest control. Ecological risk assessments will certainly be required before this technology can be released into open fields. In this article, I argue for the importance to include host-associated differentiation (HAD) as part of ecological risk assessment models due to its potential to modulate gene drive spread and risk. Depending on the context, HAD may hamper or facilitate pest control efforts using gene drives. Overlooking HAD may impair pest suppression goals and inflate estimations of effective population sizes, whereas its inclusion within gene drive deployment strategies, as a form of ecological containment, may facilitate gene drive implementation under specific scenarios. Because HAD varies geographically and among closely related species, it will need to be assessed on a case-by-case basis. Failure to incorporate HAD within ecological risk assessment models may undermine pest control goals and diminish the accuracy of estimated ecological risks associated with gene drive releases.     

抢救成功1例速可眠中毒致重度昏迷呼吸停止54小时病人的体会

我们抢救成活１例因服１００片速可眠致重度昏迷、呼吸停止５４小时的女青年,体会如下：①必须迅速彻底洗胃。②自主呼吸停止时,应立即气管插管。③要适当应用中枢兴奋剂,有利于争取时间进行综合治疗。④要适当应用脱水剂并用利尿剂,以控制脑水肿。⑤必须严格执行昏迷护理常规,维持水电解质平衡,预防合并症。     

Short pulse of 1080 improves the survival of brown kiwi chicks in an area subjected to long-term stoat trapping

Many mainland populations of kiwi are declining because stoats (Mustela erminea) kill most of their chicks. Stoats are often trapped during conservation programmes, but the long-term effectiveness of trapping has not been measured. During continuous trapping of mammalian predators in the 9800?ha Whangarei Kiwi Sanctuary, the survival of brown kiwi (Apteryx mantelli) chicks declined over time. Following the use of sodium fluoroacetate (1080) to kill rats (Rattus spp.) and possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) and likely secondary poisoning of stoats, chick survival at Riponui increased from 5% to 56%, and the 62% chick survival at Rarewarewa was better than the 20% recorded in a trapped-only area nearby. We suggest that untrappable stoats accumulate in areas subjected to continuous predator trapping. Conservation managers should build into their long-term pest control programmes a periodic pulse of an alternative tool to kill pests that, for whatever reason, actively avoid the primary control tool.     

Essential oil formulations useful as a new tool for insect pest control

This study investigated the effects of some essential oils onLimantria dispar (Lepidoptera: Lymantridae, gypsy moth) larvae, one of the most serious pests of cork oak forests. The essential oils were first formulated as oil in water (o/w) emulsions and used in laboratory bioassays to assess their lethal concentration (LC50). Microcapsules containing the most promising, oils (Rosmarinus officinalis andThymus herba-barona) were then prepared by a phase separation process, followed by freeze-drying. The formulations thus obtained, characterized in terms of essential oil content and composition, morphology, storage stability, and release profile, were tested on gypsy moth larvae. The results showed that the tested oils possess interesting larvicidal effects that make them suitable for application in integrated control strategies. The microencapsulation process gave high encapsulation yields (over 98%) with both essential oils, which have different chemical compositions. The microcapsules had toxic effects at a concentration similar to that usually employed for localized treatments with microgranular synthetic pesticides. Toxicity appeared to be maximized when the microparticles adhered to the typical hair structures of several defoliator families. These formulations seem to be able to protect the core material against environmental agents and could be considered for use in controlled drug release systems. The natural active principles they contain could provide an alternative system in insect pest control.     

First report of Chilo partellus in Turkey,a new invasive maize pest for Europe

The spotted stem borer, Chilo partellus (Swinhoe, 1885) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), an invasive pest of wild and cultivated grasses in Asia and Africa, was found for the first time during periodic surveys of maize fields in the East Mediterranean region of Turkey in September and October 2014. The pest was recorded in maize fields of three of four provinces surveyed (Adana, Hatay and Osmaniye; it was not detected in Icel province). The Mediterranean corn stalk borer, Sesamia nonagrioides Lefebvre (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), is the dominant maize pest in the East Mediterranean region of Turkey, followed by the European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae). The new invasive species comprised 4.9% of the total number of collected lepidopteran pests collected from maize stems and cobs in locations infested by C. partellus. No natural enemies of the new pest were recorded during our surveys. We discuss possible interactions among these three lepidopteran pests sharing the same habitat, prospects for control of C. partellus by the control methods currently used against S. nonagrioides and O. nubilalis, and also speculate on the path of invasion taken by C. partellus into Turkey.     

Feasibility,limitation and possible solutions of RNAi‐based technology for insect pest control

Abstract Numerous studies indicate that target gene silencing by RNA interference (RNAi) could lead to insect death. This phenomenon has been considered as a potential strategy for insect pest control, and it is termed RNAi‐mediated crop protection. However, there are many limitations using RNAi‐based technology for pest control, with the effectiveness target gene selection and reliable double‐strand RNA (dsRNA) delivery being two of the major challenges. With respect to target gene selection, at present, the use of homologous genes and genome‐scale high‐throughput screening are the main strategies adopted by researchers. Once the target gene is identified, dsRNA can be delivered by micro‐injection or by feeding as a dietary component. However, micro‐injection, which is the most common method, can only be used in laboratory experiments. Expression of dsRNAs directed against insect genes in transgenic plants and spraying dsRNA reagents have been shown to induce RNAi effects on target insects. Hence, RNAi‐mediated crop protection has been considered as a potential new‐generation technology for pest control, or as a complementary method of existing pest control strategies; however, further development to improve the efficacy of protection and range of species affected is necessary. In this review, we have summarized current research on RNAi‐based technology for pest insect management. Current progress has proven that RNAi technology has the potential to be a tool for designing a new generation of insect control measures. To accelerate its practical application in crop protection, further study on dsRNA uptake mechanisms based on the knowledge of insect physiology and biochemistry is needed.     

Effects of agricultural diversification on the abundance, distribution, and pest control potential of spiders: a review

A review of the literature showed that spider abundance was increased by diversification in 63% of studies. A comparison of diversification modes showed that spider abundance in the crop was increased in 33% of studies by `aggregated diversification' (e.g. intercropping and non-crop strips) and in 80% of studies by `interspersed diversification' (e.g., undersowing, partial weediness, mulching and reduced tillage). It is suggested that spiders tend to remain in diversified patches and that extending the diversification throughout the whole crop (as in interspersed diversification) offers the best prospects for improving pest control. There is little evidence that spiders walk in significant numbers into fields from uncultivated field edges, but diversification at the landscape level serves to foster large multi-species regional populations of spiders which are valuable as a source of aerial immigrants into newly planted crops. There are very few manipulative field studies where the impact of spiders on pests has been measured in diversified crops compared with undiversified controls. It is encouraging, however, that in those few studies an increased spider density resulted in improved pest control. Future work needs are identified.     

Multiple intraguild predators reduce mortality risk of a mutual agricultural pest prey in simple,but not in complex,experimental settings

Multiple predator species that coexist with each other and their mutual prey can have combined effects on prey mortality that are similar to the sum of each predator's individual impact (linear effects), greater than the sum of each predator's individual impact (risk enhancement), or less than the sum of each predator's individual impact (risk reduction). Understanding multiple predator effects is important to determine the impact of predators on pest prey in agroecosystems. If two predators share the same broad spatial domain and hunting mode and engage in intraguild predation, then their combination is expected to result in risk reduction for a mutual prey. We tested this hypothesis using both additive and replacement experimental designs on two species of generalist wolf spider predators (Tasmanicosa leuckartii and Hogna crispipes) that hunt in the same domain, and a mutual insect prey (cotton bollworm Helicoverpa armigera). We used two types of enclosures: a small simple laboratory enclosure, and a larger more complex cotton plant enclosure. We found that in the small simple laboratory enclosures, the presence of two spiders led to risk reduction of Helicoverpa larva mortality as expected, but in larger more complex cotton plant enclosures the presence of both species resulted in linear effects rather than risk reduction on Helicoverpa mortality. Furthermore, intraguild predation did not change multiple predator effects in laboratory or plant enclosures. This study has implications for managing arthropod predators in agroecosystems; contrary to predictions of ecological frameworks, coexistence of predators that share the same hunting mode and hunting domain may not lead to risk reduction on a mutual prey in more complex environments, where encounters among predators can be lower. Conservation of multiple predators of a single guild can play an essential role on biological control of insect pests.     

Scale Insects,edition 2, a tool for the identification of potential pest scales at U.S.A. ports-of-entry (Hemiptera,Sternorrhyncha, Coccoidea)

We provide a general overview of features and technical specifications of an online, interactive tool for the identification of scale insects of concern to the U.S.A. ports-of-entry. Full lists of terminal taxa included in the keys (of which there are four), a list of features used in them, and a discussion of the structure of the tool are provided. We also briefly discuss the advantages of interactive keys for the identification of potential scale insect pests. The interactive key is freely accessible on http://idtools.org/id/scales/index.php     

Dactylopius opuntiae,a new prickly pear cactus pest in the Mediterranean: an overview

The Opuntia cochineal scale or false carmine cochineal scale, Dactylopius opuntiae (Cockerell) (Hemiptera: Dactylopiidae), is spreading rapidly in many countries, especially in the Mediterranean basin, where it has become a serious pest of prickly pear crops, Opuntia ficus‐indica (L.) Miller (Cactaceae). This crop is an important food resource both for humans and livestock. The cochineal was originally used as a biological agent to control cactaceous weeds in many countries where Opuntiaceae had been introduced. Currently, in some countries where the prickly pear is no longer considered a weed but a productive crop, as in the Mediterranean area, D. opuntiae has changed its role from a highly prized biological control agent to the status of serious pest. This paper provides an overview of the current knowledge on D. opuntiae for farmers and stakeholders in order to indicate the most appropriate way to limit or counteract the spread of this pest especially in new cultivated areas.     

Review of invertebrate biological control agent regulation in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA: recommendations for a harmonized European system

Europe lags far behind Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA in terms of implementing regulatory procedures for the import and release of invertebrate biological control agents (IBCAs). A number of standards, documents and guidelines have been produced over recent years in an attempt to harmonize regulation of IBCA introduction into Europe. Despite these efforts, the number of member countries implementing any form of IBCA regulation remains low, with many industries, biological practitioners and regulators fearing that a regulatory system would render the process of approval for IBCA introduction into a country costly and time consuming. Europe’s priority is therefore to formulate a regulatory system that will be readily approved of and adopted by all member countries. In this paper we review the current regulatory processes operating in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA. There is potential for Europe to benefit from the years of experience that these countries have in IBCA regulation. We therefore propose recommendations based on features of the regulatory processes in each of the four countries that work well and that could be adopted to generate a workable Europe‐wide regulatory system.     

Microarray-based genetic identification of beneficial organisms as a new tool for quality control of laboratory cultures

The use of beneficial organisms to help control pests and pathogens in field and greenhouse crops is constantly increasing. Insects and mites are commonly used as beneficial organisms and, nowadays, rearing companies have to produce them in large quantities. Because of the peculiarities of laboratory culture conditions, the quality of lab-reared organisms generally degrades over time. To maintain high fitness levels, cultures are refreshed with field specimens at regular intervals. However, this bears the risk of contaminating laboratory cultures with species or strains other than the intended natural enemy. To ensure that the correct species is produced and also to facilitate surveys after field release, we have developed a diagnostic microarray for identification of beneficial species. Probes have been designed from the different haplotypes of a fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene of each species. Hybridization of labeled PCR amplicons of COI on the microarray chip allows precise identification of 28 economically relevant arthropod species.     

Host range and risk assessment of Zygogramma bicolorata,a defoliating agent released in South Africa for the biological control of Parthenium hysterophorus

Parthenium hysterophorus (parthenium) is a weed of international importance and is spreading rapidly in sub-Saharan Africa. Consequently, it has been targeted for biocontrol in South Africa since 2003. Based on precedents elsewhere in the world, the defoliating beetle Zygogramma bicolorata was prioritised as a candidate agent. Although no-choice tests, involving some 48 test plant species, indicated a significant preference for parthenium, significantly reduced feeding and oviposition was recorded on some species. Multiple-choice tests resolved many of these non-target results; however, Helianthus annuus (sunflower) was still selected for oviposition and feeding. Of the 12 sunflower cultivars tested, four were selected for oviposition, while two were selected for oviposition and feeding. These six cultivars were then subjected to larval development trials, together with three native and two weed species (in the Asteraceae). These trials showed high levels of complete development on parthenium, significantly reduced development on sunflower cultivars, and partial development on only one of the weed species. Finally, a risk assessment was conducted on the six sunflower cultivars to quantify Z. bicolorata feeding and reproductive performance. Feeding risk calculations revealed these cultivars to have an extremely low risk (<0.2%) of supporting Z. bicolorata feeding and development. Similarly, reproductive risk calculations showed a very low risk (<0.16%) of supporting viable Z. bicolorata populations. These data are supported by findings from both the native (Mexico) and introduced ranges (Australia, India) of Z. bicolorata, where it has never been recorded as a pest of sunflower. These considerations were accepted by the regulatory authorities and in August 2013, Z. bicolorata became the second insect agent to be released in South Africa for the biocontrol of parthenium.     

The Trojan female technique: a novel,effective and humane approach for pest population control

Humankind''s ongoing battle with pest species spans millennia. Pests cause or carry disease, damage or consume food crops and other resources, and drive global environmental change. Conventional approaches to pest management usually involve lethal control, but such approaches are costly, of varying efficiency and often have ethical issues. Thus, pest management via control of reproductive output is increasingly considered an optimal solution. One of the most successful such ‘fertility control’ strategies developed to date is the sterile male technique (SMT), in which large numbers of sterile males are released into a population each generation. However, this approach is time-consuming, labour-intensive and costly. We use mathematical models to test a new twist on the SMT, using maternally inherited mitochondrial (mtDNA) mutations that affect male, but not female reproductive fitness. ‘Trojan females’ carrying such mutations, and their female descendants, produce ‘sterile-male’-equivalents under natural conditions over multiple generations. We find that the Trojan female technique (TFT) has the potential to be a novel humane approach for pest control. Single large releases and relatively few small repeat releases of Trojan females both provided effective and persistent control within relatively few generations. Although greatest efficacy was predicted for high-turnover species, the additive nature of multiple releases made the TFT applicable to the full range of life histories modelled. The extensive conservation of mtDNA among eukaryotes suggests this approach could have broad utility for pest control.     

The effectiveness of flower strips and hedgerows on pest control,pollination services and crop yield: a quantitative synthesis

Floral plantings are promoted to foster ecological intensification of agriculture through provisioning of ecosystem services. However, a comprehensive assessment of the effectiveness of different floral plantings, their characteristics and consequences for crop yield is lacking. Here we quantified the impacts of flower strips and hedgerows on pest control (18 studies) and pollination services (17 studies) in adjacent crops in North America, Europe and New Zealand. Flower strips, but not hedgerows, enhanced pest control services in adjacent fields by 16% on average. However, effects on crop pollination and yield were more variable. Our synthesis identifies several important drivers of variability in effectiveness of plantings: pollination services declined exponentially with distance from plantings, and perennial and older flower strips with higher flowering plant diversity enhanced pollination more effectively. These findings provide promising pathways to optimise floral plantings to more effectively contribute to ecosystem service delivery and ecological intensification of agriculture in the future.     

Allosteric interactions among pyrethroid,brevetoxin, and scorpion toxin receptors on insect sodium channels raise an alternative approach for insect control

Intensive pyrethroid use in insect control has led to resistance buildup among various pests. One alternative to battle this problem envisions the combined use of synergistically acting insecticidal compounds. Pyrethroids, scorpion - and β-toxins, and brevetoxins bind to distinct receptor sites on voltage-gated sodium channels (NaChs) and modify their function. The binding affinity of scorpion -toxins to locust, but not rat-brain NaChs, is allosterically increased by pyrethroids and by brevetoxin-1. Brevetoxin-1 also increases the binding of an excitatory β-toxin to insect NaChs. These results reveal differences between insect and mammalian NaChs and may be exploited in new strategies of insect control.