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The Praying Mantises of the Maltese Islands: Distribution and Ecology (Mantodea)
Fragmenta entomologica, 52 (2): 341–348 (2020) eISSN: 2284-4880 (online version) pISSN: 0429-288X (print version) Research article Submitted: September 5th, 2020 - Accepted: September 28th, 2020 - Published: November 15th, 2020 The praying mantises of the Maltese Islands: distribution and ecology (Mantodea) Thomas CASSAR Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Malta - Msida MSD 2080, Malta - [email protected] Abstract This study presents a species account of the mantises of the Maltese Islands, including notes on the ecology and distribution of each spe- cies. A total of three species are known to exist locally; Ameles spallanzania (Rossi, 1792), Mantis religiosa (Linnaeus, 1758) and Riv- etina baetica Rambur, 1839. The presence of Ameles decolor (Charpentier, 1825) cannot be confirmed by any recently collected mate- rial, but the species is not excluded from the Maltese entomofauna. Two doubtful records are also discussed. All species present in the archipelago are typically found in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean basin. Key words: mantids, Malta, Mediterranean. Introduction “Devil’s mare” respectively. Though Gulia (1858) men- tions Iris oratoria and Blepharopsis mendica, much doubt The Maltese archipelago is composed of a number of can be cast on these identifications. Maltese mantises were small, low islands situated in the centre of the Mediter- not mentioned again in literature until the work of Valletta ranean Sea, aligned in a North-West to South-East direc- (1954), at that time including two species - Mantis religi- tion. The total area of the archipelago amounts to 314 km2, osa and Ameles spallanzania, along with a list of Orthop- and they lie approximately 96 km to the south of Sicily tera. -
Combating Zika
PROJECT SUMMARIES VECTOR CONTROL Wolbachia-Infected Mosquitoes Scaled Deployment of Wolbachia-Infected Mosquitoes to Block Disease Transmission Organization: Eliminate Dengue Program, Monash University Location: Melbourne, Australia Problem: Dengue is estimated to threaten the health of almost 4 billion people living in tropical and subtropical regions of the world and Zika is currently exploding as an emerging global disease with major outbreaks underway throughout tropical South America. Solution: Infect mosquitoes with Wolbachia, a naturally occurring bacteria proven to block the transmission of dengue fever and Zika virus from mosquitoes to humans. The approach provides a natural, sustainable, cost-effective new tool for preventing transmission of a range of arboviruses including Zika, dengue and chikungunya. The project, which has been proven to work over long-term field tests, will now be tested in much larger populations in several Latin American communities. This method represents a paradigm shift in arboviral disease control. It's an innovative, cutting edge technology that provides a sustainable, long-term intervention for communities affected by arboviral diseases. Compared with conventional insecticide-based or genetic population suppression control methods that may provide limited, short-term reductions in the mosquito population, once Wolbachia has established in the local population, it persists without the need for continual reapplication or additional insecticide--based control methods while reducing the risk of infection with dengue, chikungunya and Zika viruses. In addition, residents are not required to change their behaviour or participate in ongoing activities after the mosquito releases are concluded. This research, which is the first of its kind in the world, could potentially benefit an estimated 2.5 billion people currently living in arboviral disease transmission areas worldwide. -
A Review on the Progress of Sex-Separation Techniques For
Mashatola et al. Parasites & Vectors 2018, 11(Suppl 2):646 https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-018-3219-4 REVIEW Open Access A review on the progress of sex-separation techniques for sterile insect technique applications against Anopheles arabiensis Thabo Mashatola1,2,3, Cyrille Ndo4,5,6, Lizette L. Koekemoer1,2, Leonard C. Dandalo1,2, Oliver R. Wood1,2, Lerato Malakoane1,2, Yacouba Poumachu3,4,7, Leanne N. Lobb1,2, Maria Kaiser1,2, Kostas Bourtzis3 and Givemore Munhenga1,2* Abstract The feasibility of the sterile insect technique (SIT) as a malaria vector control strategy against Anopheles arabiensis has been under investigation over the past decade. One of the critical steps required for the application of this technique to mosquito control is the availability of an efficient and effective sex-separation system. Sex-separation systems eliminate female mosquitoes from the production line prior to irradiation and field release of sterile males. This is necessary because female mosquitoes can transmit pathogens such as malaria and, therefore, their release must be prevented. Sex separation also increases the efficiency of an SIT programme. Various sex-separation strategies have been explored including the exploitation of developmental and behavioural differences between male and female mosquitoes, and genetic approaches. Most of these are however species-specific and are not indicated for the major African malaria vectors such as An. arabiensis. As there is currently no reliable sex-separation method for An. arabiensis, various strategies were explored in an attempt to develop a robust system that can be applied on a mass- rearing scale. The progress and challenges faced during the development of a sexing system for future pilot and/or large-scale SIT release programmes against An. -
The Impact of Releasing Sterile Mosquitoes on Malaria Transmission
DISCRETE AND CONTINUOUS doi:10.3934/dcdsb.2018113 DYNAMICAL SYSTEMS SERIES B Volume 23, Number 9, November 2018 pp. 3837{3853 THE IMPACT OF RELEASING STERILE MOSQUITOES ON MALARIA TRANSMISSION Hongyan Yin School of Mathematics and Statistics Central China Normal University Wuhan 430079, China School of Mathematics and Statistics South-Central University for Nationalities Wuhan 430074, China Cuihong Yang∗ and Xin'an Zhang School of Mathematics and Statistics Central China Normal University Wuhan 430079, China Jia Li Department of Mathematical Science University of Alabama in Huntsville Huntsville AL 35899, USA (Communicated by Yuan Lou) Abstract. The sterile mosquitoes technique in which sterile mosquitoes are released to reduce or eradicate the wild mosquito population has been used in preventing the malaria transmission. To study the impact of releasing sterile mosquitoes on the malaria transmission, we first formulate a simple SEIR (susceptible-exposed-infected-recovered) malaria transmission model as our baseline model, derive a formula for the reproductive number of infection, and determine the existence of endemic equilibria. We then include sterile mosquitoes in the baseline model and consider the case of constant releases of sterile mosquitoes. We examine how the releases affect the reproductive numbers and endemic equilibria for the model with interactive mosquitoes and investigate the impact of releasing sterile mosquitoes on the malaria transmis- sion. 1. Introduction. Mosquito-borne diseases, such as malaria, transmitted between humans by mosquitoes, are big concerns for the public health. Malaria is the fifth cause of death from infectious diseases worldwide (after respiratory infections, HIV/AIDS, diarrheal diseases, and tuberculosis), and the second leading cause of death from infectious diseases in Africa after HIV/AIDS. -
A Comparative Study of Structural Adaptations of Mouthparts in Mantodea from Sindh
Pakistan J. Zool., vol. 41(1), pp. 21-27, 2009. A Comparative Study of Structural Adaptations of Mouthparts in Mantodea From Sindh Jawaid A. Khokhar* and N. M. Soomro Department of Zoology, University of Sindh, Jamshoro-76080 Pakistan Abstract.- Structural adaptations of mouthparts in seven species of the praying mantids belonging to families Empusidae, Eremiaphilidae, and Mantidae are reported. Key words: Mantodea, mouthparts, praying mantids, Sindh. INTRODUCTION 0030-9923/2009/0001-0021 $ 8.00/0 Copyright 2009 Zoological Society of Pakistan. Nawab shah, Larkana, Maini forest, Tando jam, Hala, Rani Bagh, Latifabad, Oderolal Station, The relationship between mouthparts Jamshoro, Kotri, Thatta by traditional insect hand structure and diet has been known for years. This net, hand picking and by using light trap on the bark connection between mouthparts morphology and of trees, shrubs, bushes and on grasses. specific food types is incredibly pronounced in class The observations were carried out on live insecta (Snodgrass, 1935). As insects have evolved praying mantids in open fields early in the morning. and adapted new food sources, their mouthparts After locating the species and quietly watching their have changed accordingly. This is extremely feeding for about 2 to 3 hours they were caught and important trait for evolutionary biologists (Brues, preserved for mouthparts study. For the study of 1929) as well as systematists (Mulkern, 1967). mouthparts, 5 specimens of each sex of each species Mantids are very efficient and deadly predators that were studied. The mouthparts were carefully capture and eat a variety of insects and other small extracted, boiled in 20%KOH, washed with distilled prey. -
Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) Against Aedes Species Mosquitoes: a Roadmap and Good Practice Framework for Designing, Implementing and Evaluating Pilot Field Trials
insects Review Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) against Aedes Species Mosquitoes: A Roadmap and Good Practice Framework for Designing, Implementing and Evaluating Pilot Field Trials Clélia F. Oliva 1,2 , Mark Q. Benedict 3, C Matilda Collins 4 , Thierry Baldet 5, Romeo Bellini 6 , Hervé Bossin 7, Jérémy Bouyer 5,8 , Vincent Corbel 9, Luca Facchinelli 10 , Florence Fouque 11, Martin Geier 12, Antonios Michaelakis 13 , David Roiz 9 , Frédéric Simard 9, Carlos Tur 14 and Louis-Clément Gouagna 9,* 1 Centre Technique Interprofessionnel des Fruits et Légumes (CTIFL), Centre Opérationnel de Balandran, 751 Chemin de Balandran, 30127 Bellegarde, France; clelia.oliva@ctifl.fr 2 Collectif TIS (Technique de l’Insecte Stérile), 751 Chemin de Balandran, 30127 Bellegarde, France 3 Mosquito Hunters, 620 Peachtree St, Atlanta, GA 30308, USA; [email protected] 4 Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London, London SW7 1NE, UK; [email protected] 5 ASTRE (Animal, Santé, Territoires, Risques, Ecosystèmes), Cirad, Univ. Montpellier, 34398 Montpellier, France; [email protected] (T.B.); [email protected] (J.B.) 6 Centro Agricoltura Ambiente “Giorgio Nicoli”, S.r.l. Via Sant’Agata, 835, 40014 Crevalcore, Italy; [email protected] 7 Institut Louis Malardé, Papeete, 98713 Tahiti, French Polynesia; [email protected] 8 Insect Pest Control Laboratory, Joint FAO/IAEA Programme of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, IAEA Vienna, Wagramer Strasse 5, 1400 Vienna, Austria Citation: Oliva, C.F.; Benedict, M.Q.; 9 UMR MIVEGEC (Maladies Infectieuses et Vecteurs: Écologie, Génétique, Évolution et Contrôle), Collins, CM.; Baldet, T.; Bellini, R.; IRD-CNRS-Univ. Montpellier, 34394 Montpellier, France; [email protected] (V.C.); [email protected] (D.R.); Bossin, H.; Bouyer, J.; Corbel, V.; [email protected] (F.S.) Facchinelli, L.; Fouque, F.; et al. -
Biodiversity and Biogeography of Praying Mantids in Sindh NM S
Sindh Univ. Res. Jour. (Sci. Ser.) Vol. 45 (2) 297-300 (2013) (2013) SI NDH UNIVERSITY RESEARCH JOURNAL (SCIENCE SERIES) Biodiversity and Biogeography of Praying Mantids in Sindh N. M. SOOMRO, J. A. KHOKHAR++, M.H. SOOMRO Department of Zoology, University of Sindh, Jamshoro- 76080 Pakistan Received 3th April 2012 and Revised 10th April 2012 Abstract: The study was undertaken to see the biodiversity and biogeography of Praying Mantids (Mantodea) belonging to families, Eremiaphilidae, Empusidae and Mantidae. Praying mantids were collected from 20 districts of Sindh Province during year 2010 and 2011. Total 380 specimens and 13 species including 2 new records were recorded. Species richness, Biodiversity Index and Index of diversity was determined. Keywords: Biodiversity, Biogeography, Mantodea, Praying Mantids, Sindh. 1. INTRODUCTION 2. MATERIALS AND METHODS Biodiversity refers to all the forms of Total numbers of 380 specimens were biological entities inhabitating the Earth-including collected and processed by standard entomological prokaryotes, wild plants and animals, micro- methods. Specimens stored in standard entomological organisms, domesticated animals and cultivated boxes with labels showing locality, date of collection plants, and even genetic material like seeds and and collector's name. Naphthalene balls were placed in germplasm Kothari (1992). Study on biodiversity of boxes to prevent the attack of ants and other insects. insects is of great importance because more than half Identification of specimens done with the help of keys of the world's known animal species are insects and descriptions given by Soomro et al. (2002) and by Wilson (1992). Biogeography is the study of patterns Ehrman's (2002) compressive catalogue of the mantids in the distribution of life and the processes that underlie of the world. -
On the Use of the Sterile Insect Technique Or the Incompatible
On the use of the sterile insect technique or the incompatible insect technique to reduce or eliminate mosquito populations Martin Strugarek, Herve Bossin, Yves Dumont To cite this version: Martin Strugarek, Herve Bossin, Yves Dumont. On the use of the sterile insect technique or the incompatible insect technique to reduce or eliminate mosquito populations. 2018. hal-01799954 HAL Id: hal-01799954 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01799954 Preprint submitted on 25 May 2018 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. On the use of the sterile insect technique or the incompatible insect technique to reduce or eliminate mosquito populations Martin Strugarek1,2, Hervé Bossin3, and Yves Dumont4,5,6 1 AgroParisTech, 16 rue Claude Bernard, 75231 Paris Cedex 05 - France 2 Sorbonne Université, Université Paris-Diderot SPC, CNRS, INRIA, Laboratoire Jacques-Louis Lions, équipe Mamba, F-75005 Paris 3 Institut Louis Malardé, Unit of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Papeete 98713, Tahiti, French Polynesia 4 CIRAD, Umr AMAP, Pretoria, South Africa 5 AMAP, Univ Montpellier, CIRAD, CNRS, INRA, IRD, Montpellier, France 6University of Pretoria, Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, Pretoria, South Africa May 25, 2018 Abstract Vector control is critical to limit the circulation of vector-borne diseases like chikungunya, dengue or zika which have become important issues around the world. -
Effect of Irradiation on the Survival and Susceptibility of Female Anopheles Arabiensis To
bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.01.27.919530; this version posted January 30, 2020. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. 1 Effect of irradiation on the survival and susceptibility of female Anopheles arabiensis to 2 natural isolates of Plasmodium falciparum 3 4 Edwige Guissou1,2,3,4*, Serge Poda1,2,3, François de Sales Domombabele Hien1,3, Serge 5 Rakiswende Yerbanga1,3, Dari Frédéric Yannick Da1,3, Anna Cohuet2,3, Florence Fournet2,3, 6 Olivier Roux2,3, Hamidou Maiga1, Abdoulaye Diabaté1,3, Jeremie Gilles5, Jérémy Bouyer5, 7 Anicet G. Ouédraogo4, Jean-Baptiste Rayaissé3,6, Thierry Lefèvre1,2,3,7 †, Kounbobr Roch 8 Dabiré1,3 † 9 10 1 Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé, Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso. 11 2 MIVEGEC, Montpellier University, IRD, CNRS, Montpellier, France. 12 3 Laboratoire mixte international sur les vecteurs (LAMIVECT), Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina 13 Faso. 14 4 Université Nazi Boni, Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso. 15 5 Insect Pest Control Laboratory, Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food 16 and Agriculture, Vienna, Austria. 17 6 Centre International de Recherche-Développement sur l’Elevage en zone Subhumide, Bobo- 18 Dioulasso, Burkina Faso. 19 7 Centre de Recherche en Écologie et Évolution de la Santé (CREES), Montpellier, France 20 21 22 * Corresponding author: [email protected] 23 † contributed equally to this work bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.01.27.919530; this version posted January 30, 2020. -
A Contribution to the Knowledge of the Mantodea (Insecta) Fauna of Iran 665-673 © Biologiezentrum Linz/Austria; Download Unter
ZOBODAT - www.zobodat.at Zoologisch-Botanische Datenbank/Zoological-Botanical Database Digitale Literatur/Digital Literature Zeitschrift/Journal: Linzer biologische Beiträge Jahr/Year: 2014 Band/Volume: 0046_1 Autor(en)/Author(s): Ghahari Hassan, Nasser Mohamed Gemal El-Den Artikel/Article: A contribution to the knowledge of the Mantodea (Insecta) fauna of Iran 665-673 © Biologiezentrum Linz/Austria; download unter www.biologiezentrum.at Linzer biol. Beitr. 46/1 665-673 31.7.2014 A contribution to the knowledge of the Mantodea (Insecta) fauna of Iran H. GHAHARI & M.G. El-Den NASSER A b s t r a c t : This paper deals with the fauna of some species of Mantodea from different regions of Iran. In total 17 species from 11 genera (including Amorphoscelis STÅL, Blepharopsis REHN, Empusa COHN, Eremiaphila LEFÈBVRE, Ameles BURMEISTER, Armene STÅL, Bolivaria STÅL, Hierodula BURMEISTER, Iris SAUSSURE, Mantis LINNAEUS, Oxythespis SAUSSURE) and 5 families (Amorphoscelidae, Empusidae, Eremiaphilidae, Mantidae and Tarachodidae) were collected and identified. An identification key, synonymies and distribution data for the species are given. Key words: Mantodea, Identification key, Amorphoscelidae, Empusidae, Eremiaphilidae, Mantidae, Iran. Introduction Iran has a spectacular position between three different ecological zones, the Palaearctic, Afrotropical and Indomalayan. Although most of the Iranian fauna is related to the Palaearctic region, the fauna of the two other regions are also represented and are recorded from different areas of the country, especially the south (ZEHZAD et al. 2002; SAKENIN et al. 2011). From a taxonomic point of view, the Mantodea of Iran are poorly studied by a few disparate studies, either widely separated in time or in the aim of the work itself, since most concern countries other than Iran or orthopteroid insects other than mantids (UVAROV 1938; UVAROV & DIRSH 1952; BEIER 1956; MOFIDI-NEYESTANAK 2000; GHAHARI et al. -
Modelling Sterile Insect Technique to Control the Population of Anopheles Gambiae James E Gentile1*, Samuel SC Rund2 and Gregory R Madey1
Gentile et al. Malaria Journal (2015) 14:92 DOI 10.1186/s12936-015-0587-5 RESEARCH Open Access Modelling sterile insect technique to control the population of Anopheles gambiae James E Gentile1*, Samuel SC Rund2 and Gregory R Madey1 Abstract Background: There is a renewed effort to develop novel malaria control strategies as even well-implemented existing malaria control tools may fail to block transmission in some regions. Currently, transgenic implementations of the sterile insect technique (SIT) such as the release of insects with a dominant lethal, homing endonuclease genes, or flightless mosquitoes are in development. These implementations involve the release of transgenic male mosquitoes whose matings with wild females produce either no viable offspring or no female offspring. As these technologies are all in their infancy, little is known about the relative efficiencies of the various implementations. Methods: This paper describes agent-based modelling of emerging and theoretical implementations of transgenic SIT in Anopheles gambiae for the control of malaria. It reports on female suppression as it is affected by the SIT implementation, the number of released males, and competitiveness of released males. Conclusions: The simulation experiments suggest that a late-acting bisex lethal gene is the most efficient of the four implementations we simulated. They demonstrate 1) the relative impact of release size on a campaign’s effectiveness 2) late-acting genes are preferred because of their ability to exploit density dependent larval mortality 3) late-acting bisex lethal genes achieve elimination before their female-killing counterparts. Keywords: Agent-based modelling, SIT, Release of insects with a dominant lethal gene (RIDL) Introduction mass release of males sterilized through radiological or Mosquito-borne illnesses including dengue fever, lym- chemical means. -
Sterile Insect Response
New World Screwworm Ready Reference Guide―Sterile Insect Response New World Screwworm Overview New World screwworms (NWS), Cochliomyia hominivorax, are fly larvae (maggots) that infest living tissue of warm-blooded animals, causing a condition known as myiasis. Female NWS flies lay their eggs at the edges of wounds or on mucous membranes. The eggs hatch into larvae, burrow into the tissue, and continue to feed and grow. Infestations of NWS can be fatal if untreated. NWS is currently known to exist in parts of every country in South America except Chile, and in five countries in the Caribbean— Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Trinidad and Tobago. Eradication programs have been conducted in the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Curaçao (Netherlands Antilles), and all of Central America (except for the southern most part of Panama, known as the Darien Gap, that borders with Colombia and NWS endemic regions). For more information on NWS see the following Foreign Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Plan (FAD PReP) documents: Disease Response Strategy: New World Screwworm Myiasis Ready Reference Guide: New World Screwworm Maps & Timelines Ready Reference Guide: New World Screwworm Economic Impact. Sterile Insect Technique―History Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) employs the irradiation of -5 to 6-day-old NWS pupae with gamma radiation to create sterile NWS files. When mass produced, the release of these sterile flies results in sterile male flies mating with wild female flies which then lay unfertilized eggs. Since female NWS flies normally mate only once, the population of NWS is progressively reduced and, ultimately, eradicated.