1,720,987 research outputs found
'Outbreaks' ofAmaraStephens (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in Alberta, Canada
No full textFloate, Kevin D., Spence, John R. (2015): 'Outbreaks' ofAmaraStephens (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in Alberta, Canada. The Coleopterists Bulletin 69 (1): 114-115, DOI: 10.1649/0010-065X-69.1.114, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1649/0010-065x-69.1.11
Non-target effects of extended-release LongRange eprinomectin on coprophilous insects
Get PDFI studied the effect of residues in dung voided by cattle treated with the novel parasiticide Extended-release LongRange (LR) on dung breeding insects. Field and lab studies over two years showed that residues are excreted for at least 25 weeks post-treatment at levels sufficient to reduce survival of some taxa with detectable effects on total insect abundance, taxa richness, and diversity. Using pitfall traps baited with dung with and without LR residues, I detected an effect of residues on attraction of some species of insects to dung. Results showed no changes in abundance, taxa richness, or diversity, but significant changes for individual taxa, albeit contrasting between years. Taken together, these findings show that cattle treated with LR in the spring will defecate residues at high enough concentrations to significantly affect the dung insect community for the entire duration of the grazing season
Assessing the effect of habitat, location and bait treatment on dung beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in southern Alberta, Canada
Get PDFDung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) are members of the coprophagous insect community and are important dung degraders in pasture ecosystems. To assess their distribution in North America, I created a checklist of over 300 beetle species known to colonize dung (Chapter 2). To assess the affect of habitat and location on dung beetle diversity, I conducted sampling at Purple Springs Grazing Reserve and Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park (Chapter 3). Each habitat and location was dominated by different species for both sampling years. The affect of bait treatment and age on the attractiveness of the coprophagous insect community was assessed using fresh and frozen dung baits, with frozen baits being more attractive for the first three days (Chapter 4). To expedite sample processing, regression equations were developed for three treatments (wet, air-dried, and oven-dried weight), which allow for counts of individuals to be estimated by their bulk weight (Chapter 5)
Effects of extreme temperatures on the survival of the quarantine stored-product pest, Trogoderma granarium (khapra beetle) and on its associated bacteria
Get PDFTrogoderma granarium is a pest of stored-grain products in Asia and Africa, and a quarantine pest for much of the rest of the world. To evaluate extreme temperatures as a control strategy for this pest, I investigated the effect of high and low temperatures on the survival (Chapters 2 and 3) and on the microbiome (Chapter 4) of T. granarium. The most cold- and heat-tolerant life stages were diapausing-acclimated larvae and diapausing larvae, respectively. Trogoderma granarium can be controlled (Probit 9) with an exposure of 70 d to −15°C or 1.2 h to 60°C. High temperatures affected the microbiome; an effect of low temperatures was not detected. While the microbiome changed with life stage, it was dominated by Spiroplasma bacteria. Further research is necessary to understand the Spiroplasma-T. granarium relationship. Future research should also investigate combinations of extreme temperatures with other techniques to shorten the time required for mortality
Induction and termination of diapause in khapra beetle, Trogoderma granarium
Get PDFLarvae of the stored product pest, khapra beetle, Trogoderma granarium, are unusual in that they can enter a diapause state that confers protection against pest control methods. In Chapter 1, I reviewed the literature on general aspects of insect diapause induction and termination, particularly in Dermestidae. In Chapter 2, I assessed the effects of age of culture and diet quality on diapause termination. The results indicated that diapausing larvae can accumulate the nutrients required to terminate diapause and complete development when provided with an opportunity to do so. In Chapter 3, I assessed whether desiccation enhances cold tolerance in diapausing and non-diapausing larvae. Results showed that cold tolerance of diapausing larvae increased with greater desiccation stress. This finding suggests that the physiological mechanisms that protect diapausing larvae from desiccation may also increase cold-tolerance. Overall results of this research provide new information with potential application for control of this global pest
Host range and multitrophic interactions between the parasitoid Cotesia vanessae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) and Noctuidae (Lepidoptera) hosts in North America
No full textCaterpillars in the family Noctuidae are important crop pests. After discovering the parasitoid Cotesia vanessae in the Nearctic region, which was previously only known from the Palearctic and Afrotropic regions, I investigated its fundamental host range on North American Lepidoptera and found that it could parasitize a large number of species of Noctuidae. Its fitness varied among host species, and Plusiinae species appeared to be the best hosts. Nearly all hosts in this experiment were reared on McMorran diet, which appeared to have varying suitability among Lepidoptera species. Through a second experiment, I showed that the fitness of the parasitoid and that of its host varied according to host food quality. Thus, parasitoid fitness on different hosts is partly conditioned by diet quality. This study shows that C. vanessae can parasitize a large number of Noctuidae and can be easily mass-reared, which could make it an ideal biological control agent.Alberta Conservation Association (Grants in Biodiversity) and
Canola Council of Canada (Canola Agronomic Research Program
Gut bacterial communities in carabid beetles: host taxonomy, extrinsic factors, and feeding habits
No full textBacteria in animal guts (= the gut bacterial community, GBC) can be crucial to host survival and physiology. These gut bacteria may aid in digestion, synthesis of nutrients, or protection from pathogens. To fully understand the biology of the host, it is therefore necessary to study their gut bacteria. Ground beetles, or carabids (Coleoptera: Carabidae), are a diverse family of insects with ~40,000 species, 2,700 of which are in North America. Ground beetles commonly use their voracious appetites to feed on many agricultural pests and are found in many different habitats. The diversity of carabids plus the ease with which many of them can be collected allows for an examination of the effects of host taxonomy, extrinsic factors, and feeding habits on the GBC. Few studies have examined how these factors affect GBCs. Here, I characterized the GBC of nine carabid subfamilies, 23 genera, and 47 species from various natural settings. First, I used genetic relatedness of the host at three taxonomic levels to assess how host taxonomy relates to GBC diversity. I then examined how GBC diversity varies across habitat, geographic region, season, or years, as well as feeding habits of cropland carabids in Alberta. The results showed that GBCs can differ depending on all those factors, especially host taxonomy and feeding habit. The diversity among some congeneric carabids was especially distinct. As is consistent with previous studies, the two predominate bacterial phyla were Pseudomonadota and Bacillota. The three most common bacterial genera across carabids studied here were Enterococcus, Gilliamella, and an unidentified member of Yersiniaceae. This study also found evidence of core gut bacteria and endosymbiotic bacteria for some carabid groups examined.Funding provided by the McCain Foundation Scholarship for Sustainable Agriculture, NSERC, and AAF
Assessing the impacts of natural enemies and canopy structure on orange wheat blossom midge, Sitodiplosis mosellana (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), in the Peace River region of Alberta
Get PDFOrange wheat blossom midge, Sitodiplosis mosellana, is an invasive, economically important pest in spring wheat in the Canadian Prairies. In the Peace River region of Alberta, little is known about this pest and its natural enemies. Impacts of crop type and canopy structure on assemblages of carabid beetles and, in turn, their impact on wheat midge populations were assessed in a field plot trial. Few effects of canopy structure and crop type influenced carabid assemblages, though high plant densities in wheat resulted in lower carabid activity density and species richness in 2017. A survey was conducted where wheat midge larvae were collected throughout the region and reared to assess wheat midge parasitoid distribution and diversity. All parasitoids recovered were identified as Macroglenes penetrans, with the exception of a single individual in the genus Inostemma. Future research should investigate impacts of specific carabid species on wheat midge populations in this region.Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada A-base Fundin
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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