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Pelopidas mathias subsp. mathias Fabricius 1798
No full textPelopidas mathias mathias Fabricius, 1798 (Figures 10–11) The range of ssp. mathias extends through most of sub-Saharan Africa, through Arabia to India and South-East Asia; it was described from India (Fabricius 1798). Larsen (2005) points out that the type specimens are not P. mathias as understood today, and so a case will need to be made to the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature to preserve the current usage, which dates at least as far back as Butler (1870). Additional subspecies are recognised in east Asia (oberthueri Evans) and Papua New Guinea (repetita Butler) (Evans 1937 b, 1949). It is widespread in Kenya. The dark brand of male P. mathias easily distinguishes this species from male P. thrax which has a pale grey brand, but the females are confusingly similar. However, the caterpillars as shown here are easily separated (see also Cock 2010 a). Food plants Most food plant records from Africa are of Poaceae crops. It was recorded as a pest of cereals (“rice, maize and millet (Sorghum vulgare)”) in Zanzibar in a general paper on insect pests by Mansfield-Aders (1920). Sorghum vulgare is normally considered to be a synonym of S. bicolor, i.e. sorghum not millet; millets refer to species in several different grass genera including Cenchrus americanus (= Pennisetum glaucum, bulrush millet), Setaria italica (Italian foxtail millet), Panicum miliaceum (common millet), and Eleusine coracana (finger millet, African millet). Le Pelley (1959) cited Mansfield-Aders (1920) when listing Andropogon spp. (probably a reference to sorghum or millet) and pasture grasses (Uganda) and Zea mays (Uganda and Zanzibar), records which Sevastopulo (1975) repeats without locality. Given that Mansfield-Aders (1920) did not distinguish between the three cereal crops, the subsequent repetition of African records from sorghum or millet should be considered unconfirmed, although there are better documented records from Asia (below). Pelopidas mathias has been noted as a pest of rice (Oryza sativa) by Descamps (1956) in Cameroun, and by Heinrichs & Barrion (2004) in Cameroun and Côte d’Ivoire. Brenière (1976) lists it as a pest of rice in West Africa, but noted that damage is minimal and outbreaks terminated by the action of natural enemies. In Angola, it has been reported as a pest of wheat (Triticum sp. [aestivum]) of unknown economic importance (“importância económica ignorada”) (Carvalho & Cardosa 1971). In South Africa, Murray (1959), Dickson & Kroon (1978) and Pringle et al. (1994) record Ehrharta erecta and other suitable grasses, while Carnegie et al. (1974) list it as an unimportant pest of sugar cane (Saccharum officinarum). In Côte d’Ivoire, Vuattoux (1999) reared P. mathias from the savannah grasses Hyparrhenia diplandra and Imperata cylindrica. I (or colleagues) have found caterpillars on Megathyrsus maximus (= Panicum maximum) (in Zimbabwe), Sorghum bicolor (sorghum) and Zea mays (maize) in Kenya. Many species have been recorded as food plants in Asia, and Table 1 summarises those recorded for P. mathias mathias. In addition to these field records, under experimental conditions, Litsinger et al. (1994) reared P. mathias on all 23 grasses that they tested: Chloris barbata, Chrysopogon aciculatus, Dactyloctenium aegyptium, Digitaria ciliaris, Echinochloa colona, E. crus-galli, E. glabrescens, Eleusine indica, Eriochloa procera, Imperata cylindrica, Ischaemum rugosum, Leersia hexandra, Leptochloa chinensis, Panicum repens, Paspalidium flavidum, Paspalum conjugatum, P. distichum, P. longifolium, P. scrobiculatum, Rottboellia cochinchinensis, Sporobolus africanus Urochloa distachya (= Brachiaria distachya), and U. mutica (= B. mutica). Additional food plants recorded for ssp. oberthueri include Carex anisostachys (= C. olivacea) (Cyperaceae) and Poaceae: Lolium perenne, Miscanthus floridulus, M. sinensis and Setaria viridis (Nakasuji 1982, Robinson et al. 2001). The field use of a Carex sp. in Japan reported by Nakasuji (1982) was based on a single observation and does not seem to have been duplicated. Litsinger et al. (1994) tried to rear P. mathias mathias on six species of Cyperaceae, but none were suitable food plants. However, it should be noted that in their experimental design, Litsinger et al. monitored the development of caterpillars from eclosion, but did not report at what stage the caterpillars died, although most likely it would have been in the first or second instar. On the other hand, Nakasuji’s (1982) field observation might represent a mature caterpillar that transferred to Carex, or was simply preparing a pupation shelter. We suggest that P. m at h ia s would very rarely use Cyperaceae for oviposition and sedges are not normal food plants. Malaysia: Eliot 1978; Fleming 1983 West Malaysia Cynodon dactylon India Ghosh 1914; Jandu 1943; Teotia & Nand 1966 Malaysia: Eliot 1978; Fleming 1983 West Malaysia Oryza sp. India Sevastopulo 1973 Probably attributable to O. sativa ...... continued on the next page The observations of three palms as hosts in India (Table 1) are unexpected. There are few if any parallel situations amongst Hesperiinae, where both grasses and Arecaceae are used as food plants by the same species. The single example that had been recorded, the Neotropical Perichares philetes (Gmelin) (Hesperiinae incertae sedis), on closer examination in Costa Rica was shown to be four species with very similar genitalia but different barcodes and caterpillars, and that two species were grass feeders and the other two palm feeders (Burns et al. 2008). Jandu (1943) lists coconut and palm as food plants without attributing a source or providing any details, and we have found no earlier records with this information, so it may be that these are the author’s observations. Odak & Dhamdhere (1970) record “a large number of larvae of the rice skipper [Pelopidas mathias] were found feeding on the leaves of garden fan palm, Livistona chinensis … October and November 1969 ” at Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India. Similarly, Purohit et al. (1972) observed P. mathias “feeding on the ornamental plant marikajhad, or Indian sago-palm (Caryota urens L.) in the winter season from November to February at Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. On this host in December 1970 the average population of its larvae was 3 and of pupae 2 per plant.” Since the authors of neither paper state that any adults were reared out, it is possible that the identifications were made from the caterpillars, in which case it cannot be ruled out that this represents another palm-feeding Hesperiinae. Similarly there is no indication regarding voucher specimens, or who made the identifications, so that confirmation of these records would be desirable. A record from sann-hemp, Crotalaria juncea (Fabaceae) (Fletcher 1920) is unlikely. Fletcher (1920) wrote “It [Pelopidas mathias] has also been reared at Pusa [New Delhi] … once on sann-hemp leaves (collected on sannhemp in field).” C.C. Ghosh (in Fletcher 1920) commented “I found one caterpillar on a leaf of sann-hemp”, to which Fletcher responded “sann-hemp is a very unusual food-plant. Possibly it had wandered off grass.” Jandu (1943) listed sann-hemp as a food plant; he does not give a source for this record, but it is likely to be based on the information in Fletcher (1920). Since Ghosh does not mention feeding or shelters, and there have been no subsequent records of this food plant, Fletcher’s suggestion seems realistic to us, and we agree with Litsinger et al. (1994) that this food plant record should be disregarded unless confirmed. Ovum Not seen, but white and hemispherical according to Clark (in Dickson & Kroon 1978, Plate 31), who illustrates the life history in detail. Leaf shelters Sen & Chakravorty (1970) record and illustrate some observations on shelter construction and use on rice by P. mathias mathias in West Bengal, India. Young caterpillars make a tube shelter of about 25 mm using the distal part of the leaf which they roll from both sides downwards “stitched by silken threads” (i.e. multiple strands of silk to form a thick attachment lines). Mature caterpillars take 2–5 h to draw together several leaves from the same or adjacent plants, which are “glued together” (i.e. sheets of silk evenly spread across joins). A third instar caterpillar in Zimbabwe (88 / 26) cut a 35mm flap from the edge of a leaf and rolled it under; it fed from the leaf lamina edge both basal and distal to the shelter. A final instar on sorghum at Kakamega (88 / 67) was only noted as in a leaf roll, without any detail. Caterpillar The caterpillar is similar to others of this group. The head is widest near the base, slightly indent at vertex; it is somewhat variable, with a brown to dark red lateral stripe bordered to a variable degree with yellow (Figure 10). A 30mm caterpillar collected on sorghum at Kakamega (88 / 67) was described. Head: 2.5 x 3.1mm wide x high; ground colour translucent apple-green; a brown stripe from vertex laterally to just in front of stemmata, narrowly bordered anteriorly and posteriorly with yellow; mouthparts brown. T 1 concolorous. Body green, tinted yellow on T 1 –T 3; dorsal line slightly darker; narrow, yellowish white dorsolateral line T 1 –A 8; broader, white, ventrolateral line T 3 –A 9, with ventral margin darker, lateral margin diffuse; between dorsolateral and ventrolateral lines the body appears pale green due to densely arranged green dots in a pale matrix; darker green below ventrolateral line; legs concolorous; spiracles pale brown, inconspicuous. The mature caterpillar develops wax glands, but their location and arrangement was not recorded for this individual, and wax was not used to coat the pupa or its shelter. Another caterpillar collected on maize near Kisumu developed wax glands ventrolaterally on A 7 and A 8, but it was parasitized (natural enemies below). A final instar caterpillar collected on Megathyrsus maximus in Zimbabwe (88 / 26) was similar: head 2.6 x 3.1 mm wide x high; the lateral stripe on the head was chestnut brown, black at the level of the stemmata, narrowest at vertex and 0.5mm wide otherwise; the yellow border to this stripe was restricted to the central two-thirds of the face; a narrow dark line between the yellow border and the brown stripe on the ventral half of the head only; epicranial and adfrontal sutures darker, inconspicuous dark streak on clypeus and lateral to adfrontals. In the penultimate instar of the same individual, the head measured 1.9 x 2.1mm wide x high; vertex barely indent; black ground colour, rugose; a diffuse, pale streak runs from just below the vertex down each epicranium to the stemmata, with a slight break in the lower half; adfrontals slightly paler; pair of angled short dashes on clypeus. Body mostly dull green, yellow-green on T 1 –A 3 and A 8–9; darker, clear dorsal line defined by subcutaneous fat bodies; indistinct diffuse pale dorsolateral line; legs concolorous; spiracles inconspicuous. The n- 2 instar caterpillar had a dark head, 1.0 x 1.2mm wide x high. Sevastopulo (unpublished) describes caterpillars with black lateral stripes on the head of the fifth instar, although given earlier confusion between P. mathias and P. t h r a x, the fit of this description to the caterpillars of P. thrax (Figure 12) raises the possibility that it could be a caterpillar of P. t h r a x. Sevastopulo also reared another caterpillar with a red stripe with white borders and a broken red stripe between this and the clypeus, i.e. resembling that shown here from Zimbabwe (Figure 10.1). Clark (in Dickson & Kroon 1978) provides a detailed plate of the life history, showing that the first three instars have a dark head, and the fourth instar has the head pale with dark sutures, a strong lateral line from vertex laterally to stemmata and a dark line down each side of face parallel to the adfrontals; a trace of this line on the face persists in the final, fifth instar. Larsen (1984) illustrates the caterpillar from Dhofar, incorrectly identified as P. t h r a x (see Cock 2010 a). IRRI (1983) illustrates the caterpillar as a minor pest of rice, although the pupa is of another species (Cock 2010 a). Van Vreden & Ahmadzabidi (1986) illustrate the caterpillar and pupa from Malaysia with colour photos. Pupa The pupa (Figure 11) is typical of the group. Female pupa 88 / 67 measured 25 mm, of which the frontal spike was 2mm; bright green ground colour; diffuse white subdorsal line; sharply defined yellowish white dorsolateral line. The male pupa from Zimbabwe (88 / 26) was similar; also measured 25 mm with the frontal spike, which was slightly downturned at the apex, 2.5 mm; the dorsolateral line was white. As the adult developed, the male brand was the first feature to be visible against a white background of the developing wing. Pupation takes about 15 days at Nairobi, but as little as eight days at the coast (Sevastopulo unpublished). Natural enemies There are many parasitoids recorded from Asia (CABI 2011), but the only record from Africa is Carnegie et al.’s (1974) statement that the caterpillars are parasitized by an unidentified braconid in South Africa. A 27mm fully grown caterpillar collected on maize near Kisumu (89 / 39) produced 20 small puparia from which emerged 17 adults of Ceranthia sp., a gregarious tachinid fly also reared from Chondrolepis leggei (Heron) and Zophopetes dysmephila (Trimen) (Hesperiinae) in Kakamega Forest.Published as part of Cock, Matthew J. W. & Congdon, Colin E., 2012, Observations on the biology of Afrotropical Hesperiidae (Lepidoptera) principally from Kenya. Part 4. Hesperiinae: Aeromachini and Baorini, pp. 1-42 in Zootaxa 3438 on pages 11-16, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.24633
Author PES removing senescent inflorescence sheaves from a sabal palm in Gainesville, Florida.
No full text<p>Author PES removing senescent inflorescence sheaves from a sabal palm in Gainesville, Florida.</p
Indonesia's palm oil subsector
No full textDebate on Indonesia's palm oil policy was stimulated by a sharp increase in cooking oil prices in 1994-95 and a resulting increase in the export tax rate on crude palm oil. Palm oil has been one of the fastest growing subsectors in Indonesia. Using a quantitative model, the author analyzes the effect of government policies, including the export tax, buffer stock operations by the BULOG (the national logistics agency), and directed sales from public estates. The author acknowledges the export tax's effectiveness in lowering domestic prices, but observes that its impact on inflation and consumer welfare is minimal. The tax has also had the unintended effect of transferring income from oil palm growers located primarily off Java. The structure of the tax discourages local processing by squeezing processing margins. And determining tax rates on palm oil products independent from the underlying crude palm oil price creates uncertainty about marketing margins for processors. The author recommends repealing the tax and discontinuing buffer stock operations and directed sales from public estates. The author concludes with recommendations on investment policy. Direct incentives to private investors have been used to overcome investment risks and uncertainties, but investors should no longer need those incentives. Instead, Indonesia's government should focus more on alleviating obstacles to private investment. The Bank might be of assistance in this area.Markets and Market Access,Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Consumption,Economic Theory&Research,Consumption,Environmental Economics&Policies,Markets and Market Access,Access to Markets
Investigating the Palm Oil Supply Chain at Oxford Brookes University's Headington Campus in Order to Examine the Geographies of Sustainable Palm Oil Production
No full textExploring the presence/absence of palm oil in Oxford Brookes’ Headington Campus restaurants, assessing the sustainability of its sources, and examining the wider procurement policy implications.
This paper aims to understand the presence/absence of palm oil in Oxford Brookes’ Headington Campus restaurants, assess the sustainability of its sources and examine the wider procurement policy implications. Oxford Brookes was the first ‘fair trade university’ in 2003, and has a commitment to sustainability. The lack of literature on traceability of palm oil demands research to better understand the palm oil supply chain in UK organisations such as universities. Palm oil is in over 50% of prepared food in the UK and is the most produced and consumed vegetable oil in the world (WWF, 2017). Palm oil has serious effects on the environment and ecosystems in regions where it is produced, and a number of organisations exist with varying aims and requirements on sustainable palm oil. Firstly, this research will trace the palm oil in the Oxford Brookes’ supply chain and identifying the geographic region from where the palm oil was sourced and whether it is sourced sustainably or not. Secondly, the presence/absence of sustainable and conventional (i.e. non-sustainable) palm oil in the Oxford Brookes supply chain will be explained. Here, things to explore include why Oxford Brookes has a sustainable policy, whether the university has chosen to reduce palm oil from their supply chain and source from other vegetable oils. Data will also be obtained from semi-structured interviews with the suppliers and Brookes Procurement. This paper will highlight the lack of transparency in the palm oil supply chain and explore organisations in place that aim to increase traceability
Warriors for peace. The political situation of the Aboriginal people as viewed from Palm Island
No full textLa traduction anglaise de 2010 comprend une nouvelle préface de B. Glowczewski et une postface de Lise Garond: mise en ligne en 2010 sur deux sites australiens : AIATSIS, JCU http://eprints.jcu.edu.au/7286/ et un site français: http://www.ausanthrop.net/Anthropological analysis of the inquest into Cameron Doomadgee's (Mulrunji) violent death in custody (November 2004), the committal hearing of 23 Palm Aboriginal people prosecuted for a "riot" that followed the autopsy, and the trial of the policeman, Sgt Hurley, in 2007 and the media coverage of the events. The French author, Barbara Glowczewski, who has been working with Aboriginal people since 1979, followed the tribunal proceedings in Townsville in 2005 and 2006, edited interviews with Lex Wotton (suspected "ring leader of the riot") and updated this English translation of the French book (Guerriers pour la Paix, Indigène éditions, 2008) before he was released from jail in July 2010
Warriors for peace. The political situation of the Aboriginal people as viewed from Palm Island
No full textLa traduction anglaise de 2010 comprend une nouvelle préface de B. Glowczewski et une postface de Lise Garond: mise en ligne en 2010 sur deux sites australiens : AIATSIS, JCU http://eprints.jcu.edu.au/7286/ et un site français: http://www.ausanthrop.net/Anthropological analysis of the inquest into Cameron Doomadgee's (Mulrunji) violent death in custody (November 2004), the committal hearing of 23 Palm Aboriginal people prosecuted for a "riot" that followed the autopsy, and the trial of the policeman, Sgt Hurley, in 2007 and the media coverage of the events. The French author, Barbara Glowczewski, who has been working with Aboriginal people since 1979, followed the tribunal proceedings in Townsville in 2005 and 2006, edited interviews with Lex Wotton (suspected "ring leader of the riot") and updated this English translation of the French book (Guerriers pour la Paix, Indigène éditions, 2008) before he was released from jail in July 2010
Insertion and deletion tolerance of point processes
No full textWe develop a theory of insertion and deletion tolerance for point processes. A process is insertion-tolerant if adding a suitably chosen random point results in a point process that is absolutely continuous in law with respect to the original process. This condition and the related notion of deletion-tolerance are extensions of the so-called finite energy condition for discrete random processes. We prove several equivalent formulations of each condition, including versions involving Palm processes. Certain other seemingly natural variants of the conditions turn out not to be equivalent. We illustrate the concepts in the context of a number of examples, including Gaussian zero processes and randomly perturbed lattices, and we provide applications to continuum percolation and stable matching
Evaluasi Kinerja Perusahaan Minyak Kelapa Sawit PT. Astra Argo Lestari Tbk. (AALI) dan PT. PP London Sumatra Indonesia Tbk (LSIP)
No full textThe movement of share prices in palm oil plantation companies is very interesting to review as an object of research. This is caused by the fluctuation of supply and demand which causes prices to soar high or fall within a period of approximately 60% in less than 2 years. This research will discuss the performance of oil palm companies using three analytical approaches such as fundamental, technical and internal and external facts that can affect the company's performance in making decisions and financial statements. This study aims to evaluate the performance of LSIP and AALI shares since 2017- Semester 1 2019 and provide consideration for potential investors before deciding to buy LSIP or AALI shares. The technique used is purposive sampling with a descriptive qualitative method approach. The results of this study are the two oil palm plantation shares are still experiencing pressure due to declining market demand and the eroded world CPO prices. This will have an impact on financial statements, especially on profitability ratios. The author recommends buying AALI stock compared to LSIP for a long period of time
Palm Walk: A Designed Historic Landscape At Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona
No full textabstract: The consulting historian's report regarding the history of installing and maintaining the iconic Palm Walk at Arizona State University. Created for the centannial celebration of Palm Walk and as part of efforts to replace the historic palms with new palm trees
Does oil palm agriculture help alleviate poverty? A multidimensional counterfactual assessment of oil palm development in Indonesia
No full textPalm oil producing countries regularly promote the positive impact of palm oil agriculture on poverty alleviation, despite limited evidence about the contribution of this crop on village well-being. Past evaluations that quantify the social impact of oil palm are dominated by localized studies, which complicate the detection of generalizable findings. Moreover, only a few of these evaluations are based on rigorous case-control studies, which limits the robustness of the conclusions. Here we examined the association between the development of oil palm plantations and change in objective or material wellbeing between 2000 and 2014 across villages in Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. We applied a matching method to evaluate the impacts of oil palm plantations across different aspects of well-being, accounting for varying time delays in the accrual and realization of benefits after plantation development. Our study reveals that the social impacts of oil-palm plantations are not uniformly positive, nor negative, and have varied systematically with biophysical locations and baseline socioeconomic conditions of nearby communities prior to oil palm development. Plantations developed in villages with low to moderate forest cover, in which the majority of communities already relied on market-oriented livelihoods, were associated with improved socioeconomic well-being compared to villages without oil palm development. However, we found the opposite for plantations developed in remote villages with higher forest cover, in which the majority of communities previously relied on subsistence-based livelihoods. Overall, oil palm growing villages were more associated with reduced rate of improvement of social and environmentalwell-being compared to villages without oil palm development, regardless of location and baseline community livelihoods. Our findings highlight an urgent need for careful evaluation and planning in the development of oil palm agriculture in remote forested areas. For oil palm regions that have been developed, our study shows that unsustainable livelihoods, increased socioeconomic disparity, and environmental issues remain major challenges
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