This paper describes a new genus with a new species from Burmese amber, namely: Latedactylus longapedi gen. et sp. nov. (Tridactylidae: Tridactylinae). L. longapedi gen. et sp. nov. is erected based ...on the cylindrical second segment of cercus longer and distinctly slender than the first; metatibia without swimming plates; metatarsus about three times as long as apical spurs of metatibia.
Pheropsophus aequinoctialis (L.) is a ground beetle in the tribe, Brachinini, native to parts of South and Central America. Ground beetles of this tribe are commonly referred to as bombardier beetles ...due to their ability to produce a powerful and hot defensive chemical spray directed at would-be predators. This spray is capable of harming humans, resulting in discomfort, physical burns (due to the spray temperature), and possibly contact dermatitis. The adults of this species are nocturnal and believed to be generalist predators and scavengers. However, larval stages appear to depend on an exclusive diet of mole cricket eggs. As such, Pheropsophus aequinoctialis may have potential use as a biological control agent against certain invasive mole cricket pests in North America. This article describes this insects biology, development, and behavior.
Also published on the Featured Creatures website at http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/Creatures/BeneFICIAL/beetles/Pheropsophus_aequinoctialis.html
A patchy fossil record and limited information is available for understanding the early evolution of Gryllotalpidae, which is a specialized orthopteran family with fossorial habits. Herein, a new ...mole cricket species, Tresdigitus gracilis sp. nov., is described and attributed to the genus Tresdigitus mainly based on its quadrate pronotum equal to the head in width, protibia with three setose movable dactyls, mesotibia with four apical spurs, and metatibia with denticle-like spines distributed on the distal 2/3rds of its length and six spurs apically. It is mainly distinguished from Tresdigitus rectanguli Xu et al., 2020 in the head not being hidden under the pronotum, head with a distinct ‘Y-shaped’ ecdysial suture, the pronotum is nearly equal to the head in length, and the metatibia with fifteen denticle-like spines interspersed on upper margin. Mouthpart of the new species is well-preserved, and its blunt lacinia probably indicates that Tresdigitus gracilis sp. nov. was graminivorous. Additionally, keys to genera and species of fossil gryllotalpids in Cretaceous Kachin (northern Myanmar) and France amber is provided.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
This paper describes a new species of the genus Burmadactylus Heads, 2009 (Tridactylidae: Dentridactylinae) from Burmese amber, namely: Burmadactylus tenuicerci sp. nov. This new species is similar ...to Burmadactylus grimaldi Heads, 2009, but differs from latter by mesotibia basally inflated and almost as long as mesofemur; the second segment of cercus distinctly slender; paraproctal lobe covered with sparse and slender setae, one of the setae near the apex distinct thick and long.
A new genus and species, Magnidactylus robustus gen. et sp. nov., is described on the basis of a well-preserved orthopteran insect from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber and attributed to the subfamily ...Dentridactylinae of the family Tridactylidae (Orthoptera: Tridactyloidea). This new taxon not only provides novel morphological diversity in Tridactylidae (pygmy mole crickets), but also represents the largest one of all the tridactylids reported from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. The pygmy mole crickets of mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber had no swimming plates, suggesting that their habitat was less related to freshwater than the extant ones.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
The European Mole Cricket,
Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa
(Orthoptera: Gryllotalpidae), is a key pest of several crops in different regions of the world, damaging seedlings, roots and tubers. The efficacy ...of fipronil (Regent ® GR 0.2%) @ 2, 2.5 and 3 g/m
2
along with toxic bait of carbaryl (EC 85%)@ 20 g/m
2
were assessed against this pest in the field based on a completely randomized block design. Based on Henderson-Tilton formula, on the third day after treatment, the efficacy of fipronil @ 2, 2.5 and 3 g/m
2
and carbaryl bait was 16%, 30%, 47% and 53%, respectively; while on the third day after treatment, the efficacy was 22%, 48%, 64% and 81%, respectively. At present, carbaryl application is banned in Iran; therefore, fipronil can be a suitable substitute for this insecticide.
As an ancient lineage among ensiferans, the family Gryllotalpidae has been underreported with limited fossil record. Herein, a new mole cricket, Chunxiania fania gen. et sp. nov., is described on the ...basis of an exquisitely-preserved specimen from mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber. It can be attributed to the family Gryllotalpidae (Orthoptera: Ensifera) based on distinct fossorial forelegs with sturdy femur and inflated tibia, protibia with tympana, and dactyls processes. However, it cannot be incorporated into any existing subfamily or genus of Gryllotalpidae mainly due to protibia with three movable dactyls and a very small, non-articulated denticular process, mesotibia with five apical spurs, and nearly triangular subgenital plate which is slightly curved upwards. This new finding shows novel morphological diversity in fossil Gryllotalpidae, providing insight to the early evolution of the fossorial adaption and palaeoecology of mole crickets.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Introduction Optimizing the energy consumption in mechanized agriculture is becoming more important due to the limited energy sources in the world. In this regard, optimization of the cutting blades ...is presented in this study by modifying the geometric form of the blade to reduce the forage cutting energy. Hence, two new blades, inspired by the geometric profiles of front claws of mole crickets and teeth of grasshoppers were designed and built using the biomimetic method (the method for transferring biological solutions to the engineering ones). Finally, the new biomimetic blades were tested and compared with two other conventional blades (flat and bent blades) by cutting 8 different types of crops and weeds. Materials and Methods The main idea of building one of the blades was inspired by the geometric forms of mole crickets' scissors-like front legs and lower teeth of grasshoppers. Therefore, five adult mole crickets and five grasshoppers were collected from a farm in Kalat-e Naderi, Khorasan Razavi Province. In the next step, different images were captured from the front leg of mole cricket and tooth of grasshopper using the stereomicroscope (Nikon, SMZ-U, Japan). In the next step, the images were transferred to the image analysis software (Image J) and the boundary lines of images were selected. Then, the selected boundary lines were imported to SolidWorks software and the points on the selected curve were extracted. The obtained points were drawn in Matlab software and several fitting curves for the points were examined, e.g., Fourier function, Gaussian function, and polynomial function. According to the obtained results, the Gaussian profile was selected to design the blade with the highest correlation coefficient (R2=0.99), see Fig. 1d. To design the desired blade, a section of the Gaussian curve between points A and B were used. Finally, the biomimetic blade of the mole cricket and grasshopper were drawn in SolidWorks software (Fig. 1e). After designing the blades in the SolidWorks software, the biomimetic blades were built by a CNC machine. Results and Discussion In all the treatments, a significant difference was observed between the biomimetic blades and the conventional flat and bent blades according to the results of Tukey's test at the level of 5%. The obtained results showed that there was no significant difference between the mole cricket and grasshopper blades at the level of 5% for cutting. According to the results obtained in this study, there was a significant difference at the level of 5% between the grasshopper and flat blades for cutting alfalfa, clover, amaranth, orach, and poaceae; as well as between the grasshopper and bent blades for cutting alfalfa, clover, nutsedge, and amaranth, also between mole cricket and flat blades for cutting alfalfa, clover, purslane, amaranth, orach, paddy, and poaceae and finally between mole cricket and flat blades in cutting alfalfa, clover, nutsedge, amaranthus, and paddy. In this regard, no significant difference at the level of 5% was observed between the flat and bent blades for all cutting treatment. The batches containing 6 stems were used for cutting the soft stems with low shear stress and the batches containing 4 stems were used for cutting thick stems with high shear stress. Conclusions The results obtained in this study indicated that the geometrical form of the blade has a significant influence on the amount of required shear energy. The mole cricket biomimetic blade reduced the cutting energy compared to the flat blade by 23.37% to 52.51% (with the mean of 39.11%) and compared to the bent blade by 10.46% to 52.46% (with the mean of 32.8%). The grasshopper biomimetic blade also reduced the cutting energy compared to the flat blade by 15.78% to 53.82% (with the mean of 33.59%) and compared to the bent blade by 2% to 46.29% (with the mean of 27.87%). According to the results of this study, the mole cricket biomimetic blade showed better performance in comparison with the grasshopper biomimetic blade for cutting the plants and as a final result could be recommended to build the plant cutting blades.
Recovery plans for rare and endangered insects most commonly focus on identifying critical abiotic habitat requirements for focal species, and then using these criteria in developing species ...management portfolios. Biotic interaction data are rarely available, and when produced are seldom integrated into management plans due to their complexity of interpretation. Here we examine advances in our understanding of biotic factors that regulate behavior and life history in two rare insect species of conservation focus: the carrion-breeding American burying beetle, Nicrophorus americanus (Olivier) and the lek mating Gryllotalpa major (Saussure). Current recovery and conservation plans for both species are heavily weighted by abiotic habitat considerations, despite the likely regulation of populations by critical biotic interactions such as interspecies competition, symbioses, predation, and behavioral variation. Examples presented here support a more cohesive approach to constructing conservation management plans to prioritize the integration of ecological interaction data, and to incentivize related research leading to more effective species recovery outcomes.
The composting of sewage sludge is constrained by structural insufficiencies such as high water retention, reduced free air space and limited compaction. To overcome these hindrances, this study ...investigates application of bioconversion method to compost sewage sludge. The bioconversion method uses insect mole cricket that provides benefits such as improved aeration by 32%, enhanced organic matter transformation, stability and maturity of the end product. Bioconversion method was compared with vermicomposting and conventional aerated composting methods. Comparison of the results among the three methods showed that the end product was mature with germination index (GI) > 80%, humification index (E4/E6) < 8, dissolved organic carbon < 10 mg kg
−1
and C/N < 15. However, the end product of the bioconversion method had the highest GI of 140, cation exchange capacity of 91.7 and the lowest C/N ratio of 14 indicating that this compost was relatively more stable than the composts produced by the other two methods. The number of faecal coliforms in mature compost samples was 210, 230 and 750 CFU g
−1
for the bioconversion, vermicomposting and conventional composting methods, respectively. The results highlight that bioconversion method produces a non-phytotoxic and microbiologically safe compost that can be considered as a reliable alternative for composting of sewage sludge.
Full text
Available for:
EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OBVAL, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
PDF
