For Ghanaian women of reproductive age (WRA), anemia remains a pressing issue. Currently, at the global level, anemia affects 35% of this population according to the most recent “State of Food ...Security and Nutrition in the World” report. In Ghana, anemia is mostly associated with iron deficiency and, if left untreated, could result in several adverse outcomes including severe fatigue and exhaustion resulting in decreased work productivity, neurocognitive impairment, and complications with chronic kidney disease. Various strategies can effectively reduce iron-deficiency anemia at the population level, including food fortification, supplementation, and dietary improvement. Unfortunately, these have failed to reach Ghanaian women adequately and equitably, resulting in many not meeting their nutritional needs. As an alternative strategy to curtail iron deficiency, edible insects, such as palm weevil larvae, have been suggested for their nutritional benefits, cost-effective rearing, and yearly availability. As such, popularizing their consumption could present an opportunity to improve WRA’s iron status in Ghana. To assess the feasibility of this strategy, formative research is needed to examine local attitudes, knowledge, and beliefs associated with the consumption of palm weevil larvae. Formative research was conducted in five peri-urban communities in the Ashanti region of Ghana that were purposefully selected for the study. These communities were separated into two clusters based on their access to palm trees. The analysis was based on 12 focus group discussions conducted with 121 female respondents, at which point data saturation was reached. Thematic analysis was used to examine the facilitators and barriers to palm weevil larvae consumption as well as WRA’s general knowledge of nutrition and anemia. Women generally had favorable perceptions of palm weevil larvae as a nutritious food in its raw, frozen, and processed forms, and were eager to be involved in its value chain. The factors positively influencing the acceptance of palm weevil larvae were its perceived nutritional and health benefits, and its taste. The main barriers to its consumption in all communities were its scarcity, difficult and inconsistent access, and fear of unauthenticity and unsafety. Finally, despite women’s general awareness of the importance of iron, persistent misinformation by health-professionals undermined their perceived seriousness of iron-deficiency anemia. Women’s clear interest in palm weevil larvae is encouraging for the community-based domestication of palm weevil larvae. Future studies should examine the feasibility and logistical requirements of such a strategy and its impact on increasing the consumption of palm weevil larvae.
External secretions play a vital role in external immune defense. However, the functions and components of these exudates are largely unknown in the red palm weevil,
(Olivier) (Coleoptera: ...Curculionidae). In order to determine their role in external immunity, the immunosuppressive efficacy of the secretions
against microbes, including bacteria and fungi, was clarified. In the present study, we found that these secretions had antimicrobial activity
, implying external immunizing potency against pathogens. Surprisingly, all liquid phases of secretions could not significantly inhibit the growth of microbes
compared to solid phases. To explain this phenomenon, the composition and emission differentia of secretions from the exocrine glands associated with different developmental stages, secretory regions, and phases were identified and analyzed based on metabonomics techniques. A total of more than 200 compounds, including quinines, phenols, aldehydes, acids, alcohols, saccharides, ketones, esters, amines, salts, ureas, and heterocycles, were identified in the secretions of larvae and adults. The liquid phase shared a number of metabolites with the solid phase, but the emission types and amounts were significantly different in the two phases, resulting in differences in external immunological activity. Tyrosine and
-benzoquinone were the dominant metabolites in all of the secretions, accounting for approximately 11.29% of emissions, with the portion in the solid phase being generally higher than that in the liquid phase. Moreover, only
-benzoquinone was entirely significantly upregulated in the solid phase compared to the liquid phase. Therefore, metabolome analysis suggested that
-benzoquinone, which may potentially be developed to be a valuable marker for determining external immunity, was considered to be the main substance responsible for external immune functions. This hypothesis was further demonstrated by the antimicrobial activity of
-benzoquinone.
The date palm is a cultural and economic heritage of many nations. The red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier (Coleoptera, Curculionidae) is among the world’s most serious insect pests of ...palms that have rapidly expanded its geographical distribution and host plant range during the last decades. Integrated pest management (IPM) is followed to suppress the pest using the most economical and least hazardous methods to humans and the environment. Since R. ferrugineus is a serious pest of date palm production worldwide, farmers, researchers, and scientists have developed many tactics to eradicate this pest. However, there was no published article covering and integrating the current status, biology, ecology, and future control tactics of R. ferrugineus and proposes an IPM program. Therefore, in this review, R. ferrugineus geographical distribution, host plant range, economic importance, infestation symptoms, morphology, biology, and its management tactics were thoroughly discussed. These tactics include early detection of R. ferrugineus infestation, trapping, chemical applications, use of bio-agents, bioinsecticides (plant extracts), resistance cultivars, cultural practices, sterile insect technique, gene silencing technology, quarantine, and geographical information system. In conclusion, all available control tactics suggest that R. ferrugineus could be successfully managed by developing IPM programs comprising several means of control. It is hoped that this review will highlight some aspects of date palm management and raise research gaps and directions deserving further investigations to develop a better understanding of R. ferrugineus management and therefore contributes to the sustainability of date palm cultivation worldwide.
Red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Oliver, 1790), Order; Coleoptera, Family; Curculionidae, is considered as the biggest threat facing date palm cultivators. The larva feed on trunk tender ...tissue and can cause palm death within 6-8 months after infection. Insect gut harbors a community of bacteria that lives in an endosymbiotic relationship with the insect and it is strongly evident that it plays a key role in insect life. Deciphering and identification of insect microbiota could lead to the development of new symbiotiont-based control approaches. In this work we studied the diversity of the endosymbiont bacterial community of red palm weevil larval midgut in Egypt, by using Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (DGGE), based on 16S rRNA genes PCR amplification. We used three groups of field caught larva sampled from two different places; El-Badrashin and Agricultural Research Center (ARC) in Giza governorate, Egypt. DGGE profiling patterns has shown the relative prevalence of bacterial phylotypes affiliated to family Firmicute; Leuconostoc lactis, Lactococcus lactis, Lactobacillus nagelli and bacterial phylotypes affiliated to family Actinobaceria; Cellulomonas cellasea, Bifidobacterium minimum, which suggest that they have a potential role in nutrition, physiology and immunomodulation of the insect.
Red palm weevil (RPW) is widely considered a key pest of palms, creating extensive damages to the date palm trunk that inevitably leads to palm death if no pest eradication is done. This study ...evaluates the potential of a remote sensing approach for the timely and reliable detection of RPW infestation on the palm canopy. For two consecutive years, an experimental field with infested and control palms was regularly monitored by an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) carrying RGB, multispectral, and thermal sensors. Simultaneously, detailed visual observations of the RPW effects on the palms were made to assess the evolution of infestation from the initial stage until palm death. A UAV-based image processing chain for nondestructive RPW detection was built based on segmentation and vegetation index analysis techniques. These algorithms reveal the potential of thermal data to detect RPW infestation. Maximum temperature values and standard deviations within the palm crown revealed a significant (α = 0.05) difference between infested and non-infested palms at a severe infestation stage but before any visual canopy symptoms were noticed. Furthermore, this proof-of-concept study showed that the temporal monitoring of spectral vegetation index values could contribute to the detection of infested palms before canopy symptoms are visible. The seasonal significant (α = 0.05) increase of greenness index values, as observed in non-infested trees, could not be observed in infested palms. These findings are of added value for steering management practices and future related studies, but further validation of the results is needed. The workflow and resulting maps are accessible through the Mapeo® visualization platform.
Industrial crops including coconut palm and other palm species are seriously infested by red palm weevil (RPW), resulting in significant economic damage globally. Therefore, this study aimed to ...develop a mycoinsecticide utilizing conidia of Metarhizium anisopliae to control RPW and sought to investigate a new emulsion formulation for the influences of storage temperature and heat stress on conidia germination in an oil-in-glycerol emulsion system. The mycoinsecticide is an emulsion formulation which comprises an oil carrier, non-ionic surfactants, water, and glycerol, which was optimized by premixing the oil and non-ionic surfactant in different weight ratios (1:0, 9:1, 8:2, 7:3, 6:4, 5:5, 4: 6, 3: 7, 2:8, 1:9, and 0:1). From three selected oil-in-glycerol formulations, F25 was more stable in storage and had a smaller particle size (between 154.3 and 236.4 nm in diameter) and stable zeta potential (above + 30 mV) with low surface tension (29.83 ± 0.24 mN/m to 30.72 ± 0.11 mN/m at room temperature. Extended conidial viability was observed at 4 °C overall; the emulsion formulation maintained 12–15% conidial viability until the eighth week at room temperature. Heat of over 30 °C showed an inhibitory effect on conidial germination. This study revealed that the oil-in-glycerol formulation was stable and able to prolong conidial shelf life as compared to non-formulated conidia.
The Red Palm Weevil (RPW) is a highly destructive insect causing economic losses and impacting palm tree farming worldwide. This paper proposes an innovative approach for sustainable palm tree ...farming by utilizing advanced technologies for early detection and management of RPW. Our approach combines computer vision, deep learning (DL), the Internet of Things (IoT), and geospatial data to effectively detect and classify RPW-infested palm trees. The main phases include; (1) DL Classification using sound data from IoT devices, (2) palm tree detection using YOLOv8 on UAV images, and (3) RPW mapping using geospatial data. Our custom DL model achieves 100% precision and recall in detecting and localizing infested palm trees. The integration of geospatial data enables the creation of a comprehensive RPW distribution map for Efficient monitoring and targeted management strategies. This technology-driven approach benefits agricultural authorities, farmers, and researchers in managing RPW infestations, safeguarding palm tree plantations’ productivity.
Red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier) is a key pest of date palm Phoenix dactylifera L and continues to spread among and within date palm plantation countries. Globally, R. ferrugineus ...has the widest geographical range among the genus of Rhynchophorus weevils and is known to cause complete destruction of palms often resulting in widespread damage to entire grooves of cultivated date palms. Since R. ferrugineus was first recognized as a threat to date palm production in the mid 1980s for GCC countries, scientists and growers have deployed several methods to control this destructive pest, with the use of chemical insecticides being the main strategy until the synthesis of the male aggregation pheromone in 1993. This article reviews the current literature on different control methods to evaluate the effectiveness of various control options and proposes an overall strategy to manage R. ferrugineus in date palm. The R. ferrugineus control methods include prospects of early detection techniques, role of phyto-sanitation and agro-techniques (palm and field sanitation, palm injury prevention, elimination of hidden breeding sites including abandoned date plantations), semiochemicals and insecticide applications in preventive and curative treatments. Further, case studies of area-wide R. ferrugineus management in date palm besides the potential of biological control methods particularly with regard to the use of entomopathogenic fungi and nematodes and also the role of regulatory methods to regulate transport and transfer of infested palm trees (domestic and international quarantine) is presented. A review of the available control methodologies suggests that R. ferrugineus can be managed by deploying an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategy comprising of several tactics including regulatory methods, behaviour manipulation involving insect aggregation pheromones for monitoring and mass trapping adult weevils, chemical and biological control, crop and field sanitation, eliminating hidden breeding sites, manipulation of cultural practices involving in-groove humidity and palm density, frond and offshoot removal, besides regular dissemination of R. ferrugineus-IPM technologies among farmers and pest managers.
Weevils, classified in the family Curculionidae (true weevils), constitute a group of phytophagous insects of which many species are considered significant pests of crops. Within this family, the red ...palm weevil (RPW), Rhynchophorus ferrugineus, has an integral role in destroying crops and has invaded all countries of the Middle East and many in North Africa, Southern Europe, Southeast Asia, Oceania, and the Caribbean Islands. Simple sequence repeats (SSRs), also termed microsatellites, have become the DNA marker technology most applied to study population structure, evolution, and genetic diversity. Although these markers have been widely examined in many mammalian and plant species, and draft genome assemblies are available for many species of true weevils, very little is yet known about SSRs in weevil genomes. Here we carried out a comparative analysis examining and comparing the relative abundance, relative density, and GC content of SSRs in previously sequenced draft genomes of nine true weevils, with an emphasis on R. ferrugineus. We also used Illumina paired-end sequencing to generate draft sequence for adult female RPW and characterized it in terms of perfect SSRs with 1–6 bp nucleotide motifs. Among weevil genomes, mono- to trinucleotide SSRs were the most frequent, and mono-, di-, and hexanucleotide SSRs exhibited the highest GC content. In these draft genomes, SSR number and genome size were significantly correlated. This work will aid our understanding of the genome architecture and evolution of Curculionidae weevils and facilitate exploring SSR molecular marker development in these species.
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