Madagascar Research Articles

The nutritional values of two species of sea cucumbers (Holothuria scabra and Holothuria lessoni) from Madagascar

Sea cucumbers are fishery products that are not used for consumption by the Malagasy people. In this study, nutritional values of two species of trepangs (air dried sea cucumber) from Madagascar Holothuria scabra and Holothuria lessoni were determined including moisture, ash, fat, protein and carbonhydrate. The results showed that H. scabra and H. lessoni had respective water contents of 13 and 14%, the dry matter contents were around 86%. Results on crude protein were around 47% for H. scabra and 41% for H. lessoni, which constitute almost half of their total composition. Crude ash represented 32% of the dry matter for H. scabra and 39% for H. lessoni. Lipids and carbohydrates are low (between two and three percent for lipids and about eight percent for carbohydrates). The findings from this study have shown that there are significant differences (p-value <0.005) in nutrient composition in the two species. This low moisture content ensures a long preservation time of the food. These two species are very rich in proteins; this richness in proteins could be an asset in the fight against the malnutrition existing in Madagascar. The high quantity of ash is already sufficient to assume that there are a high quantity and quality of mineral elements. The objective of this study is to determine the nutritional value of the two species for possible presentation to consumers. Key words: Sea cucumbers, Trepangs, nutritional analysis, Holothuria scabra, Holothuria lesson, Madagascar.

Revision of the Afrotropical genus Pulchrisolia Szabó (Hymenoptera, Platygastridae, Sceliotrachelinae)

The genus Pulchrisolia Szabó is revised. Pulchrisolia maculata Szabó is redescribed and nine species are described as new: P. ankremos Lahey, sp. nov. (Ghana, Ivory Coast), P. asantesanavan Noort &amp;amp; Lahey, sp. nov. (South Africa), P. diehoekensis van Noort &amp;amp; Lahey, sp. nov. (South Africa), P. ellieae Lahey, sp. nov. (Madagascar), P. nephelae Lahey, sp. nov. (Benin, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Ivory Coast, Mali, Nigeria), P. robynae van Noort &amp;amp; Lahey, sp. nov. (South Africa), P. sanbornei Lahey &amp;amp; Masner, sp. nov. (South Africa), P. teras Lahey, sp. nov. (Madagascar), and P. valerieae Polaszek &amp;amp; Lahey, sp. nov. (Zambia). The genus is diagnosed from Afrisolia Masner &amp;amp; Huggert, Isolia Förster, and Sceliotrachelus Brues, and a key is provided to the platygastrid genera of the Isolia-cluster.

A Journey of the People Francis in Mozambique, Madagascar and Mauritius

A Journey of the People Francis in Mozambique, Madagascar and Mauritius

Role of bacteriological analysis of the joint fluid in the diagnosis of the septic arthritis in adults in low-income countries such as Madagascar.

Septic arthritis is a serious disease and its treatment remains a major challenge. Demonstration of the microorganism is the key to diagnosis according to all international guidelines. In developing countries such as Madagascar, where access to basic health services is still difficult, bacteriological analysis of the joint fluid is not yet available in most healthcare facilities. We propose effective solutions that are scientifically valid, adapted to the country's socioeconomic conditions and current health situation, while taking international recommendations into consideration. We propose that the few university hospitals with rheumatology departments and good reference laboratories should be supported to participate in a pilot program to compile data to establish the clinical and bacteriological profiles of septic arthritis here. In lower level health centers where bacteriological examinations of the joint fluid and other complementary tests are more or less impossible, a diagnosis of septic arthritis is mainly based on clinical findings. Accordingly, all diagnosis and management should be centralized in these reference centers, which will allow the adaptation and progressive update of guidelines for the management of septic arthritis.

Lembakaria gen. nov. – a New Genus of Selizini from Madagascar Spiny Forest Ecoregion (Hemiptera: Fulgoromoprha: Flatidae)

A new genus of flatid planthoppers (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha: Flatidae), Lembakariagen. nov., is described for Lembakaria saintemariaesp. nov. (type species) and Lembakaria mikeaesp. nov. from the island of Madagascar. Habitus, male and female external and internal genital structures of the new species are illustrated. Lembakaria is probably endemic to Madagascar where it is known to date, only from a southern part of the island and is confined to the vegetation of Spiny Forest Ecoregion.

Inoculation of Mimosa latispinosa Lam with the Commercial Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungus Rhizophagus irregularis DAOM 197198, and Bradyrhizobium spp. Under Nursery Production Conditions in South-East Madagascar

Inoculation en pepiniere de Mimosa latispinosa Lam. avec le symbionte mycorhizien arbusculaire, Rhizophagus irregularis DAOM 197198, et Bradyrhizobium spp. dans le sud-est de Madagascar. La compagnie Qit Madagascar Minerals (QMM) a pris plusieurs engagements environnementaux dans son projet minier base pres de la ville de Fort-Dauphin (Madagascar), dont celui de restaurer une partie de ses sites apres exploitation. Differentes souches symbiotiques ont ete testees en tant que bio-stimulateurs pour la restauration ecologique de Mimosa latispinosa, Lam. un arbuste pionnier local. Les souches symbiotiques testees en pepiniere etaient la souche de l’inoculum commercial, Rhizophagus irregularis DAOM197198 et deux souches locales de Bradyrhizobium spp., STM1415 et STM1447, inoculees seules ou en combinaison avec la souche de mycorhize arbusculaire. Les traitements n’ont pas montre de differences significatives au niveau de la hauteur et de la biomasse seche des plantes. Les plantes cultivees en sol sterilise ont toutefois connu une croissance significativement superieure a celles produites en sol non-sterilise. Vingt semaines apres inoculation, les resultats suggerent que la tyndallisation du sol (chauffage a 100°C et a pression atmospherique de 700 kPa pendant trois heures) est une methode efficace pour la production en pepiniere de plants de bonne qualite de M. latispinosa issus de semis.

A review of the Madagascan species of the genus Cestradoretus Ohaus(Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Rutelinae: Adoretini).

The genus Cestradoretus Ohaus, 1912 was erected by Ohaus (1912) to accommodate a Madagascan Adoretini species, C. tenuirostris Ohaus, 1912. This genus is characterized by the adults having the apex of the labrum with a long, fine, acute process curved downwards. In the addition to the above mentioned paper, Ohaus (1912) also described C. acomys Ohaus, 1912 from Tanzania, and later moved Adoretus tarsatus Klug, 1855, described from Mozambique, to Cestradoretus (Ohaus 1916). Later, Machatschke (1965) described two species from Africa, C. freyi Machatschke, 1965 from Botswana and C. minusculus Machatschke, 1965 from Somalia, and Frey (1976) described C. clypealis Frey, 1976 from Somalia. Thus, Cestradoretus included six species, one from Madagascar and five from Africa.

Central Malagasy

Malagasy is the westernmost Austronesian language and belongs to the South East Barito subgroup of the Western Malayo-Polynesian subfamily (Dahl 1988, Rasoloson &amp; Rubino 2005). Dahl (1951) presents widely-accepted evidence that Malagasy is most closely related to the Indonesian language Ma’anyan of Kalimantan (South Borneo). The term Malagasy refers to a macrolanguage (Lewis, Simons &amp; Fennig 2014), with many regional dialects distributed throughout the island of Madagascar, which lies off the east African coast across from Mozambique (see Figure 1) and has a population of over 22 million (INSTAT 2018). The central area of the country, or the ‘Central Highlands’, is a plateau of up to 5000 feet and includes the capital city of Antananarivo, with a metropolitan population of about four million. The dialect historically spoken in and around Antananarivo is called Merina, and it served as the primary basis for development of the standardized, institutional language referred to as Malagasy Ofisialy ‘Official Malagasy’ (OM).

Jane Hooper. Feeding Globalization: Madagascar and the Provisioning Trade, 1600–1800.

Jane Hooper. Feeding Globalization: Madagascar and the Provisioning Trade, 1600–1800.

Cocconeis nosybetiana sp. nov. from Nosy Be Island (Madagascar) and allied taxa

Cocconeis nosybetiana sp. nov. from Nosy Be Island (Madagascar) and allied taxa

Prevalence of HIV-tuberculosis coinfection at the University Hospital of Tulear, Madagascar.

Screening for HIV is recommended for all TB patients but it has not yet been initiated in some regions of Madagascar. In this study, our main objective was to determine the seroprevalence of HIV infection in TB patients and secondarily to determine the risk factors favoring TB infection in these patients. This prospective cross-sectional study took place in the pneumology department of the University Hospital of Tulear from January to April, 2017. We diagnosed 75 patients with tuberculosis, 96.05% of them new cases. The sex-ratio was 1.81. Patients' mean age was 35 years. Two patients (2.66%) were coinfected with HIV. Among the new cases diagnosed, 62.66% had pulmonary tuberculosis with positive microscopy (TPM +). Two patients reported a person with tuberculosis among their family or close friends. Living with someone in poor hygiene conditions was reported by 82.66% of the cases. Overall, 24% were unemployed. These patients had quite varied ethnic origins. The prevalence of HIV infection in TB patients was higher than in the general population. Low income and low educational levels were the main risk factors for TB infection in Madagascar.

A new species of Pseudostola from Madagascar (Coleoptera Chrysomelidae)

Pseudostola ornata n. sp. from Madagascar is described and compared with the other known Pseudostola species. a key to species of Pseudostola and taxonomic notes are provided. Lectotypes are designated for P. amoena Bechyně, 1949, P. perrieri Fairmaire, 1899 and P. tuberculicollis Bechyně, 1946. The synonymy P. grandis (Fairmaire, 1901) = P. grandis Fairmaire, 1902, already proposed by Berlioz (1915), is reintroduced.

A New Definition of the South‐East Madagascar Bloom and Analysis of Its Variability

AbstractThe South‐East Madagascar Bloom occurs in an oligotrophic region of the southwest Indian Ocean. Phase locked to austral summer, this sporadic feature exhibits substantial temporal and spatial variability. Several studies, with different hypotheses, have focused on the initiation mechanism triggering the bloom, but none has been as yet clearly substantiated. With 19 years of ocean color data set available as well as in situ measurements (Argo profiles), the time is ripe to review this feature. The bloom is characterized in a novel manner, and a new bloom index is suggested, yielding 11 bloom years, including 3 major bloom years (1999, 2006, and 2008). Spatially, the bloom varies from a mean structure (22–32°S; 50–70°E) both zonally and meridionally. A colocation analysis of Argo profiles and chlorophyll‐a data revealed a bloom occurrence in a shallow‐stratified layer, with low‐salinity water in the surface layers. Additionally, a quantitative assessment of the previous hypotheses is performed and bloom occurrence is found to coincide with La Niña events and reduced upwelling intensity south of Madagascar. A stronger South‐East Madagascar Current during La Niña may support a detachment of the current from the coasts, dampening the upwelling south of Madagascar, and feeding low‐salinity waters into the Madagascar Basin, hence increasing stratification. Along with abundance of light, these provide the right conditions for a nitrogen‐fixing cyanobacterial phytoplankton bloom onset.

Dyed Banded Agate from Madagascar

Dyed Banded Agate from Madagascar

Quartz from Madagascar with Fuchsite Phantom Inclusions

Quartz from Madagascar with Fuchsite Phantom Inclusions

The Lords of Muskets

When firearms first arrived on the island of Madagascar at the beginning of the 16th century, they soon became a very much sought-after commodity for the local population. This contribution traces for the first time the history of firearm technology on Madagascar during precolonial times, until the French colonization in 1896, in a systematic perspective. A case study on the use of firearms around 1710 shows that firearms became integrated into an already long-established logic of intensive war. On the political level, the firearms gave rise to a new form of chieftaincy that has endured for more than three centuries: the “lords of muskets.”

Herbal Remedies to Treat Malaria in Madagascar: Hype and Hope.

On the island of Madagascar, prior to the arrival of the Europeans, some pathologies including malaria, locally known as tazo (fever), were already described. As part of the Malagasy traditional knowledge, traditional medicine mainly based on the use of herbal remedies is part of the malaria treatment still today. Across the country, hundreds of plants are identified as antimalarial, and some compounds from plants show interesting in vitro activities against human Plasmodium. However, it has become clear that most of the antimalarial herbal remedies traditionally used are not efficient antimalarials. In order to identify authentic antimalarial herbal remedies, methodical approaches should range from plant selection to biological screening. In this paper, we share our point of view based on our experience on antimalarial plants in Madagascar.

Genetic structure among Charadrius plovers on the African mainland and islands of Madagascar and St Helena

Colonization of islands by long‐distance dispersers has great impact on genetic diversification among populations and may spearhead speciation events. We investigated intra‐ and interspecific divergence in Charadrius plovers with populations on mainland Africa, Madagascar and St Helena. We analysed microsatellite loci and sequence data from four nuclear and two mitochondrial gene regions. Charadrius plovers are shorebirds with high dispersal and mobility. Our results confirmed genetic differentiation between Madagascar and mainland populations of three plover species (White‐fronted Plover Charadrius marginatus, Kittlitz's Plover Charadrius pecuarius and, based on sequence data only, Three‐banded Plover Charadrius tricollaris) but highlight substantial variation in levels of intraspecific divergence among the three species. Namely, the Kittlitz's Plover, a dispersive habitat generalist with a polygamous mating system, exhibited lower island–mainland differentiation (0.05% COI sequence divergence) compared with the two monogamous species, the White‐fronted Plover (0.6% COI divergence) and Three‐banded Plover (1.6% COI divergence). In addition, past colonization of the islands of St Helena and Madagascar by ancestors of today's Kittlitz's Plover has led to the evolution of two endemic island species, the Madagascar Plover Charadrius thoracicus and the more closely‐related St Helena Plover Charadrius sanctaehelenae. We discuss the factors driving species differences in island–mainland divergence and highlight the importance of conserving genetically unique island populations and island habitats to safeguard future evolutionary potential.

Developing Astronomy in Madagascar – the impact of the IAU Support

AbstractDuring its XXXth General Assembly, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) welcomed the island of Madagascar, under the Malagasy Astronomy &amp; Space Science (MASS), as one of its new National Members. Founded in 2016, MASS is a non-profit association, a community of young professional astronomers and graduate students from Madagascar. As various organizational structures are gradually being established towards the development of Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics in the country, the IAU has played a vital role and is still actively involved in achieving such ambitious goals.

Spread and strain determination of Varroa destructor following its introduction to Mauritius and interactions with the bee louse Braula pretoriensis in honey bee colonies

Honey bees are facing many serious threats, and Varroa destructor is of major worldwide concern. V. destructor was first observed in 2010 in the south–west Inidan Ocean island of Madagascar. Varroa spp. was first suspected in Mauritius in late July 2014. Two surveys were conducted in September and November 2014 in Mauritius and Rodrigues. The aims of these surveys were to confirm the presence of Varroa on Mauritius, determine the species and strain and to study its spread and interactions with the bee louse Braula pretoriensis. Honey bees were sampled from different sites. V. destructor and the bee louse Braula pretoriensis infestation rates were measured for each colony and apiary. V. destructor presence was confirmed and observed in the Central and Northern part of Mauritius, but was not detected in Rodrigues. B. pretoriensis was observed on both islands. V. destructor partial mitochondrial region of the CO1 showed that the Mauritius K strain found was different from the one from Madagascar. In Mauritius, B. pretoriensis numbers were significantly higher in colonies infested by V. destructor; however, bee louse infestation rates were similar in both islands in sites without the varroa mite. Although bee louse population regulation by honey bees is unknown, individual and social behaviors regulating V. destructor populations within colonies are not sufficient to maintain low levels of both B. pretoriensis and V. destructor. Sanitary measures were proposed, some of which are currently being applied to limit the spread of V. destructor across the island.