Psychodidae Research Articles

The Psychodidae (Diptera) of Fernando de Noronha, Brazil, with a records overview of volcanic islands fauna

The family Psychodidae (Diptera) is recorded for the oceanic archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, represented by two genera and three species: Clogmia albipunctata Williston, Psychoda buxoides Quate, P. savaiiensis Edwards, as well as an undetermined species belonging to the tribe Pericomaini. The fauna of Psychodidae in Fernando de Noronha is remarkably inferior to the Brazilian continental fauna, including species known as cosmopolitan due to the introduction into the most varied environments by human action. An identification key for the Psychodidae of Fernando de Noronha is given, and an overview of the records of Psychodidae for volcanic islands worldwide is also provided.

Address wind farm layout problems by an adaptive moth-flame optimization algorithm

As a clean renewable energy source, wind energy has been widely used to generate electricity in wind farms. Plenty of turbines work together to form a wind farm to increase electricity output. However, this produces an inevitable wake effect, which affects the efficiency of turbines in capturing wind energy, further leading to a decrease in the power generated by wind farms. To minimize the wake effect, optimizing the turbines layout in wind farms is necessary. Therefore, an adaptive Moth-Flame Optimization algorithm with enhanced Exploration and Exploitation capabilities (MFOEE) is proposed. The refinements of the algorithm include: i) defining a selection probability to utilize diverse information of moths; ii) an enhanced exploitation strategy by pushing moths towards the best flame; iii) developing an enhanced exploration strategy, in which three moths exchange information and two inferior moths fly to the superior moth. To validate the performance of MFOEE, four scenarios are set up using grid-based simulations of actual wind farm conditions. The experimental findings demonstrate that MFOEE can offer the most optimal scheme among the four scenarios, which indicates that MFOEE proves highly effective in addressing wind farm layout optimization challenges.

CO2 mineralization and heavy metal leaching of multi-source ashes from municipal solid waste incineration

Mineralization holds great promise in simultaneously fixing CO2 and treating ash from the municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI). However, characteristics of CO2 mineralization and heavy metal leaching largely depends on the generation process of ashes. Herein, we report a systematic evaluation on the direct aqueous carbonation of multi-source MSWI ashes and leaching behavior of heavy metals before and after mineralization. Influencing factors for CO2 mineralization are determined to follow the order of CO2 concentration > temperature > solid–liquid ratio > stirring speed. Spray tower fly ash from the semi-dry process and bag filter fly ash from the dry process exhibit better sequestration capacities of 82.3 g-CO2/kg-ash and 150.9 g-CO2/kg-ash with a maximum CO2 removal rate of 0.117 mmol/s and 0.191 mmol/s among all ashes. Moreover, leaching concentration of Pb/Cu/As/Ni/Hg in six MSWI ashes all decreases significantly after CO2 mineralization. These findings could provide guidance for the potential intensive utilization of MSWI ashes in CO2 mitigation.

Kinematics and coordination of moth flies walking on smooth and rough surfaces.

The moth fly, Clogmia albipunctata, is a common synanthropic insect with a worldwide range that lives in nearly any area with moist, decaying organic matter. These habitats comprise both smooth, slippery substrates (e.g., bathroom drains) and heterogeneous, bumpy ground (e.g., soil in plant pots). By using terrain of varying levels of roughness, we focus specifically on how substrate roughness at the approximate size scale of the organism affects kinematics and coordination in adult moth flies. Finally, we compare and contrast our characterizations of locomotion in C. albipunctata with previous work of insect walking in naturalistic environments.

The RNA interference response to alphanodavirus replication in Phlebotomus papatasi sand fly cells.

In this study, we identified and assembled a strain of American nodavirus (ANV) in the Phlebotomus papatasi-derived PP9ad cell line. This strain most closely resembles Flock House virus and ANV identified in the Drosophila melanogaster S2/S2R cell line. Through small RNA sequencing and analysis, we demonstrate that ANV replication in PP9ad cells is primarily targeted by the exogenous small interfering RNA (exo-siRNA) pathway, with minimal engagement from the PIWI-interacting RNA (piRNA) pathway. In mosquitoes such as Aedes and Culex, the PIWI pathway is expanded and specialised, which actively limits virus replication. This is unlike in Drosophila spp., where the piRNA pathway does not restrict viral replication. In Lutzomyia sandflies (family Psychodidae), close relatives of Phlebotomus species and Drosophila, there appears to be an absence of virus-derived piRNAs. To investigate whether this absence is due to a lack of PIWI pathway proteins, we analysed the piRNA and siRNA diversity and repertoire in PP9ad cells. Previous assemblies of P. papatasi genome (Ppap_1.0) have revealed a patchy repertoire of the siRNA and piRNA pathways. Our analysis of the updated P. papatasi genome (Ppap_2.1) has shown no PIWI protein expansion in sandflies. We found that both siRNA and piRNA pathways are transcriptionally active in PP9ad cells, with genomic mapping of small RNAs generating typical piRNA signatures. Our results suggest that the piRNA pathway may not respond to virus replication in these cells, but an antiviral response is mounted via the exo-siRNA pathway.

Enhanced multi-layer perceptron for CO2 emission prediction with worst moth disrupted moth fly optimization (WMFO)

This study introduces the Worst Moth Disruption Strategy (WMFO) to enhance the Moth Fly Optimization (MFO) algorithm, specifically addressing challenges related to population stagnation and low diversity. The WMFO aims to prevent local trapping of moths, fostering improved global search capabilities. Demonstrating a remarkable efficiency of 66.6 %, WMFO outperforms the MFO on CEC15 benchmark test functions. The Friedman and Wilcoxon tests further confirm WMFO's superiority over state-of-the-art algorithms. Introducing a hybrid model, WMFO-MLP, combining WMFO with a Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP), facilitates effective parameter tuning for carbon emission prediction, achieving an outstanding total accuracy of 97.8 %. Comparative analysis indicates that the MLP-WMFO model surpasses alternative techniques in precision, reliability, and efficiency. Feature importance analysis reveals that variables such as Oil Efficiency and Economic Growth significantly impact MLP-WMFO's predictive power, contributing up to 40 %. Additionally, Gas Efficiency, Renewable Energy, Financial Risk, and Political Risk explain 26.5 %, 13.6 %, 8 %, and 6.5 %, respectively. Finally, WMFO-MLP performance offers advancements in optimization and predictive modeling with practical applications in carbon emission prediction.

Modeling the influence of bacteria concentration on the mechanical properties of self-healing concrete (SHC) for sustainable bio-concrete structures

In this research paper, the intelligent learning abilities of the gray wolf optimization (GWO), multi-verse optimization (MVO), moth fly optimization, particle swarm optimization (PSO), and whale optimization algorithm (WOA) metaheuristic techniques and the response surface methodology (RSM) has been studied in the prediction of the mechanical properties of self-healing concrete. Bio-concrete technology stimulated by the concentration of bacteria has been utilized as a sustainable structural concrete for the future of the built environment. This is due to the recovery tendency of the concrete structures after noticeable structural failures. However, it requires a somewhat expensive exercise and technology to create the medium for the growth of the bacteria needed for this self-healing ability. The method of data gathering, analysis and intelligent prediction has been adopted to propose parametric relationships between the bacteria usage and the concrete performance in terms of strength and durability. This makes is cheaper to design self-healing concrete structures based on the optimized mathematical relationships and models proposed from this exercise. The performance of the models was tested by using the coefficient of determination (R2), root mean squared errors, mean absolute errors, mean squared errors, variance accounted for and the coefficient of error. At the end of the prediction protocol and model performance evaluation, it was found that the classified metaheuristic techniques outclassed the RSM due their ability to mimic human and animal genetics of mutation. Furthermore, it can be finally remarked that the GWO outclassed the other methods in predicting the concrete slump (Sl) with R2 of 0.998 and 0.989 for the train and test, respectively, the PSO outclassed the rest in predicting the flexural strength with R2 of 0.989 and 0.937 for train and test, respectively and the MVO outclassed the others in predicting the compressive strength with R2 of 0.998 and 0.958 for train and test, respectively.

Innate Immune Effectors and Leishmania: an Overview of Complexities

Abstract: Leishmaniasis represents a pool of debilitating clinical manifestations affecting several individuals globally. The disease remains a serious global health and affects individuals in tropical and subtropical regions. The disease is endemic in several areas of South America, East Africa, the Indian sub-continent and the Mediterranean basin. The bite of female Phlebotomine sand establishes the infection of the Leishmania parasite within human flies belonging to the family Psychodidae (subfamily: Phlebotominae) of class Diptera. Several species of Leishmania parasite serve as the infectious trigger associated with varying clinical presentation of the disease. The immune response against the different parasitizing species varies, resulting in a complex response by innate immune cells. The present review summarizes some of the key innate immune effector cells involved during the infection with the Leishmania parasite in a quest to provide a deeper understanding of Leishmania- mediated immunobiology. The review also summarizes an up-to-date understanding of several strategies adopted by the parasite to evade immune response mediated by altering the functioning of some key innate immune effector cells. A better understanding of these immuno-biological events within the infected individual would help formulate immune-therapeutical interventions against the disease.

On the optimal synthesis of sparsely thinned planar array antenna with constraints using meta‐heuristic optimization

SummaryThe investigations related to the planar antenna array have attracted much attention due to their vast applications in the areas of advanced wireless communication and electromagnetics. This article presents an effective synthesis method of a sparsely thinned symmetric planar antenna array using three well‐known meta‐heuristics including symbiotic organism search (SOS) algorithm, moth fly optimization (MFO), and multi‐verse optimization (MVO) algorithms. The main aim of this work is to optimize the positions of the switched‐on antenna elements on the array aperture in order to reduce the value of side‐lobe levels in the radiation field pattern in multiple planes for a desired first null beam width and subsequently to obtain the maximum reduced number of array‐elements in the antenna array. Two different cases are performed to optimize the radiation pattern in different azimuth angles with two different examples. The proposed methods can constrain the total number of array elements, inter‐element distance, and aperture area of the array. The radiation pattern characteristic and computation time linked with each example and each algorithm are recorded and compared with each other as well as with a fully populated planar symmetric rectangular array antenna of same aperture size for arriving at the conclusion. The simulation‐based results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed design and the efficiency of the performance using the SOS algorithm.

The toxicity assessment of phosmet on development, reproduction, and gene expression in Daphnia magna.

The use of pesticides to control pests, weeds, and diseases or to regulate plant growth is indispensable in agricultural production. However, the excessive use of these chemicals has led to significant concern about their potential negative impacts on health and the environment. Phosmet is one such pesticide that is commonly used on plants and animals against cold moth, aphids, mites, suckers, and fruit flies. Here, we investigated the effects of phosmet on a model organism, Daphnia magna using acute and chronic toxicity endpoints such as lethality, mobility, genotoxicity, reproduction, and gene expression. We performed survival experiments in six-well plates at seven different concentrations (0.01, 0.1, 1, 10, 25, 50, 100 μM) as well as the control in three replicates. We observed statistically significant mortality rates at 25 µM and above upon 24 h of exposure, and at 1 µM and above following 48 h of exposure. Genotoxicity analysis, reproduction assay and qPCR analysis were carried out at concentrations of 0.01 and 0.1 μM phosmet as these concentrations did not show any lethality. Comet assay showed that exposure to phosmet resulted in significant DNA damage in the cells. Interestingly, 0.1 μM phosmet produced more offspring per adult compared to the control group indicating a hormetic response. Gene expression profiles demonstrated several genes involved in different physiological pathways, including oxidative stress, detoxification, immune system, hypoxia and iron homeostasis. Taken together, our results indicate that phosmet has negative effects on Daphnia magna in a dose- and time-dependent manner and could also induce lethal and physiological toxicities to other aquatic organisms.

Clogmia albipunctata (Williston, 1893) midgut physiology: pH control and functional relationship with Lower Diptera (nematoceran) especially with hematophagous species

Clogmia albipunctata (Williston, 1893) is a non-hematophagous insect belonging to the order Diptera, suborder Nematocera (Lower Diptera) and family Psychodidae. In the present work, we investigated how C. albipunctata control their midgut pH under different physiological conditions, comparing their midgut physiology with some nematoceran hematophagous species. The C. albipunctata midgut pH was measured after ingestion of sugar, protein and under the effect of the alkalinizing hormone released in the hemolymph of the hematophagous sand fly Lutzomyia longipalpis obtained just after a blood meal. The midgut pH of unfed or sugar-fed C. albipunctata is 5.5–6, and its midgut underwent alkalinization after protein ingestion or under treatment with hemolymph collected from blood fed L. longipalpis. These results suggested that in nematocerans, mechanisms for pH control seem shared between hematophagous and non-hematophagous species. This kind of pH control is convenient for successful blood digestion. The independent evolution of many hematophagous groups from the Lower Diptera suggests that characteristics involved in midgut pH control were already present in non-hematophagous species and represent a readiness for adaptation to this feeding mode.

Field evaluation of a new suction light trap for the capture of phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae: Phlebotominae), vectors of leishmaniasis.

Phlebotomine sand flies are crepuscular and nocturnal small dipteran insects in the family Psychodidae. Several disease agents, including Leishmania parasites, are transmitted to humans and other vertebrate hosts by the bite of an infected female sand fly. As part of leishmaniasis surveillance programs, light traps have been routinely used in sand fly collections. In this context, new trapping devices are always being required to improve vector monitoring. Here, the efficiency of a new suction light trap, named Silva suction trap or SS trap, was field evaluated in collecting sand flies. Two SS traps, one with green (520nm, 15,000 mcd) and the other with white (wide spectrum, 18,000 mcd) LEDs, and one CDC-type trap were deployed in a rural forested environment. A total of 4686 phlebotomine sand flies were captured. The most frequent species were females of the Ps. Chagasi series (77.8%) followed by males of Ps. wellcomei (11.6%), Nyssomyia whitmani (3.3%), and Bichromomyia flaviscutellata (2.4%). The CDC-type light trap collected 101.9 ± 20.89 sand flies and 14 species, followed by the white-baited SS trap (87.78 ± 16.36, 14), and the green-baited SS trap (70.61 ± 14.75, 15), but there were no statistically significant differences among traps. A discussion on the considerable advantages of the use of SS traps over CDC traps is included. In this study, the Silva suction trap proved to be efficient and can be an alternative to CDC traps for monitoring adult phlebotomine sand fly populations.

Tree frogs serve as a hotel for moth flies

Tree frogs serve as a hotel for moth flies

New species of Sycorax (Diptera: Psychodidae) from the Brazilian Amazon

Moth flies of the subfamily Sycoracinae have been associated with anurans. Females of some species have been found feeding on the blood of these vertebrates. Here we describe a new species of the genus Sycorax Curtis from a preserved site of Amazon Forest in the city of Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil, with one male specimen collected in the dorsum of the frog Anomaloglossus stepheni (Martins).

Efficacy of selected biopesticides on key pests of chilli pepper for increased productivity in Ghana

Chilli pepper is an important food and cash crop in Ghana. Unfortunately, production and marketing are constrained by many insect pests. In this study, the efficacy of five different biopesticides: Neemazal® (Azadirachtin 0.3% w/w EC), Agro blaster® (Pyrethrin I and II 1% w/w), Bypel 1® (Pieris rapae 10000PIB/mg + Bacillus thuringiensis 16000 IU/mg), Cryptogran® (Cryptophlebia leucotreta Granulovirus ≥ 5.1010 OBs/ml) and Attack® (Emamectin benzoate 1.9% w/w EC) were assessed against the major insect pests of chilli pepper. These pests included the false codling moth (FCM), thrips, whiteflies and fruit flies. The study was conducted during the minor and major cropping seasons of 2019 and 2020, respectively, using RCBD plot design in two locations (Legon and Begoro) in southern Ghana. All five tested biopesticides reduced the infestation of the target insect pests. Neemazal® and Attack® were more efficacious than the other three biopesticides in controlling FCM. For fruit flies, the infestation in Neemazal® and Attack® treated plots varied between 0.69 ± 0.60 to 12.84 ± 0.91% and 1.40 ± 0.69 to 9.72 ± 1.27%, respectively against 3.82 ± 0.67 to 21.87 ± 2.14% in control plots. Neemazal®, Bypel 1® and Attack® significantly reduced thrips population compared to other biopesticides. Apart from Neemazal® and Attack®, Agro blaster® also reduced whiteflies population compared to control plots. The highest yields were recorded in Neemazal® (3.17 ± 0.33 to 4.35 ± 0.22 t/ha) and Attack® (3.05 ± 0.21 to 4.55 ± 0.25 t/ha) treated plots against 2.12 ± 0.31 to 3.06 ± 0.37 t/ha in the control. Therefore, these two biopesticides are promising and could be used as part of integrated pest management (IPM) against chilli pepper insect pests in Ghana.

Position‐only planar hexagonal array antenna pattern nulling with simultaneous side lobe reduction at multiple azimuth planes

SummaryThis article presents a study on the placement of multiple nulls as well as minimization of side lobe level in the radiation pattern using a planar hexagonal antenna array structure in two different vertical planes. The desired null depth is achieved to suppress the interference signal by the position‐only control of the uniformly excited isotropic antennas in the array structure. The immediate solution to the mentioned computational problem is reached by various meta‐heuristic optimization algorithms such as teaching learning‐based optimization (TLBO), symbiotic organism search (SOS), and moth fly optimization (MFO) within a considerably reduced processing time with a control over the design constrains. Various examples for diversified scenarios are demonstrated to place multiple deep nulls in the radiation pattern without compromising the pattern constraints and all other radiation pattern characteristics. This experiment sought to illustrate and quantify the unique benefits and limitations of proposed technique using three considered meta‐heuristic optimization algorithm.

New records of moth flies (Diptera, Psychodidae) for the Dutch Fauna.

Prior to this study, the moth flies in The Netherlands were represented by 61 species. Our findings derive from a citizen-science expedition in the Vondelpark in Amsterdam, one of the oldest public parks and best known parks in The Netherlands. The combination of citizen science and the exploration of a well-known urban park has allowed us to contribute to the knowledge of moth fly species present in The Netherlands. The findings from this study provide valuable insights into the distribution, taxonomy and genetic resources of Psychoda and Panimerus species, enhancing our understanding of insect biodiversity and promoting future research in this field. Our study provides two new geographical records of the moth flies in The Netherlands, namely, Psychodauniformata Haseman, 1907 and Panimerusmaynei (Tonnoir, 1920) elevating the total number of species to 63. Furthermore, we provide re-descriptions of the females of Panimerusnotabilis (Eaton, 1893) and P.goetghebueri (Tonnoir, 1919). Additionally, we make available for the first time, the sequence of the 5'-end of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene or COI Barcodes for Panimerusnotabilis, P.goetghebueri and P.maynei. These COI Barcodes serve as valuable tools for future species identification within the genus.

CHANGES IN MOSQUITOES POPULATIONS AT SOME SITES IN HANOI, 2020-2021

In recent years, the application of technology in science has raised concernsamong scientists. This report summarized the evaluation of the effectiveness ofmosquito collection by the digital mosquito monitoring system (DMS) using CO2 gas,which could be a potential tool for mosquito collection in the future. The study wascarried out in 2 phases: Phase 1 from September to October 2020; phase 2 from April2021 to July 2021 in 2 districts in Hanoi city, Vietnam. Numbers of mosquitoes werecollected from 2 digital mosquito monitoring systems (DMS). The data of mosquitoescollected from each machine is updated continuously for 24 hours on the system.The number of mosquitoes collected in April was the highest in both locations andfrom 9.00 - 10.00 am of the day. The actual results obtained in the two traps weresignificantly different: The automatically updated insects were 37 630 individuals, andthe collected insects were 48 079 individuals. The majorities of collected insects wereCulex (91.76%) with 23 745; followed by Aedes albopictus (2.49%) with 1 096individuals; Aedes aegypti (1.63%) with 422 individuals and other species (2.37%)with 614 individuals such as fruit flies and drain flies belong to Tipulidae and Pieridaefamily. The automatically updated data of 2 machines showed that mosquitoes hadbeen collected at all time frames of the day, followed by the number of collectedmosquitoes at 9-10 am (11.87%), the lowest number was recorded at 7-8 a.m. (1.14%).

PSYCHODIDAE OF ALBANIA

All important published records for 23 moth fly species known so far from Albania are reviewed (Phlebotominae 10 species, Psychodinae 13 species). Records of 5 Psychodidae (Phlebotominae 1, Psychodinae 4) species/subspecies are presented in this paper based on specimens collected by sweep-netting and UV light in Albania in 2022. Four species are recorded for the first time in Albania (namely: Jovamormia caliginosa (Eaton, 1893), Psychodocha cinerea Banks, 1894, Tinearia alternata (Say, 1824), Pericoma (Pericoma) motasi motasi Vaillant, 1978). The first checklist of Psychodidae of Albania is also listed. Key Words: Biodiversity, faunistics, moth flies, Phlebotominae, Psychodinae, Mormiini, Paramormiini, Psychodini, Pericomaini, Mediterranean Area, Europe, Palaearctic Region

First record of Clogmia albipunctata and Atrichobrunettia (Mirousiella) graeca (Diptera: Psychodidae) from Romania, with the updated checklist of non-Phlebotominae species

The rare European species Atrichobrunettia (Mirousiella) graeca Ježek et Goutner, 1993 and the invasive species Clogmia albipunctata (Williston, 1893) (both Diptera: Psychodidae) are newly recorded from “Dunele Marine de la Agigea” Nature Reserve from Romania. The updated checklist of non-Phlebotomine species of the family Psychodidae for Romania with 53 species is given.