Pest Categories Research Articles

Distribusi Nematoda Pucuk Putih Padi Aphelenchoides besseyi di Pulau Jawa

Distribution of Rice White Tip Nematode Aphelenchoides besseyi in Java Island Aphelenchoides besseyi is one of the most important rice seed borne nematode causing white tip disease in Indonesia. The status of A. besseyi is considered as quarantine pest category A2, with limited distribution area in Java, Sumatera, and South Kalimantan). The aim of this research was to detect and identify A. besseyi from rice seed based on morphological, morphometry and molecular approaches and to determine its distribution in rice growing areas in Java. Rice seed samples, consisting of 26 varieties, were obtained from seed producers, seed distributors, and farmers in Java. Nematode extraction was done using Baermann method. Molecular identification was carried out by polymerase chain reaction and followed by DNA sequencing and nucleotide analysis. A. besseyi was detected from 74.32% of seed samples. A. besseyi was confirmed to be distributed in Lebak, Bogor, Sukabumi, Subang, Indramayu, Klaten, Sragen, Sukoharjo, Boyolali, Pati, Pemalang, Yogyakarta Sleman, Magetan, Blitar, Tuban, Gresik, Nganjuk, and Banyuwangi. Further nucleotide analysis showed that A. besseyi isolates from rice seed cv Ciherang (Yogyakarta) and cv IR 64 (Banyuwangi) have 99% homology to those from India, China, USA; and 98% homology to those from Taiwan.

Self-reported prevalence of pests in Dutch households and the use of the health belief model to explore householders' intentions to engage in pest control.

Pests in the home are a health risk because they can be vectors for infectious disease, contribute to allergies and cause damage to buildings. The aims of this study were to record which categories of pests were reported in homes and to use a social cognition model, the health belief model, to investigate which psychological factors influence householders’ intentions to control pests. An online questionnaire was completed by 413 respondents between 11 September and 31 November 2015. A large majority of respondents reported pests in or around their home within the previous year. The prevalences were: flying insects 98%, crawling insects 85%, rodents 62%, birds 58%, and moles 20%. Regression analysis for the health belief model revealed that perceiving greater benefits and fewer barriers to pest control and expecting severe consequences of zoonotic infections predicted higher intention to control pests. Intentions towards pest control were not influenced by perceiving oneself as susceptible to catching a disease from pests or health motivation (striving towards a healthy lifestyle). Intentions to engage in pest control were lower for households reporting bird prevalence. The findings suggest that interventions aimed at improving the effectiveness of domestic pest control should focus on increasing the benefits that individuals associate with effective pest control, lowering barriers, and on underlining the severity of the diseases that pests may carry.

Pest identification via deep residual learning in complex background

Agricultural pests severely affect both agricultural production and the storage of crops. To prevent damage caused by agricultural pests, the pest category needs to be correctly identified and targeted control measures need to be taken; therefore, it is important to develop an agricultural pest identification system based on computer vision technology. To achieve pest identification with the complex farmland background, a pest identification method is proposed that uses deep residual learning. Compared to support vector machine and traditional BP neural networks, the pest image recognition accuracy of this method is noticeably improved in the complex farmland background. Furthermore, in comparison to plain deep convolutional neural networks such as Alexnet, the recognition performance in this method was further improved after optimized by deep residual learning. A classification accuracy of 98.67% for 10 classes of crop pest images with complex farmland background was achieved. Accordingly, the method has a high value of practical application, and can be integrated with currently used agricultural networking systems into actual agricultural pest control tasks.

A Generic Pest Submodel for Use in Integrated Assessment Models

<abstract> <b><sc>Abstract.</sc></b> The sustainability of agricultural land use has been the subject of integrated assessments for some time. In these assessments, knowledge of various disciplines is combined to assess, e.g., the drawbacks and benefits of new agro-technologies, changes in management systems, and the introduction or abolition of agricultural policies. Crop models are often used in these assessments, and the more details the models can provide, the more factors can be considered. For example, the crop model EPIC can determine fertilizer and irrigation water use based on crop demand. However, pesticides can only be applied manually and have no impact on the crop. We therefore developed a pest submodel providing estimates of pesticide consumption based on pest pressure and the corresponding reactions of crops, thus completing a process loop analogous to the application of fertilizers or irrigation water. We distinguish three pest categories: insects, fungi, and weeds. For insects, a biological temperature response function is used to model the daily feeding rate, from which population growth is derived. Insect mortality is dependent on temperature and nutrient availability. Fungal disease spread depends on coefficients of primary and secondary infection, abundance of spores, and host density. The number of spores increases depending on a humidity and temperature function and decreases according to a decay rate. Crop stress is dependent on the ratio of healthy to infected plant tissue. Weeds are grown in EPIC the same way as crops and compete for the same resources. Herbicide applications are triggered when a specified ratio of weed to crop LAI is reached. Pesticide-induced mortality is modeled as a pesticide-specific dose-response curve. We tested the submodel by simulating five crops with the highest use of pesticides in the U.S. (cotton, maize, potatoes, soybeans, and wheat). Among other findings, the mean simulated application rates approached the reported mean application rates, and the spatial distributions of simulated and reported application rates matched well. We conclude that the new pest submodel is appropriate to estimate pesticide use on larger scales and can be employed to enhance integrated assessments.

The Evaluation of the Bark Beetles Populations on Spruce Logging Debris

Today, when somebody is talking about bark beetles management, there are two different approaches. The first one includes bark beetles in the category of pests and the second one includes bark beetles in the category of insects with important ecologic role in forest. From our point of view, up to particular limits, both approaches remain valid. Thus, in our research raise the problem of bark beetles population level into logging debris, which remains in the forest after clear-cutting. In our research, we started with the hypothesis that in logging debris a high number of bark beetles can multiply sufficient to install after that in neighbors standing trees. From our samples resulted seven bark beetles species as follows: Ips typographus , Ips amitinus , Ips acuminatus , Pityogenes chalcographus , Dryocoetes autographus , Hylurgops palliatus , Hylurgops glabratus . The most numerous were I. typographus (43%), P. chalcographus (40%), and H. palliatus (9%). The preferences for the thickness of logging debris had just P. chalcographus and H. palliatus . All the rest of the species preferred in equal mode thick or thin logging debris. Regarding the felling date of trees, we can affirm that cutting of trees early in spring may limit the beetles spreading. About logging debris management, our results show the necessity of their removal from forest and capitalization, because they are hosts for many bark beetles.

Interacting agricultural pests and their effect on crop yield: application of a Bayesian decision theory approach to the joint management of Bromus tectorum and Cephus cinctus.

Worldwide, the landscape homogeneity of extensive monocultures that characterizes conventional agriculture has resulted in the development of specialized and interacting multitrophic pest complexes. While integrated pest management emphasizes the need to consider the ecological context where multiple species coexist, management recommendations are often based on single-species tactics. This approach may not provide satisfactory solutions when confronted with the complex interactions occurring between organisms at the same or different trophic levels. Replacement of the single-species management model with more sophisticated, multi-species programs requires an understanding of the direct and indirect interactions occurring between the crop and all categories of pests. We evaluated a modeling framework to make multi-pest management decisions taking into account direct and indirect interactions among species belonging to different trophic levels. We adopted a Bayesian decision theory approach in combination with path analysis to evaluate interactions between Bromus tectorum (downy brome, cheatgrass) and Cephus cinctus (wheat stem sawfly) in wheat (Triticum aestivum) systems. We assessed their joint responses to weed management tactics, seeding rates, and cultivar tolerance to insect stem boring or competition. Our results indicated that C. cinctus oviposition behavior varied as a function of B. tectorum pressure. Crop responses were more readily explained by the joint effects of management tactics on both categories of pests and their interactions than just by the direct impact of any particular management scheme on yield. In accordance, a C. cinctus tolerant variety should be planted at a low seeding rate under high insect pressure. However as B. tectorum levels increase, the C. cinctus tolerant variety should be replaced by a competitive and drought tolerant cultivar at high seeding rates despite C. cinctus infestation. This study exemplifies the necessity of accounting for direct and indirect biological interactions occurring within agroecosystems and propagating this information from the statistical analysis stage to the management stage.

Emergence of Species Conservation in Finland: Development of Wildlife Attitudes in 1894-1928

Finnish hunters, animal welfarists, and scientists started getting organised in the later half of the nineteenth century. In doing so, they became interest groups in wildlife conservation issues, as they began to express their views in public media. Wildlife related coverage published in relevant journals around the turn of the twentieth century shows the emergence of conservation thinking in these groups. The most profound effort was put in protection of 'small birds'; this happened due to not only their usefulness in farming but also their sheer aesthetic value. The data further showed that the dichotomising of wildlife into 'useful' and 'pest' in the contemporary law texts was not fully consistent with the public opinion at the time. During the 1890s, all examined groups emphasised the importance of protecting certain rodent-eating raptors, but this view did not take any shape in the law reform of 1898. The emerging conservation-mindedness of these groups did not, however, apply to the most 'harmful' pests; the attitudes of, not only hunters, but also average animal welfarists, naturalists or professional zoologists towards many species in the pest category were not yet particularly positive at the turn of the century.

Minute pollinators: The role of thrips (Thysanoptera) as pollinators of pointleaf manzanita, &lt;i&gt;Arctostaphylos pungens&lt;/i&gt; (Ericaceae)

The feeding habits of thrips on plant tissue, and their ability to transmit viral diseases to their host plants, have usually placed these insects in the general category of pests. However, the characteristics that make them economically important, their high abundance and short- and long-distance movement capability, may also make them effective pollinators. We investigated this lesser-known role of thrips in pointleaf manzanita (Arctostaphylos pungens), a Southwestern US shrub. We measured the abundance of three species of thrips (Orothrips kelloggii, Oligothrips oreios, and Frankliniella occidentalis), examined their pollen-carrying capability, and conducted an exclusion experiment in order to determine whether thrips are able to pollinate this species, and if they do, whether they actually contribute to the reproductive success of the plant. Our data suggest that indeed thrips pollinate and do contribute significantly to reproductive success. Flowers exposed to thrips only produced significantly more fruit than did flowers from which all visitors were excluded. The roles of thrips as antagonists/mutualists are examined in the context of the numerous other floral visitors to the plant.

SURVEY OF SCALE INSECTS, MEALY BUGS AND ASSOCIATED NATURAL ENEMIES ON MULBERRY TREES IN THE NILE DELTA

Sampling of two mulberry tree species namely Morus alba L. and M. nigra L. was conducted from January 2011 to December 2012 to determine the arthropod pests attacking the trees, and their associated natural enemies at Delta region. Two arthropod classes were recorded during the present study (Insecta and Arachnida). Scale insects (Asterolecanium pustulans (Ckll.), Ceroplastes rusci L., Coccus hesperidum L., Saissetia oleae (Bern.), Pseudaulacaspis pentagona (Targ.-Tozz.), Hemiberlesia lataniae Signoret) and mealy bugs (Icerya aegyptiaca (Dough), Icerya purchasi Maskell, Icerya seychellarum (Westw.), Ferrisia virgata (Ckll.), Planococcus citri (Risso), Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Green)) were surveyed as major insect pests. The minor ones were accounted for 24 species (including insects and mites). The parasitoids associated with scale insects and mealy bugs were arranged in five families, Aphytis spp., Encarsia citrina (Crawford), Anagyrus kamali Moursi, Metaphycus sp., Allotropa mecrida (Walker), Scutellista caerulea (Fonscolombe) the most occurring. As for predators, 31 insect species and 9 spiders were found associated with the two pest categories. The predatory mites were identified as two species, which regulate the spider mites. Population fluctuations of mulberry mealy bug, Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Green) were found related to the population fluctuation of Nephus bipunctatus.

Phytochemicals and Insect Control: An Antifeedant Approach

Plants based pest control agents have long been touted as alternatives to synthetic chemicals for integrated pest management. Such phytochemicals reputedly pose little threat to the environment or to human health. Bioactivity of plant-based compounds is well documented in literature and is a subject of increasing importance. An antifeedant approach for insect control has been extensively studied, at least at laboratory level, though only a handful of plant-based compounds are currently used in agriculture. The known active plant-based antifeedants belong to groups like chromenes, polyacetylenes, saponins, quassinoids, cucurbitacins, cyclopropanoid acids, phenolics, alkaloids, various types of terpenes and their derivatives etc., and each insect species may process these allomones in a thoroughly idiosyncratic way, so that the same compound may have very different fates and consequences in different species of insects, thus pointing to different mechanisms involved in antifeedant action. It can also be visualized that insect feeding deterrents may be perceived either by stimulation of specialized deterrent receptors or by distortion of the normal function of neurons, which perceive phagostimulating compounds. Some plant antifeedants influence the feeding activity through a combination of these two principal modes of action. Only a few highly active antifeedants have been looked into from a commercial point of view, which makes it impossible to systemize or to predict any molecular motifs in feeding inhibition. Structure activity relationship studies also do not point to any generalization. “Mix and Match” systems may help in developing a cocktail of feeding inhibitors that can be used in developing a customized formulation against a specific category of pests. Application of such products will be broad and will not be limited to targeted pests and to plant parts. Decreased deterrence resulting from habituation has been suggested that could pose different implications for pest management than does decreased deterrence resulting from increased tolerance to toxic substances. Genetically modified plants, which could produce the active antifeedant substances in amounts high enough to protect the plants from further herbivorous damage, could be a possibility in the future.

Weeds as hosts for new crop pests: the case of Protortonia navesi (Hemiptera: Monophlebidae) on cassava in Brazil

SummaryWeeds may serve as reservoirs for new and invasive insect pests. The cassava root scale (Protortonia navesi) is a recent pest in the Brazilian ‘Cerrado’ that causes qualitative and quantitative damage by sucking plant sap. Recently, field surveys revealed that many common weeds in this region act as host for P. navesi in cassava fields. In a discrete survey, 15 weed species were identified that were hosting P. navesi. Among these, 13 species occurred during the cropping season and five were observed 4 months after cassava harvest. Eight months after harvest, only cassava volunteer plants were found to be hosting P. navesi. This survey provided a real example of the problem created when weeds host new crop pests. The management of weeds (including crop volunteers) needs to be considered as part of generalised pest management and pest invasion prevention schemes. Effective weed management can be a means of limiting the survival of new pests and the re‐infestation of susceptible crop species in subsequent years. Simple studies like this point to a practical need to create greater collaborations between pest management researchers working within discrete pest categories.

Direct Effect of Herbicides on Plant Pathogens and Disease Development in Various Cropping Systems

An integrated pest management (IPM) program is a systems approach that requires an understanding of the overall agroecosystem. The interaction between different pest categories (weeds, insects, pathogens, nematodes), as well as their management practices, should be examined, understood, and taken into consideration in the design of IPM systems. Several studies have shown that plant pathogens are affected by other pests and their management practices. Herbicide application has often been cited as an example of a management practice that affects plant pathogens and disease development in various cropping systems. The activity of herbicides can extend beyond their target organisms and inhibit spore germination or mycelial growth, alter the level of phytoalexins, or interfere with other physiological processes in plants. This paper summarizes the published reports on direct effects of herbicides on plant disease and provides insights for future research on this aspect. Examples are drawn from some common agricultural herbicides and adjuvants. The discussion on various findings on herbicide and crop diseases re-emphasizes the fact that pest management in agriculture requires a systems approach. Although it is difficult to come to a common consensus on the effect of these chemicals on crop diseases or pathogens, this paper provides an overview of several interactions between herbicides and crop diseases and pathogens in various cropping systems. Knowledge of such interactions can help in the design of IPM systems.

Ecological bases of interactions between weeds and organisms in other pest categories

Interactions between weeds and organisms in other pest categories are inevitable. Weeds are plants and therefore ecologically are producers. All other pest organisms are consumers; they are herbivores or pathogens and can thus use weeds directly as a food source. Beneficial organisms are primary carnivores that feed on herbivores; weeds can support beneficials indirectly when they feed on herbivores living on weeds. Weeds can also serve to mask crop plants from herbivore pests; the mechanisms by which this occurs are still debated. Presence of a weed canopy modifies ecosystem microclimate and provides shelter for pests and beneficials that would otherwise not survive. Tactics used to control pests can have impacts on nontarget organisms in other pest categories. Changes in tillage for weed control can impact population development of other pests. Pesticides can affect nontarget organisms resulting in unanticipated changes in crop tolerance and pest control. Development of true integrated pest management programs requires a multidisciplinary approach that incorporates interactions between organisms in different pest categories.

PESTS, ENDANGERED PESTICIDES AND PROCESSING TOMATOES

Processing tomatoes are attacked by a number of important arthropods, plant diseases and nematodes which significantly reduce fruit yield and quality. Weeds compete with tomato plants, further reducing attainable yield. Worldwide, losses due to these pests are estimated to be about 34.4% of attainable tomato yield under current production practices. Without crop protection, losses would increase to 77.7% of attainable yield. Crop protection practices employed in the EEC and North America reduce yield losses from pests to about 15.4% and 22.8% of attainable yield, respectively. In some areas of the world, tomato production losses due to all categories of pests continue to exceed 50% of attainable production. Weeds are estimated to present the greatest potential for tomato yield loss, about 32.5% of attainable yield. Employing current crop protection practices, worldwide yield losses are only about 6.5% and are as low as 2.5% in the EEC. Similar though less dramatic reductions in actual yield loss are observed for pathogens (excluding viruses) at 40% of potential losses without crop protection, and insects and nematodes at 49% of potential losses. The level of pest control achieved largely results from cultural practices, currently registered pesticides, pest and crop monitoring and host plant resistance. Many pesticides used on tomatoes are of concern due to biological, regulatory and social issues. In the US, and California in particular, the Food Quality Protection, Clean Water, Toxic Air Contaminants, and Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Acts represent regulations potentially affecting pesticides registered on processing tomatoes. Internationally, residue tolerance inconsistencies between nations limit pesticide choice. Social standards, which are not independent of regulatory issues, have brought about various types of certification proposals. Effective and economical pest management in the future will require research on the pest complex attacking processing tomatoes in an IPM context. Such research must address both biological needs and societal demands.

Concepts in integrated pest management

1. Pest, People, and Integrated Pest Management. 2. Pests and Their Impacts. 3. Historical Development of Pest Management. 4. Ecosystems and Pest Organisms. 5. Comparative Biology of Pests. 6. Ecology of Interactions Between Categories of Pests. 7. Ecosystem Biodiversity and IPM. 8. Pest Management Decisions. 9. Introduction to Strategies and Tactics for IPM. 10. Pest Invasions and Legislative Prevention. 11. Pesticides. 12. Resistance, Resurgence, and Replacement. 13. Biological Control. 14. Behavioral Control. 15. Physical and Mechanical Tactics. 16. Cultural Management of Pests. 17. Host-Plant Resistance and Other Genetic Manipulations of Crops and Pests. 18. IPM Programs: Development and Implementation. 19. Societal and Environmental Limitations to IPM Tactics. 20. IPM in the Future. Sources and References. Pest Organisms. Glossary. Index.

Midwest Farmers' Perceptions of Crop Pest Infestation

AbstractRegion, soil type, and tillage are important factors in severity of crop pest infestation. This study was conducted to determine the relative importance of these factors on severity of crop pest infestation as perceived by farmers. Correlations between pests were also studied. In a 1992 survey, farmers in 12 U.S. Corn Belt states were asked to rate the severity of crop pest infestation in their fields. The categories of pests included perennial and annual weeds in row crops, insects and diseases of corn (Zea mays L.) and sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench], and insects and diseases of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.]. Means ranked from highest to lowest in the following order: annual weeds, perennial weeds, corn and sorghum insects, corn and sorghum diseases, soybean diseases, and soybean insects. Correlation coefficients ranged between 0.47 to 0.69 among corn and sorghum diseases, among soybean insects, and among soybean diseases, and between 0.04 and 0.41 among perennial weeds. Correlation coefficients among annual weeds and among corn and/or sorghum insects spanned both of these ranges. Effects of either region and/or tillage were very highly significant (0.001), while soil type was not as significant an effect. In farmers' perceptions, weeds were the most serious pests and soybean pests the least serious pests; there was less relationship among perennial weeds than among pests in any other category; the drier western region was generally less severely infested; higher amount of conventional tillage practices produced less infestation; and differences in soil type were due to more severe infestation in loams, followed by infestation in clays, and then infestation in sands.

How many species are there in apple insect communities?: testing the resource diversity and intermediate disturbance hypotheses

Abstract. In European and American apple orchards the insect species richness, calculated from our own, and published data, varied widely (30–940 species). The dominance of insect orders was similar to that found in natural communities. To test the predictions of the‘resource diversity hypothesis’(RDH) and the‘intermediate disturbance hypothesis’(IDH) of insect diversity, we analysed the simultaneous impact of vegetational diversity and intensity of orchard management practice on the species richness of characteristic insect categories in six types of apple stands, over 5 years, in Hungary. The more diverse was the vegetation adjacent to the orchard and the less intensively was the orchard managed, the greater was the total insect species richness, supporting both hypotheses. The number of agricultural pest species found in the apple orchards depended above all on the diversity of adjacent agricultural vegetation, supporting only the RDH. The species richness of specialized apple pests was limited only by the intensity of pest control, supporting only the IDH. Within the category of generalist natural enemies species richness mainly varied with the diversity of adjacent vegetation, supporting the RDH. The aeroentomofauna constituted a surprisingly high percentage (&gt;50%) for both total species and agricultural pests, but was poorly represented within the natural enemies category, and absent from the specific apple pest category. A general conclusion is that the number of insect species in perennial orchard‐systems within agricultural areas is determined primarily by the regional extra‐orchard vegetational diversity and secondly by the degree of local intra‐orchard disturbances and plant diversity. Consequently, at the community level the predictions of both hypotheses can be simultaneously valid at different spatial scales and are not mutually exclusive. However, within the community, at the level of the different insect categories studied here, only one of the hypotheses proved to be valid.

Western gall rust and insect leader damage in relation to tree size in young lodgepole pine in Alberta

In a sample of 121 young lodgepole pine (Pinuscontorta Dougl. var. latifolia Engelm.) stands in naturally regenerated cut blocks near Hinton, Alta., strong positive correlations were observed in the incidence of gall rust (Endocronartiumharknessii (J. P. Moore) Y. Hiratsuka) and leader damage from terminal weevil (Pissodesterminalis Hopp.) and from pitch twig moth (Petrova spp.) with tree size in both thinned and unthinned stands. Although tests on a selected number of the largest trees from each plot showed no significant differences in incidence of the two pest categories between thinned and unthinned stands, thinning that retains the large trees may result in an increase in relative incidence of these pests unless special effort is made to cut damaged trees and retain undamaged ones.

Factors Affecting the Relative Abundance of Arthropods on Nectaried and Nectariless Cotton1

This study further confirms that nectariless cultivars of cotton are less attractive than the near-isogenic nectaried cultivars when grown in small plots. The results also indicate that pest and beneficial arthropods are not reduced to the same degree. Of the 15 pest categories, 7 were little reduced by the nectariless cultivar, whereas the remaining eight had reductions of 24 to 42% averaged for the 4-year study period. All 15 beneficial species categories showed a significant ( P < 0.05) reduction on the nectariless cultivar (38 to 69% four year averaged reduction), these being affected to a greater degree than the pest. A disturbing question that remains is whether the utility of nectariless cultivars for reducing pest pressures is afforded at commercial levels of planting. As plot size increased from 0.11 to 4.05 ha, the reduction on the nectariless cultivar decreased from ca. 38 to 32%. The rate at which the differences between the nectaried and nectariless cultivars decreases implies that the advantage with the nectariless cultivar might disappear with commercial scale plantings. Further large-scale trials would however be required for confirmation of this trend