Assessing the current and future biological control potential of Trichogramma ostriniae on its hosts Ostrinia furnacalis and Ostrinia nubilalis.

Background: Understanding interactions between biocontrol agents and their pest hosts under climate change should assist implementation of biocontrol strategies, by identifying appropriate biocontrol agents for release or determining the optimal timing of releases. Species distribution models (SDMs) were applied to evaluate the distributions of Trichogramma ostriniae and its native host, Ostrinia furnacalis, in southeastern Asia, and a non-native host, Ostrinia nubilalis, in a novel range, North America, using MAXENT and CLIMEX modelling approaches.

Results: The models led to similar predictions about the expected distribution of the two species in Asia, and emphasized likely mismatches between host and natural enemy.

Effects of a museum-based social prescription intervention on quantitative measures of psychological wellbeing in older adults.

Aims: To assess psychological wellbeing in a novel social prescription intervention for older adults called Museums on Prescription and to explore the extent of change over time in six self-rated emotions ('absorbed', 'active', 'cheerful', 'encouraged', 'enlightened' and 'inspired').

Methods: Participants ( n = 115) aged 65-94 years were referred to museum-based programmes comprising 10 weekly sessions, by healthcare and third sector organisations using inclusion criteria (e.g.

Taiwanese Trichogramma of Asian Corn Borer: Morphology, ITS-2 rDNA Characterization, and Natural Wolbachia Infection.

Egg parasitoids of the genus Trichogramma are natural enemies of many lepidopteran borers in agricultural areas around the world. It is important to identify the correct species and ideally focus on endemic Trichogramma for pest control in particular crops. In this study, Trichogramma wasps were collected from parasitized eggs of Asian corn borer in Southwestern Taiwan.

Mixed methods evaluation of well-being benefits derived from a heritage-in-health intervention with hospital patients.

Background: This study sought to determine the effects of a heritage-in-health intervention on well-being. Benefits of arts-in-health interventions are relatively well-documented yet little robust research has been conducted using heritage-in-health interventions, such as those involving museum objects.

Methods: Hospital patients ( = 57) participated in semi-structured, 30-40 minute facilitated interview sessions, discussing and handling museum objects comprising selections of six artefacts and specimens loaned from archaeology, art, geology and natural history collections.

Well-Being With Objects: Evaluating a Museum Object-Handling Intervention for Older Adults in Health Care Settings.

The extent to which a museum object-handling intervention enhanced older adult well-being across three health care settings was examined. The program aimed to determine whether therapeutic benefits could be measured objectively using clinical scales. Facilitator-led, 30 to 40 min sessions handling and discussing museum objects were conducted in acute and elderly care (11 one-to-ones), residential (4 one-to-ones and 1 group of five), and psychiatric (4 groups of five) settings.

Enhancing cancer patient well-being with a nonpharmacological, heritage-focused intervention.

Context: Nonpharmacological, arts-focused interventions in health care have demonstrated considerable improvements in cancer patient well-being, although there is a little clinically robust, empirical evidence to demonstrate the value of heritage-focused practices.

Objectives: This study examined the effectiveness of a novel, nonpharmacological, heritage-focused intervention with adult female inpatients receiving cancer treatment in oncology wards of a large, central London hospital.

Methods: In the tactile experimental condition, participants handled and discussed a selection of museum objects with a facilitator, whereas in the visual control condition, participants discussed photographs of the same objects.

Identifying signature of chemical applications on indigenous and invasive nontarget arthropod communities in vineyards.

Communities of arthropods providing ecosystem services (e.g., pest control, pollination, and soil nutrient cycling) to agricultural production systems are influenced by pesticide inputs, yet the impact of pesticide applications on nontarget organisms is normally evaluated through standardized sets of laboratory tests involving individual pesticides applied to a few representative species.

Commercial agrochemical applications in vineyards do not influence ant communities.

Ants have been widely used as bioindicators for various terrestrial monitoring and assessment programs but are seldom considered in evaluation of nontarget pesticide effect. Much chemical assessment has been biased toward laboratory and bioassay testing for control of specific pest ant species. Several field studies that did explore the nontarget impacts of pesticides on ants have reported contradictory findings.

Ecologically sustainable chemical recommendations for agricultural pest control?

Effective pest control remains an essential part of food production, and it is provided both by chemicals and by natural enemies within agricultural ecosystems. These methods of control are often in conflict because of the negative impact of chemicals on natural enemies. There are already well-established approaches such as those provided by the International Organization for Biological and Integrated Control-Pesticides and Beneficial Organisms for testing, collecting, and publishing information on responses of natural enemies to chemicals based on laboratory responses of specific organisms; however, these tests do not assess the cumulative impact of chemical inputs across an entire season or consider impacts on the complex communities of natural enemies that can provide effective pest control on a farm.

Slug control in Australian canola: monitoring, molluscicidal baits and economic thresholds.

Exotic slugs have become serious pests of canola, at establishment, in Southern Australian high-rainfall cropping zones. Slugs were monitored using relatively inexpensive 300 mm x 300 mm terracotta tiles acting as refuges. An investigation was made of the effects of the time of application of chelated iron baits on the slug species Deroceras reticulatum Müller and Lehmannia nyctelia Bourguignat.

Effects of cold storage on field and laboratory performance of Trichogramma carverae (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) and the response of three Trichogramma spp. (T. carverae, T. nr. brassicae, and T. funiculatum) to cold.

Delaying emergence of Trichogramma spp. is critical for commercial production. Here, diapause induction was considered for three species (Trichogramma nr.

The effects of host age, host nuclear background and temperature on phenotypic effects of the virulent Wolbachia strain popcorn in Drosophila melanogaster.

Because of their obligate endosymbiotic nature, Wolbachia strains by necessity are defined by their phenotypic effects upon their host. Nevertheless, studies on the influence of host background and environmental conditions upon the manifestation of Wolbachia effects are relatively uncommon. Here we examine the behavior of the overreplicating Wolbachia strain popcorn in four different Drosophila melanogaster backgrounds at two temperatures.

Laboratory fecundity as predictor of field success in Trichogramma carverae (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae).

Laboratory fecundity assessments are routinely used to determine the quality of commercially reared Trichogramma egg parasitoids before release for pest control, but there is little information on the relevance of this trait to the field success of Trichogramma. Herein, we characterize the parasitism success of strains of Trichogramma carverae Oatman & Pinto in the laboratory on a factitious (Sitotroga cerealella Olivier) and a natural (Epiphyas postvittana Walker) host. Differences in fecundity of the strains in the laboratory were consistent with a heritability of approximately 10%, allowing ranking of the strains from highest to lowest fecundity.