Evaluating Tenebrio molitor (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) for the reduction of fumonisin B1 levels in livestock feed.

The yellow mealworm, Tenebrio molitor, L., can be an important component of the circular economy because of its ability to transform a variety of agricultural wastes and byproducts into valuable livestock feed. Analysis of their ability to endure toxins coupled with their potential to transfer contaminants to higher trophic levels is not complete.

Effectiveness and residual activity of four common insecticides used in the Mississippi Delta to control tarnished plant bugs in cotton.

The tarnished plant bug, (TPB) Lygus lineolaris Palisot de Beauvois (Hemiptera: Miridae) is a key pest of cotton in the midsouth region and some areas of the eastern United States. Its control methods have been solely based on chemical insecticides which has contributed to insecticidal resistance and shortened residual periods for control of this insect pest. This study was conducted over a two-year period and examined the efficacy and residual effect of four commercial insecticides including lambda-cyhalothrin (pyrethroid), acephate (organophosphate), imidacloprid (neonicotinoid), and sulfoxaflor (sulfoxamine).

Sublethal effects of a commercial Bt product and Bt cotton flowers on the bollworm (Helicoverpa zea) with impacts to predation from a lady beetle (Hippodamia convergens).

Insecticidal Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner (Bt) toxins produced by transgenic cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) plants have become an essential component of cotton pest management. Bt toxins are the primary management tool in transgenic cotton for lepidopteran pests, the most important of which is the bollworm (Helicoverpa zea Boddie) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in the United States (U.

Evaluating Acheta domesticus (Orthoptera: Gryllidae) for the reduction of fumonisin B1 levels in livestock feed.

Mycotoxins that contaminate grain can cause the devaluation of agricultural products and create health risks for the consumer. Fumonisins are one such mycotoxin. Produced primarily by Fusarium verticillioides (Hypocreales: Nectriaceae) (Nirenberg, 1976) on corn, fumonisins' economic impact can be significant by causing various diseases in livestock if contaminated corn is not monitored and removed from animal feed.

A new software for automated counting of glistenings in intraocular lenses .

Aim: To assess the performance of a bespoke software for automated counting of intraocular lens (IOL) glistenings in slit-lamp images.

Methods: IOL glistenings from slit-lamp-derived digital images were counted manually and automatically by the bespoke software. The images of one randomly selected eye from each of 34 participants were used as a training set to determine the threshold setting that gave the best agreement between manual and automatic grading.

Combining visual cues and pheromone blends for monitoring and management of the tarnished plant bug Lygus lineolaris (Hemiptera: Miridae).

Background: The tarnished plant bug Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois) is considered the most damaging pest of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) in the mid-southern United States. Previous studies have reported the role of different ratios of volatile metathoracic gland components such as hexyl butyrate, (E)-2-hexenyl butyrate and (E)-4-oxo-2-hexenal in eliciting low-level attraction of L.

Practical resistance to Cry toxins and efficacy of Vip3Aa in Bt cotton against Helicoverpa zea.

Background: Crops genetically engineered to make insect-killing proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) have revolutionized management of some pests. However, the benefits of such transgenic crops are reduced when pests evolve resistance to Bt toxins. We evaluated resistance to Bt toxins and Bt cotton plants using laboratory bioassays and complementary field trials focusing on Helicoverpa zea, one of the most economically important pests of cotton and other crops in the United States.

Field studies on the deterioration of microplastic films from ultra-thin compostable bags in soil.

In recent years, some countries have replaced single-use plastic bags with bags manufactured from compostable plastic film that can be used for collecting food wastes and composted together with the waste. Because industrial compost contains undeteriorated fragments of these bags, application to field soil is a potential source of small-sized residues from these bags. This study was undertaken to examine deterioration of these compostable film microplastics (CFMPs) in field soil at three different localities in Italy.

Early Warning of Resistance to Bt Toxin Vip3Aa in .

Evolution of resistance by pests can reduce the benefits of crops genetically engineered to produce insecticidal proteins from (Bt). Because of the widespread resistance of to crystalline (Cry) Bt toxins in the United States, the vegetative insecticidal protein Vip3Aa is the only Bt toxin produced by Bt corn and cotton that remains effective against some populations of this polyphagous lepidopteran pest. Here we evaluated resistance to Vip3Aa using diet bioassays to test 42,218 larvae from three lab strains and 71 strains derived from the field during 2016 to 2020 in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas.

Termite Presence and Feeding on Loblolly Pine Wood Differs Among Four Root-Infecting Bluestain (ophiostomatoid) Fungal Species.

Bark beetles and root weevils can impact forests through tree death on landscape scales. Recently, subterranean termites have been linked to these beetles via the presence of bluestain fungi (Ascomycota: Ophiostomataceae), which are vectored to trees by beetles. However, only a small subset of bluestain species have been examined.

Landscape Effects on Native Bees (Hymenoptera: Anthophila) Captured in Pheromone Traps for Noctuid Crop Pests (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae).

Noctuid pests, including tobacco budworm (Chloridea virescens (Fab.)) and bollworm (Helicoverpa zea (Boddie)), are significant pests of southern row crops including cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.), corn (Zea mays L.

Temporal Occurrence of Plusiinae on Soybean in the Mississippi River Delta.

The subfamily Plusiinae of the moth family Noctuidae is made up 400 species worldwide. Two species of the subfamily, the soybean looper, Chrysodeixis includens (Walker), and the cabbage looper, Trichoplusia ni (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), are important defoliating insect pests of various field crops and have been the subject of previous Plusiinae surveys in the Southern U.S.

Persistence in soil of microplastic films from ultra-thin compostable plastic bags and implications on soil Aspergillus flavus population.

An increasing number of states and municipalities are choosing to reduce plastic litter by replacing plastic items, particularly single-use ones, with same-use products manufactured from compostable plastics. This study investigated the formation and persistence of compostable film microplastic particles (CFMPs) from ultra-thin compostable carrier bags in soil under laboratory conditions, and the potential impact of CFMPs on Aspergillus flavus populations in the soil. During a 12-month incubation period, compostable film samples in soils with small, medium or large populations of indigenous A.

First documentation of major Vip3Aa resistance alleles in field populations of Helicoverpa zea (Boddie) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in Texas, USA.

The corn earworm, Helicoverpa zea, is a major target pest of the insecticidal Vip3Aa protein used in pyramided transgenic Bt corn and cotton with Cry1 and Cry2 proteins in the U.S. The widespread resistance to Cry1 and Cry2 proteins in H.

Degradation of microplastic seed film-coating fragments in soil.

Encapsulating fungicides and/or insecticides in film-coatings applied to agronomic seeds has become a widely accepted method for enhancing seed germination and overall seedling health by protecting against many diseases and early-season insect pests. Despite advancements in seed film-coating technologies, abrasion of the seed coating can occur during handling and mechanical planting operations, resulting in variable amounts of detached fragments entering the soil. The present study investigated the degradation in soil of these plastic-like, small-sized fragments, referred to here as microplastic coating fragments.

Differences between two populations of bollworm, Helicoverpa zea (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), with variable measurements of laboratory susceptibilities to Bt toxins exposed to non-Bt and Bt cottons in large field cages.

Interpreting variable laboratory measurements of Helicoverpa zea Boddie susceptibility to toxins from Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner (Bt) has been challenging due to a lack of clear evidence to document declining field control. Research that links laboratory measurements of susceptibility to survival on Bt crops is vital for accurate characterization and any subsequent response to the occurrence of an implied H. zea resistance event.

Comparison of Three Bioassay Methods to Estimate Levels of Tarnished Plant Bug (Hemiptera: Miridae) Susceptibility to Acephate, Imidacloprid, Permethrin, Sulfoxaflor, and Thiamethoxam.

A laboratory colony of tarnished plant bugs reared solely on a meridic diet was exposed to acephate, imidacloprid, permethrin, sulfoxaflor, and thiamethoxam in dose-response experiments using floral-foam, glass-vial, and dipped-leaf assays. Results indicated that different assay methods produced different relative results across the different insecticides. Dose- and time-response regression models also indicated that length of exposure of tarnished plant bugs to insecticide-treated plant tissue is important.

Effects of transgenic Bacillus thuringiensis cotton on insecticide use, heliothine counts, plant damage, and cotton yield: A meta-analysis, 1996-2015.

The primary management tactic for lepidopteran pests of cotton in the United States of America (USA) is the use of transgenic cotton that produces Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner (Bt) toxins. The primary target pests of this technology are Helicoverpa zea (Boddie) and Heliothis virescens (F.) in the eastern and central Cotton Belt of the USA.

CRISPR/Cas9 mediated high efficiency knockout of the eye color gene Vermillion in Helicoverpa zea (Boddie).

Among various genome editing tools available for functional genomic studies, reagents based on clustered regularly interspersed palindromic repeats (CRISPR) have gained popularity due to ease and versatility. CRISPR reagents consist of ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complexes formed by combining guide RNA (gRNA) that target specific genomics regions and a CRISPR associated nuclease (Cas). The gRNA targeting specific gene sequences may be delivered as a plasmid construct that needs to be transcribed or as a synthetic RNA.

Baseline Susceptibility of Lygus lineolaris (Hemiptera: Miridae) to Novaluron.

Tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois), populations were collected from field locations in the Mississippi River Delta of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Third-instar F(1) nymphs from each field location, in addition to a laboratory colony, were screened for susceptibility to novaluron. Both a glass vial bioassay and a diet-incorporated bioassay used dose-response regression lines to calculate LC(50) and LC(90) values for novaluron.

Rapid identification of Helicoverpa armigera and Helicoverpa zea (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) using ribosomal RNA internal transcribed spacer 1.

Rapid identification of invasive species is crucial for deploying management strategies to prevent establishment. Recent Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) invasions and subsequent establishment in South America has increased the risk of this species invading North America. Morphological similarities make differentiation of H.