The efficacy of indigenous and imported predators utilized in the biological control of Bemisia tabaci biotype „B” (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) in greenhouse

The silver leaf whitefly,Bemisia tabaci biotype „B ”(Homoptera:Aleyrodidae)is one of the most serious vegetable and ornamental plants pest in Egypt.Predators play an important role in controlling this species. The present work deals with the abundance of indigenous predators in greenhouse on three host plants mostly of vegetable crops during April –July,1996.Chrysoperla carnea (Stephens)(Neuropteran: Chrysopidae)is considered the most abundant predator acting on Bemisia. In the meantime,the work deals also with the potential of the imported predators,namely Delphastus pusillus Le Conte (Coleoptera:Coccinellidae)and Macrophillus caliginosus (Wagner)(Hemip- tera :Miridae).These predators were released 3 times on eggplant (Solanum melongena)and at the ratio of 1 individual and 2 individuals/plant for D.pusillus and M.caliginosus,respectively.Results indicate that predators increased in numbers while whitefly population decreased in comparison to control homologues. Biotype B.tabaci was identified in John Innes Center,UK and recorded by Abd-Rabou (1999) in Egypt as first recorded for presence of this biotype

Islamic Revivalism and Democracy in Malaysia

The paper examines democracy and secularism in Malaysia, a state rooted in Islam, and how it has been implemented in a country with a majority Muslim population. It briefly outlines how Islam was brought to the region and how British colonialism was able to implement secularism and democratic practices in such a way that religion was not wholeheartedly erased. Indeed, peaceful decolonization combined with a history of accommodating elites served to promote a newly independent Malaysia, to create a constitutional democracy which declares Islam as the religion of the Federation, and simultaneously religious freedom. Despite the constitution, the United Malays National Organization, UMNO, Malaysia’s ruling party for 61 years, managed to cap democracy through a variety of methods, including enraging ethnic tensions and checking electoral competitiveness. Growing public discontent from such actions resulted in Islamic Revivalist movements and increased Islamization at the expense of secular values. UMNO’s 2018 electoral loss to the Alliance of Hope party (PH) suggests a new commitment to democracy and reform, which if carried out, will likely result in a return to secular norms with Islamic elements that still maintain religious freedom rights and democratic practices that have, over the last two decades, been called into question

Development and Validation of a Competency Self-Assessment Tool for The Nurse Interns

Contents: Nurse Interns need more attention to their self-confidence and self-assessment abilities. Self-assessment is an essential approach for testing their knowledge, skills, and attitudes.Aim: This study aimed to develop a competency self-assessment tool for nurse interns and test its validity and reliability.Methods: Methodological study for the development of a tool. The study was carried out at Ain-Shams University Hospitals on all 89-nurse interns in the internship year, and a jury group of 21 faculty members and 21 nurse managers for validation. The researchers developed a preliminary self-assessment tool with six selected nursing core competencies presented to the jury group for validation. Results: The finalized tool had a very high total face CVI-S (0.99). The CVI-S ranged between 0.94 for environmental safety and hazardous materials safety and 1.00 for the content validity's attitude scale. The total scale had a CVI-S as high as 0.98. The tool had excellent overall reliability with a Cronbach alpha coefficient as high as 0.901 and an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.888. The attitude scale also had excellent reliability with a Cronbach alpha coefficient of 0.965 and an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.964. In the application of the tool, 95.5% of the nurse interns considered their competencies adequate. In terms of grades, only 32.6% and 10.1% considered themselves to have very good and excellent competencies, respectively, and 70.8% had a positive attitude toward self-assessment. Conclusion: A valid and reliable competency self-assessment tool was developed for nurse interns; it can be applied in various nursing internship programs. It could be used by the administrators of the internship programs to identify the individual learning and training needs of nurse interns. Further studies are proposed to evaluate the utility of the tool in evaluating and improving these programs

Family Signiphoridae (Chalcidoidea) in Egypt

Species of the family Signiphoridae (Chalcidoidea) are primarily hyperparasitoids associated with scale insects, whiteflies and mealybugs through other Chalcidoidea; however, certain species are primary parasitoids of these hosts. Recent collections and a review of the literature indicate that the following five species of the family Signiphoridae are known to occur in Egypt: Chartocerus niger (Ashmead), Chartocerus subaeneus (Főrster), Signiphora fax Girault, Thysanus sp. and Signiphora flavella Girault, the latter newly recorded in Egypt and Palearctic region. A key to the Egyptian signiphorid species is included

Coccophagus scutellaris

About 953000 individuals of the cosmopolitan parasitoid, Coccophagus scutellaris (Dalman) (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae), were released and evaluated during 2009-2010 for the control of the following soft scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccidae) infesting the following economic crops in Egypt: Ceroplastes rusci on citrus in Beni Seuf, Ceroplastes floridensis Comstock on citrus in Gharbiya, Coccus hesperidum L. on guava in Giza, Pulvinaria floccifera (Westwood) on mango in Sharqiya, Pulvinaria psidii Maskell on mango in Ismailia, Saissetia coffeae (Walker) on olive in Marsa Matruh, and Saissetia oleae (Oliver) on olive in the Northern Coast. The population of C. scutellaris showed a significant correlation with the build up of the population of the soft scale insects population in all of the release sites studied. The maximum rate of parasitism of the other species of parasitoids associated with soft scale insects at the release sites decreased after the release of C. scutellaris

PARASITOIDS ATTACKING THE MEDITERRANEAN BLACK SCALE, SAISSETIA OLEAE (HEMIPTERA: COCCIDAE) ON OLIVE IN EGYPT

PARASITOIDS ATTACKING THE MEDITERRANEAN BLACK SCALE, SAISSETIA OLEAE (HEMIPTERA: COCCIDAE) ON OLIVE IN EGYPT. Saissetia oleae is an important pest of olive trees in Egypt. A survey of the parasitoids of S. oleae was carried out monthly between April 1995 and March 1997 in three different locations in Egypt. Five species of Encyrtidae, a species of Pteromalidae and an aphelinid hyperparasite were found. Three of these records were new for Egypt. Key words: survey, rearing methods, percentage parasitism, Diversinervus elegans, Metaphycus flavus, M. zebratus, Metaphycus spp., Scutellista caerulea, Marietta leopardina

AN ANNOTATED LIST OF THE HYMENOPTEROUS PARASITOIDS OF THE DIASPIDIDAE (HEMIPTERA: COCCOIDEA) IN EGYPT, WITH NEW RECORDS

Eighteen species of hymenopterous parasitoid of armoured scale insects (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) were recorded in a survey of host plants in three locations in Egypt during 1994- 1997. The 16 species of Aphelinidae and two Encyrtidae are listed, along with their diaspidid hosts and location in Egypt; ten species were new records for Egypt. Key words: survey, geographic distribution, host range, rearing methods, Ablerus, Aphytus, Coccophagoides, Encarsia, Marietta, Habrolepis

The mealybugs (Hemiptera: Coccoidea: Pseudococcidae) of Egypt

The Egyptian fauna of mealybugs (Hemiptera: Coccoidea: Pseudococcidae) is reviewed and an illustrated key to the 30 genera and 54 species is provided. Phenacoccus madeirensis Green is reported for the first time in Egypt. A new genus, Ezzatacoccus Evans and Abd-Rabou, is described and illustrated with Amonostherium arabicum Ezzat, 1960 designated as its type species. Octococcus salicicola Priesner and Hosny, 1935 is reinstated as a valid taxon and transferred to Misericoccus Ferris, new combination. Ripersia cressae Hall is transferred to Maconellicoccus Ezzat, new combination and Planococcus lindingeri (Bodenheimer) is transferred back to Formicococcus Takahashi, revised status

Visual symptoms and control of the Red Palm Weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus) in the Gaza Strip, Palestine

Abd Rabou AN, Radwan ES. 2017. Visual symptoms and control of the Red Palm Weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus) in the Gaza Strip, Palestine. Nusantara Bioscience 9: 322-329. The Red Palm Weevil –RPW (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier)(Coleoptera: Curculionidae) has recently become one of the most destructive pests of Date Palms in the Gaza Strip and the Middle East. It is a serious pest threatening the Date Palm health and production, with the larva is the most destructive stage. The current study aims at introducing the visual symptoms and control techniques of the RPW in the Gaza Strip, Palestine. Field surveys and institutional visits were applied to fulfill the purpose of the study. The current study documented that first local infestation of Date Palm trees with the RPW was discovered in late 2011. The introduction of infected offshoots from Egypt through earth tunnel trade and the ability of the adult RPW to fly long distance and cross borders seem to be main causes of the local infestations with the pest. Different control techniques have been adopted by the responsible parties to combat the RPW; with the integrated pest management (IPM) program was tracked and respected. Finally, the study recommends the cooperation of different parties and authorities to adopt appropriate policies to eliminate the RPW and to support farmers with the necessary pesticides and equipment to control this painful pest