Molecular evidence of Cotesia flavipes (Cameron) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) establishment in Ethiopia

Cotesia flavipes (Cameron) is an Asian origin endo-larval parasitoid of cereal stemborers in the genera of Chilo, Sesamia and others. It was introduced into Kenya mainly for the control of Chilo partellus (Swinhoe) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) from India, and North and South Pakistan. After introduction, the parasitoid was released in C. partellus prone areas of Eastern and Southern African countries. The establishment rate varies from country to country and region to region within the country. In Ethiopia, the parasitoid was not released, but for the first time recorded in 1999 as identified morphologically. Morphological traits in many instances lead to wrong taxonomic conclusion. Hence, molecular investigation was carried out to confirm whether the parasitoid recorded in Ethiopia is C. flavipes or not by running Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) of DNA fragments of C. flavipes collected from Ethiopia and other African and Asian countries. The PCR analysis using 16S gene (primer) indicated that C. flavipes collected from Ethiopia had similar bands with C. flavipes from other countries confirming the correctness of the morphological traits used to identify the parasitoid. Hence, the parasitoid recorded in 1999 in Ethiopia was Cotesia flavipes which was established without release. To partition the differences that could exist among the different populations of C. flavipes and possibly trace the origin of Ethiopian population, advanced molecular techniques such as restricted fragment polymorphism (RFLP) and sequencing will be recommended although the exercises are expensive

Efficacy of botanical extracts against termites on maize (Zea mays (L.)) under field condition in western Ethiopia

Maize (Zea mays L.) is grown popularly in the world. It is severely attacked by termites. Insecticides are widely used to control, but could not minimize termites’ damage mainly because of resistance development and easily break down of the active ingredients. Hence, field experiment was conducted with the aim of evaluating different botanical crude extracts from leaves of Croton macrostachys (Hochst), Jatropha curcas L. and Phytolacca dodecandra L. for the management of termites.  The experiment was conducted at Wollega University (wu) under irrigation and rain fed conditions. Leaves of the botanicals were collected from experimental sites in western Ethiopia and dried under shade. The dried leaves were grounded to a fine powder using a small hand-operated manual grinder and the powder was further sliced with analytical mill and sieved through a 0.25 mm pore size mesh to make uniform fine dust particle. The treatments were C. macrostachys, P. dodecandra, J. curcas, C. macrostachys + P. dodecandra, C. macrostachys +J. curcas, P. dodecandra + J. curcas, C. macrostachys + P. dodecandra + J. curcas. Untreated check was used for comparison. For treatment preparation, 300 g. of each botanical leaf powder was soaked in 1000 ml distilled water for 72 hrs. The mixtures were filtered with clean cheese cloth and stored in a beaker of 250 ml capacity. The experiment was laid-out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (rcbd) in four replications. Shallow holes for maize seed planting were prepared well ahead of planting on the experimental plots. From the stock solution of each botanical, 20 ml was drenched to each planting hole 10 days before planting and continued at all maize growth stages. Treatments were applied using 30 ml capacity Syringe. Data on termite damage symptoms were collected two days before planting and two days after treatment application at every growth stage. The results revealed that mixed botanicals treatments were significantly (p<0.05) superior to non-mixed botanical treatments in the management of termites. The highest number of foraging termites, galleries and mounds were recorded in the untreated check plot, while the lowest was recorded in the mixed botanical treatments. Moreover, the highest number of maize stand count, maize cobs and maize yield were recorded from plots that received mixed botanicals and the lowest were recorded from the untreated plot. In conclusion, mixtures of C. macrostachys, J. curcas and P. dodecandra can be used as part of an integrated termites’ management

Moth Species Diversity, Composition and Abundance in Different Land Use Types of Chebera Churchura National Park and its Surroundings, Southwestern Ethiopia

Land use change and habitat fragmentation affect biodiversity through an increasing level of disturbance and destruction of natural habitats. The present study is the first report on species diversity, species composition, and abundance of moth fauna in and around Chebera Churchura national park. During the survey from January to June 2021, 6206 specimens were collected from 105 species and 11 families from the 3 land use types. Based on the number of species, the family Erbidae is the most abundant with 41 species, and the family Pyraldae was the least abundant with one species. Based on the number of individuals, the family Crambidae was the most abundant, with 2,474 individuals, and the least was the family Pyraldae, with 10 individuals. The most abundant species was Cyligramma latona, and Cyana abyssinica was the least. Compared to the three land use types, riverine forest had the highest diversity, with 94 species and 3592 individuals, and mosaic habitat had the lowest, with 30 species and 971 individuals. Across the survey diversity indices, riverine forest had the highest Shannon value of 4, Simpson value of 0.98, and evenness value of 0.89, while mosaic habitat had the lowest Shannon value of 3, Simpson value of 0.94, and evenness value of 0.87. The Chi-square test results showed that the diversity of moths differed significantly between the three habitats. A month-wise comparison of moth abundance showed that January was the most abundant and the least was recorded in June. The highest similarity was found between riverine forest and wooded grassland; the least was between riverine forest and mosaic habitat. Generally, the habitat was good for moth and butterfly diversity

Geographical and population diversity of African honeybees, Apismellifera L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae): A review

This review was prepared to summarize the information on geographic and genetic diversity of Apismellifera L. of African honeybees and the progresses made through time and applications of various advanced tools in their taxonomy at subspecies level. African honeybees have developed distinct morphology, behavior and physiology as they evolved in tropical favorable climate. The variations among the African honeybee populations have helped to produce geographic subspecies based on the morphological characteristics. However, the introduction of molecular taxonomic tools has come up with discrepancies in the number of subspecies and lineages, and subspecies composition of evolutionary lineages in Africa and other parts of the world. It has also brought up controversies in the evolutionary history of A. mellifera reporting different location as the center of origin of the species at different times: Asia, Africa and Europe. It is not only the tools that are used, but also the genetic variations within subspecies, within colonies in an apiary site and within individuals of the same colony temporally are the factors for continually appearing discrepancies. Natural hybridization between populations of adjacent subspecies along the geographic transition zones and introgression of genes through introduction of colonies that is mainly driven by human demand for desirable traits of honeybees have been among the challenges for discrimination of honeybee subspecies. Therefore, in future genetic diversity and taxonomic investigations, considering these natural variations at subspecies level and developing standardized and integrated procedures from sampling to analysis methods would help to produce generally recognized data base that is critically important to resolve the problem of inconsistencies in taxonomy and nomenclature of  honeybee subspecies of Arica and elsewhere. &nbsp

Some physiochemical properties of termite mound soil and its effect on yield and yield components of maize (Zea mays L.) Under Greenhouse condition at Nekemte, western Ethiopia

Termite mound soil amends soil fertility and utilized as an alternative to npk fertilizers by smallholder farmers in Africa. Experiment was conducted in western Ethiopia to compare selected physical and chemical properties of mound soil (ms), Adjacent soil (as) and non-mound soil (nms) and the effect of these soils on maize plant growth and yield in the Greenhouse. In Limu district, Fitbako kebele, cultivated land was purposively selected for sampling. In the cultivated land, a plot of 100m x100m was delineated and three mounds within the plot were also purposively selected to collect composite soil sample for soil analysis and Greenhouse pot experiment. From each mound, 10kg soil each from bottom, middle and top (total= 30 kg) were collected and mixed to obtain working sample of 10 kg. About 30kg of adjacent soil 5m away from mound soils and Non-mound soil at the distance of 20 m away from mound soil at the depth of 0-30cm were collected and thoroughly mixed to make working sample of 10kg from each soil type. Three kilograms of mound soil, adjacent soil and non-mound soil each was put in separate plastic bucket for greenhouse pot experiment. About 100 gm of each soil type was used for selected physical and chemical properties analyses. The result obtained demonstrated that termite mound soil was significantly (P<0.05) high in bulk density (bd), moisture contents (mc), porosity (P), Soil pH, percent organic carbon (% oc) and percent organic matter (% om). Total Nitrogen (tn), average (av.) P, av. K, Exch.  Ca and Exch. Mg were also significantly (P<0.05) higher in mound soil in comparison with adjacent soil and non-mound soil. Maize plant growth traits and yield were significantly (P<0.05) high in mound soil. From the current study, it can be concluded that the use of npk fertilizer on plots having termite mound is not recommended. However, further research is needed on how to use mound soil on large plot of lan

Evaluation of shallot cultivars against onion thrips, Thrips tabaci Lindeman (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) in Bishoftu, Ethiopia

Onion thrips, Thrips tabaci Lindeman (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), is a worldwide pest of allium crops that can reduce shallot yield by more than 50% and even more problematic when it transmits iris yellow spot virus (Family Bunyaviridae, Genus Tospovirus, iysv). Because of its cryptic nature, it is difficult to control thrips merely with insecticides. Thus, a field experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of shallot cultivars against T. tabaci. The study was conducted between June 2017 and March, 2018 in two locations at Debre Zeit Agricultural Research Center (dzarc), Ethiopia. Ten shallot cultivars were evaluated in a complete randomized design with three replications, by counting the number of thrips larvae at weekly interval and recording leaf damage percentage. Most of the cultivars had shown a significant difference (P<0.05) for all recorded evaluation parameters. Five out of the 10 tested cultivars scored low thrips population had very little leaf damage and were considered resistant to T. tabaci. Visual assessment to shallot plant canopy indicated that all the cultivars has shown low damage symptom. Moreover, the result revealed that the registered shallot varieties namely Huruta and Minjar were superior in bulb yield and resistant level to thrips damage. Our findings indicate that the presence of thrips resistant/tolerant shallot cultivars in the germplasm collections at dzarc and the potential for developing T. tabaci resistance shallot cultivars as part of an overall integrated pest management strategy. Therefore, these cultivars could be used by complementing them with insecticides and cultural practices to manage onion thrips populations

Efficacy of plant derived and synthetic insecticides against cabbage aphid, Brevicoryne brassicae (L.) (Homoptera: Aphididae) and their effect on coccinellid predators

Cabbage aphid, Brevicoryne brassicae (L.)  is one of the major insect pests of brassica crops worldwide. Mainly insecticides are being used for its management which poses hazardous effects on the environment and the applicator. Low efficacy and non-target effect of the available insecticide are the main challenge in the management of the pest in Ethiopia. The use of bio-rational and neonicotinoid pesticides is a promising alternative as they are less vulnerable to resistance development and relatively safe to the environment and the applicator. This study was carried out in 2018/19 cropping season to evaluate the efficacy of plant derived and synthetic insecticides for the management of cabbage aphid and their effect on coccinellid predators on Ethiopian kale. Ten treatments including six synthetic and two botanical insecticides were tested in comparison with the standard check dimethoate 40% EC and the untreated control in Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. Significant (P<0.05) differences were observed among the treatments in terms of cabbage aphid population reduction and their effect on coccinellid beetles. The botanical mix (Garlic+onion+pepper) and imidacloprid were at par with each other and found to be the best treatment with 93.79% and 91.04% efficacy, respectively. The maximum leaf yield was obtained from imidacloprid (14.18 t/ha) followed by botanical mix (13.45 t/ha) and lufenuron (12.42 t/ha). The highest yield increment over control was obtained from imidacloprid (3.1 t/ha), followed by botanical mix (2.37 t/ha). The botanical mix, imidacloprid and neem seed extract were highly effective in aphid control as well as less hazardous to ladybird beetle (Coccinella septempunctata L.). The highest cost benefit ratio was recorded with profenofos (1:1.14) followed by lufenuron (1:0.2), spinosad and nimbecidine (1:0.18). Results of the current study demonstrated that imidacloprid and plant-based insecticides can reduce aphid populations equally to conventional insecticides and could be used as an alternative component for the integrated pest management (IPM) of cabbage aphid, Brevicoryne brassicae (L.) on kale crop under field condition of smallholder farming system

Studies on butterflies’ diversity in relation to habitats and seasons at Gulele Botanical Garden in Central Ethiopia: implication of protected area for in-situ conservation of biological entity

Butterflies are the most important biodiversity components, which are under different threats including climate change that varies with habitat type and seasons. Intra-annual variation in temperature (i.e. seasonality) can have important implications for thermal tolerance, which affect climate change vulnerability. Habitat type can additionally influence a population’s capacity to respond to climatic change. As Gullele Botanical garden is home of small animals like butterflies owing to its different habitats in different seasons, studying the diversity of these useful group of organism is vital. The study was conducted from July 2012 to June 2014. Butterfly diversity was investigated using sweep nets along transects (500 m x 300 m) in three types of habitats: natural forest, artificial forest and Grassland. Data were analyzed using Xcel Software, Tukey’s hsd test and diversity indexes. Maximum abundance (162) and species richness (26) was recorded in grassland followed by natural forest though they are not statistically different (p>0.05). Butterflies evenly distributed in the three habitats (P>0.05). The highest Shannon diversity index was at the grassland (H=3.09) followed by the natural forest (H=3.02). The species richness index was the highest (R=4.91) in the grassland and the least (R=3.79) in the artificial forest. Simpson’s diversity index indicated higher butterfly species diversity in the natural forest (D=0.92) and grassland habitat (D=0.96). Members of the family Lycaenidae were the most dominant (28.5%) and Hesperidae (8.03%) was the least. There was a significance difference (P<0.05) among seasons. Multiple comparisons of Tukey hsd test showed that there was a significant (P<0.05) difference between autumn and winter. Species richness showed the maximum (R=6.06) record in autumn and minimum (R=4.10) in winter. Shannon diversity index showed higher diversity (H=3.396) in autumn. Among families, Lycaenidae had high values in autumn (H=1.09) and spring (H=1.03), while Nymphalidae and Pieridae had high values during winter (H=0.952) and summer (H=0.980), respectively. Hesperiidae had the highest value (H=0.32) in autumn and the lowest (H=0.00) in winter. In Artificial forest Hypolimnas salmacis (Rothschild & Jordan), Bicyclus campus (Karsch) and Euchrysops albistriata (Capronnier) were abundantly found. Deudorix dinochares (Grose-Smith) and Papilio echerioides (Trimen,) were species specific to the natural forest habitat. The most abundant species in the grassland were Eicochrysops messapus (Wallengren), Colias electo (Berger) and Danaus chrysippus (L.)

Pre-Harvest Assessment of Sitophilus Zeamais Motshulsky and Sitotroga Cerealella (Olivier) in Major Maize Producing Areas: Evidence from Southern Ethiopia

An assessment of the levels of field infestation of maize to major primary maize stored pests, namely Sitophilus zeamais Motshulsky and Sitotroga cerealella (Olivier) was carried out in major maize growing district of  ‘Sidama Zone’, Southern Ethiopia in 2002 cropping season. During survey time questionnaries were parepared to know farmers’ peception about these two pests and to get information on whether infestation starts at field or at storage and there exist alternative host for S. zeamais and S. cerealella. At the same time the distance of maize field from farmer’s house and/or storage structure was measured to know the impact of nearness of house and/or storage structure on field infestation. Moreover, cropping pattern together with the history of the field was recorded to know their impact on field infestation of maize by these insect pests. Both S. zeamais Motschulsky and S. cerealella (Olivier) were recorded from standing maize in the field. Field population of both pests was not significantly different among Peasant Associations (PAs). However, population of the pests varied among farmers’ fields within PAs and plots within farmers’ fields. More number of S. zeamais adults than S. cerealella were recorded both at sampling time and after keeping the sampled cobs in the laboratory for four weeks. Field population of the pests was governed by characteristics of the sheath cover of the cobs. Bare tipped cobs appear to attract more S. zeamais than S. cerealella. The higher the initial infestation the higher the subsequent damage in the store was observed. This indicates that to reduce damage to the grain in the store management practices shouldn’t concentrate only in the store, but should start from the field.The distance of maize field from farmer’s residence was negetively coorelated, which indicates that the higher the maize field from the residence of the farmer the lower the pests population. Almost all farmers in the surveyed area considered S. zeamais and S. cerealela as one species and all know that infestation starts in the field. Keywords: Sitophilus zeamais, Sitotroga cerealella, field infestation, distance of maiz

Integrated Management of Woolly Whitefly [Aleurothrixus Floccusus (Maskell) Homoptera: Aleyrodidae] on Citrus at Adama, East Shewa Zone, Ethiopia

The woolly whitefly, Aleurothrixus floccusus (Maskell), (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae), is a new invasive alien insect pest of citrus crop recorded in Ethiopia in 2001 in Adama town. Woolly whiteflies are the most destructive pests of citrus in Ethiopia particularly in Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia. It causes tremendous yield loss. In the present study, woolly whitefly management by the integration of fertilizer (DAP), irrigation and sticky gum banding on citrus were investigated in Adama under field condition under natural infestation. The field study was carried out in Adama, East Shewa, Ethiopia in 2011. The experiment was designed in randomized complete block design in three replication in a factorial arrangement where a tree represents one replication. Pre-treatment assessment of woolly whitefly population and weekly assessment after treatment application were done to select the best treatment. The pre-treatment woolly whitefly assessment indicated that 80-100% twig infestation, 60-99% leaf infestation and 35-37% fruit infestation indicating that twig and leaf of the citrus trees are the most preferred plant parts by woolly whitefly, where as low proportion of percent infested citrus plants (0.5% - 2.08%), (0.18% - 1.38%) and (0.56% -1.95%) were recorded in the treated citrus plant in studied area respectively. Significantly low twig infestation, low leaf infestation, low number of woolly whitefly colonies in the twig and leaf, low status of ants and high status of predator (ladybird beetle) and parasitoids (Cales noacki) in the twig and leaf were recorded from citrus plants. Integrated effect of fertilization, irrigation and sticky gum banding effectively increased the yield and quality of citrus fruit.  The data obtained indicated that effect of fertilizer; irrigation and sticky gum banding were significant in reducing woolly whitefly infestation on citrus. All infested plant parts were also attended by several ant colonies. However, significant variations were observed among the treatment in fruit yield. From the present study it can be concluded that by providing the citrus plant with appropriate/optimum nutrient and water at the right time which mainly strengthen and help the plant to produce leaves and flowers, and enhance the activity of the natural enemies mainly by disconnecting the symbiotic relationship between the woolly whitefly and ants by using sticky gum banding. As the management of commercial citrus production is very intense the likely problem of woolly whitefly in such a farm is almost nil. Thus, the current technology is fit to small scale citrus production system which has to be extended by the extension agents. Therefore, the use of fertilizer (DAP), irrigation and sticky gum banding could play a vital role in integrated management of woolly whitefly on citrus. Key words: Citrus, A. floccusus, fertilizer, irrigation, sticky gum banding