Safe Use of Replicating Bacteria in Biological Control

Naturally occurring entomopathogenic bacteria provide an important resource for pest control. Greatest benefit will be obtained from the application of replicating bacteria which can establish in the host's environment and provide long term control. Bacteria developed for pest control are required to be safety tested and registered, yet bacteria are frequently introduced into the environment to enhance plant growth or aid soil processes without regulation. Why then, is the use of insect pathogenic bacteria treated differently? Augmentation of bacteria already present in the environment is unlikely to have any unwanted side effects as application is only changing the spatial and temporal distribution of the microbe and will have little long term effect on the total population. Users of the bacteria, however, will be exposed to the bacterium at a level higher than experienced naturally and potential adverse effects of this interaction should be addressed through Tier 1 safety testing. Non-target organisms should also be tested. If new organisms (exotic strains or modified bacteria) are to be introduced to the environment, their potential effects on the environment should be considered. The question of horizontal gene flow from applied bacteria also needs to be addressed. A better understanding of microbial ecology and Systems for tracking new strains and genes are essential to develop appropriate assessment procedures to ensure the safe utilisation of bacteria in biological control

Desempenho de Trichogramma pratissolii Querino & Zucchi (Hymenoptera, Trichogrammatidae) em ovos de Anagasta kuehniella (Zeller) (Lepidoptera, Pyralidae) sob efeito de Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner

Visando estudar o efeito da bactéria entomopatogênica Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) sobre fêmeas adultas de Trichogramma pratissolii e sua progênie, este trabalho foi realizado com diferentes isolados de Bt e Bt kurstaki misturados ao alimento fornecido para o parasitóide antes de parasitar ovos de Anagasta kuehniella. Para tanto, suspensões de seis isolados de Bt E-3, E-10, E-15, E-16, E-19, E-20 e o Bt kurstaki foram misturados em gotícula de mel (1:1), como fonte de alimento e mel puro como testemunha, e, em seguida, foram oferecidos simultaneamente cartelas com ovos do hospedeiro para o parasitismo. Foram utilizadas 20 repetições por tratamento. O experimento foi mantido em câmara climatizada a 25 ? 1masculineC, UR 70 ? 10% e fotofase de 14h. Foram avaliados os parasitismos diários, totais e acumulados; sobrevivência; emergência e razão sexual da progênie. Os tratamentos não afetaram o parasitismo, razão sexual e a longevidade, porém em alguns tratamentos (E-3, E-10, E-16 e E-20) foi observado efeito indireto sobre a emergência da progênie, o que implicaria a necessidade de mais liberações massais do parasitóide para alcançar os resultados esperados. Por outro lado, a aceleração do parasitismo verificada em todos os tratamentos sugere que adultos de T. pratissolii, quando submetidos à pressão de algum fator externo tendem a parasitar o mais rápido possível para assegurar a sobrevivência da progênie. Portanto, a combinação Bt + T. pratissolii pode favorecer a atuação do parasitóide em campo, principalmente em casos em que é necessária uma rápida redução dos níveis populacionais da praga

New records of entomophthoran fungi from insects in Australia

Five species of entomophthoran fungi (Zygomycetes: Entomophthoraceae) are described from Australian insect populations for the first time. Two species, Entomophthora muscae and Erynia bullata, were found attacking Diptera; one species, Neozygites parvispora, was found attacking thrips; and two others, Entomophaga aulicae and Erynia gammae (recombined from Tarichium) were found on Lepidoptera

The release of genetically modified crops into the environment - Part II. Overview of ecological risk assessment

Despite numerous future promises, there is a multitude of concerns about the impact of GM crops on the environment. Key issues in the environmental assessment of GM crops are putative invasiveness, vertical or horizontal gene flow, other ecological impacts, effects on biodiversity and the impact of presence of GM material in other products. These are all highly interdisciplinary and complex issues. A crucial component for a proper assessment is defining the appropriate baseline for comparison and decision. For GM crops, the best and most appropriately defined reference point is the impact of plants developed by traditional breeding. The latter is an integral and accepted part of agriculture. In many instances, the putative impacts identified for GM crops are very similar to the impacts of new cultivars derived from traditional breeding. When assessing GM crops relative to existing cultivars, the increased knowledge base underpinning the development of GM crops will provide greater confidence in the assurances plant science can give on the risks of releasing such crop

A molecular approach to study Hymenoptera diets using wasp nests

The study of animal diets has benefited from the rise of high-throughput DNA sequencing applied to stomach content or faecal samples. The latter can be fresh samples used to describe recent meals or older samples, which can provide information about past feeding activities. For most invertebrates, however, it is difficult to access ‘historical’ samples, due to the small size of the animals and the absence of permanent defecation sites. Therefore, sampling must be repeated to account for seasonal variation and to capture the overall diet of a species. This study develops a method to describe the overall diet of nest-building Hymenoptera, based on a single sampling event, by analysing prey DNA from faeces accumulated in brood cells. We collected 48 nests from two species of introduced paper wasps (Polistes chinensis Fabricius and P. humilis Fabricius) in the urban and peri-urban areas of Auckland, New Zealand and selected two samples per nest. One from brood cells in the outer layer of the nest to represent the most recent diet and one from brood cells in an inner layer to represent older diet. Diet differed between species, although both fed mainly on Thysanoptera, Lepidoptera and Acariformes. Prey taxa identified to species level included both agricultural pests and native species. Prey communities consumed were significantly different between inner and outer nest samples, suggesting seasonal variation in prey availability and/or a diversification of the wasps’ diet as the colony grows. We also show for the first time potential predation of marine organisms by Polistes wasps. Our study provides field evidence that Polistes wasps feed on agricultural pests, supporting the hypothesis that some social wasp species could have a suppressing effect on agricultural pests. The proposed methodology is readily applicable to other nest-building Hymenoptera and has the potential to provide comprehensive knowledge about their diet with minimum sampling effort. Such knowledge is essential to measure the ecological impact of invasive Vespidae and support the conservation of native invertebrate biodiversity

Preference of a native beetle for "exoticism", characteristics that contribute to invasive success of Costelytra zealandica (Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae)

Widespread replacement of native ecosystems by productive land sometimes results in the outbreak of a native species. In New Zealand, the introduction of exotic pastoral plants has resulted in diet alteration of the native coleopteran species, Costelytra zealandica (White) (Scarabaeidae) such that this insect has reached the status of pest. In contrast, C. brunneum (Broun), a congeneric species, has not developed such a relationship with these ‘novel’ host plants. This study investigated the feeding preferences and fitness performance of these two closely related scarab beetles to increase fundamental knowledge about the mechanisms responsible for the development of invasive characteristics in native insects. To this end, the feeding preference of third instar larvae of both Costelytra species was investigated using an olfactometer device, and the survival and larval growth of the invasive species C. zealandica were compared on native and exotic host plants. Costelytra zealandica, when sampled from exotic pastures, was unable to fully utilise its ancestral native host and showed higher feeding preference and performance on exotic plants. In contrast, C. zealandica sampled from native grasslands did not perform significantly better on either host and showed similar feeding preferences to C. brunneum, which exhibited no feeding preference. This study suggests the possibility of strong intraspecific variation in the ability of C. zealandica to exploit native or exotic plants, supporting the hypothesis that such ability underpins the existence of distinct host-races in this species

Delivery of the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium spp. in seed coatings for plant growth promotion and plant protection against pests and diseases. (O19-5). [Abstract]

Entomopathogenic fungi belonging to the genera Metarhizium and Beauveria are well known for their natural ability to infect and kill insects