Suppression of Stable Flies on Cattle

3 pp., 3 figuresLarge populations of stable flies can substantially reduce the income of beef and dairy producers. This publication explains how to suppress stable flies effectively and economically

Controlling Houseflies

2 pp.Houseflies can be a particular problem after a disaster, because they lay eggs and develop on rotting organic matter. This publication explains how to suppress housefly populations around homes and businesses

Controlling Blow Flies

Blow flies lay their eggs on animal remains and can spread disease. To control blow flies, it is important to remove dead animals and dispose of them properly, and to use effective insecticides when necessary

Protecting Cattle from Horn Flies

5 pp., 1 photograph, 1 tableHorn flies are the most damaging insect to cattle in Texas. This publication explains biological, cultural and chemical methods of controlling horn flies. Various insecticides used to suppress horn flies are liste

Developing an Information Literacy-Intensive Forensic Science Course

American Academy of Forensic Sciences 2018 Poster PresentationThe goal of this presentation is to demonstrate a model where forensic science educators can utilize resources at university libraries to promote scientific information literacy and lifelong learning strategies for their forensic science students that they can continue to use in their professional forensic careers. This presentation will impact the forensic science community by highlighting the benefits of forensic science faculty collaborating with subject specialist academic librarians to produce a course filling a gap in the education of future forensic science practitioners. This course facilitates the development of productive search strategies and how different types of scientific research and legal materials are relevant to various forensic science disciplines. This collaboration has demonstrated a need for promoting information literacy, specifically for open-access materials, on forensic science information to these students so that once they graduate they still can acquire the valuable information necessary for their job. As a result of this research, the researchers saw a need to expand this information literacy beyond the classroom and acquired National Institute of Justice (NIJ) funding to allow for the development of these materials as modules to be used by practitioners in crime laboratories to enhance available resources for their use. Forensic science is a multi-faceted field including expertise from a variety of disciplines. A challenge for creating a college course to address skills to develop information literacy competencies and encourage lifelong learning for future practitioners is covering those diverse disciplines. This presentation will detail how librarians at Texas A&M University developed a junior-level forensic science seminar in collaboration with a forensic science faculty member to meet the research needs of students in the forensic sciences program. The learning outcomes of this class include teaching students to describe problem-solving principles, organize typical operational protocols, recognize the scientific basis and application of tools and techniques in forensic science, compare capabilities and limitations, and to summarize and illustrate current scientific, ethical, and legal issues. The presenters will detail the steps taken to create six separate information literacy-intensive classes, including the development of the assignments, and how feedback was provided to the students. These classes included sessions on dissecting scholarly articles and case law, as well as classroom discussions to teach students how to use the structure of research articles and case law to easily evaluate information. By creating this information literacy course, instructors were able to better prepare students for their program’s research intensive courses with the amount of detail required that cannot be covered in a traditional one hour library instruction session. Such skills will be of value when working in forensic science fields and the need arrives for locating similar resources in relation to casework. Additionally, the presentation will address issues raised in class, such as open access, database access, and evaluation of science and legal materials, which helps the students translate current school work to their future careers. To further this concept of information literacy, as previously mentioned, the researchers received NIJ funding to determine how forensic scientist locate and evaluate information and to create educational materials aimed at enhancing these skills and increase awareness of other valuable informational resources. Locating and evaluating high-quality forensic science literature will help forensic scientists engage in quality science practices. Results from this class, which is now in its third year of evaluation, show that students who take this preparatory course are better prepared for conducting meaningful research for their writing-intensive senior-level classes both in their abilities to find relevant materials and how to utilize and cite these materials. Graduating students who go on to graduate or law school have also reported back that taking this course gave them a foundation for which to build on in their advanced studies.Grant funding provided by the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, the United States Department of Justice through 2016-R2-CX-0054. Points of view in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the United States Department of Justice

Poultry Pest Management

19 pp., 2 tablesExternal parasites can transmit diseases, decrease egg production, increase feed costs and reduce weight gains in poultry. This bulletin focuses on control measures, as well as the characteristics, hosts, life cycle and habits of poultry pests

Impacts of black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens, larval frass on lettuce and arugula production

There are many benefits to producing insects for food and feed; they require fewer resources to produce, process, and distribute. The digested and undigested waste along with insect feces (i.e., frass) from the mass production of insects can be considerable. Black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) digestion of organic residue produces frass that is high in macronutrients that are desirable for plants, potentially serving as a partial replacement for fertilizer or growing media, such as peat. Arugula and lettuce were grown in greenhouse pot studies with treatments comprised of BSFL frass (BSF), vermicompost (VC), and peat, and compared to a 100% peat control (CP). Yield, productivity, greenness, and tissue nutrient concentrations were measured. Arugula and lettuce produced the highest fresh weight and dry weight in the BSFL treatments. Primary macronutrients (N, P, K) and Mg in both crops were also highest in the BSFL treatments. Secondary macronutrients (Ca, Mg, S) and micronutrients produced more variable results (B, Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn). Lettuce produced larger yields but had much lower concentrations of nutrients compared to arugula. In small amounts, 10–20%, BSFL frass can serve as a good replacement for peat in leafy green crops. It is an especially beneficial way to recycle organic side streams in different industries and reduce waste production overall

Black soldier fly (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) larval heat generation and management

: Mass production of black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens (L.) (Diptera: Stratiomyidae), larvae results in massive heat generation, which impacts facility management, waste conversion, and larval production. We tested daily substrate temperatures with different population densities (i.e., 0, 500, 1000, 5000, and 10 000 larvae/pan), different population sizes (i.e., 166, 1000, and 10 000 larvae at a fixed feed ratio) and air temperatures (i.e., 20 and 30 °C) on various production parameters. Impacts of shifting larvae from 30 to 20 °C on either day 9 or 11 were also determined. Larval activity increased substrate temperatures significantly (i.e., at least 10 °C above air temperatures). Low air temperature favored growth with the higher population sizes while high temperature favored growth with low population sizes. The greatest average individual larval weights (e.g., 0.126 and 0.124 g) and feed conversion ratios (e.g., 1.92 and 2.08 g/g) were recorded for either 10 000 larvae reared at 20 °C or 100 larvae reared at 30 °C. Shifting temperatures from high (30 °C) to low (20 °C) in between (∼10-d-old larvae) impacted larval production weights (16% increases) and feed conversion ratios (increased 14%). Facilities should consider the impact of larval density, population size, and air temperature during black soldier fly mass production as these factors impact overall larval production

Composicao das especies de moscas-varejeiras do lixo no norte da Tailandia: avaliacao da altitude

Distribution and occurrence of blow flies of forensic importance was performed during 2007 and 2008 in Chiang Mai and Lampang Provinces, northern Thailand. Surveys were conducted in forested areas for 30 minutes using a sweep net to collected flies attracted to a bait. A total of 2,115 blow flies belonging to six genera and 14 species were collected; Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius) (44.7%), C. pinguis (Walker) (15.1%), C. chani Kurahashi (9.3%), C. thanomthini Kurahashi & Tumrasvin (0.3%); Achoetandrus rufifacies (Macquart) (10.5%), A. villeneuvi (Patton) (2.2%); Lucilia papuensis Macquart (2.2%), L. porphyrina (Walker) (12.4%), L. sinensis Aubertin (0.7%); Hemipyrellia ligurriens (Wiedemann) (1.3%), H. pulchra (Wiedemann) (0.1%); Hypopygiopsis infumata (Bigot) (0.6%), Hy. tumrasvini Kurahashi (0.2%) and Ceylonomyia nigripes Aubertin (0.4%). Among them, C. megacephala was the predominant species collected, particularly in the summer. The species likely to prevail in highland areas are C. pinguis, C. thanomthini, Hy. tumrasvini, L. papuensis and L. porphyrina.Distribuição e ocorrência de moscas-varejeiras de importância forense foi realizada durante 2007 e 2008 nas províncias de Chiang Mai e Lampang, norte da Tailândia. Os levantamentos foram feitos em áreas de florestas, durante 30 minutos usando rede de varredura para coletar as moscas atraídas por iscas. Um total de 2115 moscas-varejeiras pertencentes a seis gêneros e 14 espécies foram coletados; Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius) (44,7%), C. pinguis (Walker) (15,1%), C. chani Kurahashi (9,3%), C. thanomthini Kurahashi & Tumrasvin (0,3%); Achoetandrus rufifacies (Macquart) (10,5%), A. villeneuvi (Patton) (2,2%); Lucilia papuensis Macquart (2,2%), L. porphyrina (Walker) (12,4%), L. sinensis Aubertin (0,7%); Hemipyrellia ligurriens (Wiedemann) (1,3%), H. pulchra (Wiedemann) (0,1%); Hypopygiopsis infumata (Bigot) (0,6%), Hy. tumrasvini Kurahashi (0,2%) e Ceylonomyia nigripes Aubertin (0,4%). Dentre elas a C. megacephala foi a espécie predominante coletada particularmente no verão. As espécies capazes de predominar nas áreas altas são: C. pinguis, C. thanomthini, Hy. tumrasvini, L. papuensis e L. porphyrina