Diversity and Geographical Distribution of Sand Flies Phlebotomus papatasi (Diptera: Phlebotominae) by using Geometric Morphometric Technique from two Iraqi Provinces

            تم دراسة الاختلاف في الصفات المظهرية للأجنحة باستخدام تقنية المقياس الهندسي لمجاميع سكانية مختلفة من ذبابة الرمل من محافظتين مختلفتان هما بابل وديالى. حيث تم تحديد أحد عشر معلم موزعة على أجنحة هذه الأنواع. تم تمييز جميع الأنواع باستخدام حجم وشكل الجناح. هذه النتائج تسلط الضوء على تحليل الجناح كأداة فعالة لدراسات الاختلافات المورفولوجية لجناح ذبابة الرمزل.            The variation in wing morphological features was investigated using geometric morphometric technique of the Sand Fly from two Iraqi provinces Babylon and Diyala . We distributed eleven landmarks on the wings of Sand Fly species. By using the centroid size and shape together, all species were clearly distinguished.  It is clear from these results that the wing analysis is an essential method for future geometric morphometry studies to distinguish the species of Sand Flies in Iraq

Toxicity of Nanomulsion of Castor Oil on the Fourth larval stage of Culex quinquefsciatus under Laboratory Conditions

البعوض الكيولكس مثل نوع Culex quinquefasciatus  هو الناقل الاولي للعديد من المسببات المرضية مثل الفلاريا و التهاب الدماغ الياباني و فايروس غرب النيل في العديد من الدول حول العالم . ان التطور الحاصل في الحقول العلمية مثل التقنيات النانوية قاد الى استخدام هذه التقنيات في برامج السيطرة على الحشرات ومنها البعوض، من خلال استخدام البناء الحيوي (الاخضر) للمستحلبات النانوية المستندة على المنتجات النباتية مثل زيت نبات الخروع. المستحلب النانوي لزيت الخروع اٌعد بنسب متعددة محتوياً على، زيت الخروع و الايثانول و التوين 80 والماء منزوع الايونات بواسطة جهاز الالتراسونيك . من خلال تحاليل الديناميكية الحرارية فقد تم تأكيد ان الصيغة ( 10 مل ) من زيت الخروع و ( 5 مل ) من الايثانول و (14 مل ) من التوين 80 و (71مل ) من الماء منزوع الايونات هي الاكثر استقراراً من الصيغ الاخرى . المستحلب النانوي لزيت الخروع تم تشخيصة بواسطة المجهر الالكتروني النافذ و ديناميكية الاستطارة الضوئية،فكانت قطيرات المستحلب النانوي كروية الشكل و ذات معدل حجم 93 نانوميتر. استخدمت تراكيز مختلفة من المستحلب النانوي لزيت الخروع (250, 350 ,450, 550) جزء بالمليون واختبرت فعاليتها كعوامل ابادة يرقية، و كذلك استخدمت تراكيز من المستحلب الخام لزيت الخروع (1000 , 1500, 2000, 2500) جزء بالمليون قد اختبرت ايضاً، وتمت مقارنتها. المستحلب النانوي اضهر فعالية عالية مقارنتاً بالمستحلب الخام، حيث ان الجرعة المميتة للنصف LC50 للمستحلب النانوي والمستحلب الخام كانت  21, 268 و 37,409 جزء بالمليون خلال 72 ساعة وعلى التوالي . اختبار كيميائي حيوي قد اٌجري لليرقات المعاملة لفحص تأثير المستحلب النانوي لزيت الخروع على الخصائص البايوكيميائية لليرقات، فالمزيج المتجانس لليرقات أضهر تثبيط في فعالية انزيم الكولين ايستريز .Mosquitoes like Culex quinquefasciatus are the primary vector that transmits many causes of diseases such as filariasis, Japanese encephalitis, and West Nile virus, in many countries around the world. The development in the scientific fields, such as nanotechnology, leads to use this technique in control programs of insects including mosquitoes through the use of green synthesis of nanoemulsions based on plant products such as castor oil.  Castor oil nanoemulsion was formulated in various ratios comprising of castor oil, ethanol, tween 80, and deionized water by ultrasonication. Thermodynamic assay improved that the formula of (10 ml) of castor oil, ethanol (5ml), tween 80 (14 ml) and deionized water (71ml)   was more stable than other formulas. The formulated castor oil nanoemulsion was characterized by transmitting electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering.  Nanoemulsion droplets were spherical in shape and found to have a Z-average diameter of 93 nm. A concentration of castor oil nanoemulsion (250, 350, 450, and 550 ppm) was tested as larvicidal agents and bulk emulsion (1000, 1500, 2000, and 2500 ppm) was tested also and compared against the fourth instar larvae. Our nanoemulsion showed higher activity when compared to bulk emulsion.   LC50 for castor oil nanoemulsion and castor bulk emulsion were found to be 268.21 and 409.37ppm after 72 h, respectively. The biochemical assays were carried out to examine the effect of castor oil nanoemulsion on biochemical characteristics of larvae. The treated larval homogenate showed inhibition in the activity of acetylcholinesterase

Effect of Secondary Metabolite Crude of Metarhizum anisopliea Fungus on the Second Larval Stage of the Housefly Musca domestica

         The house flies Musca domestica )Diptera:musidae) are the primary carrier of many pathogens such as cholera, typhoid, anthrax, and others. The use of chemical pesticides as a basic method of control leads to many problems at the environmental and health level. The use of safe alternatives to chemical pesticides has become an urgent necessity. The research aims to find biological alternatives that are environment-friendly and non-pathogenic to humans in controlling house flies through the possibility of extracting and diagnosing some secondary metabolites produced by the fungus Metarhizium anisopliae and testing their effects on the second larval stage of house flies using different treatment methods that include direct spraying of the larvae, treating the food environment, and the dipping method. Secondary metabolites and toxins of Metarhizium anisopliae were extracted in liquid media PDB using a mixture of organic solvents such as ethyl acetate and methanol. The secondary metabolites were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The results showed the identification of 10 chemical compounds, including phenol, 2,4-bis(1,1-dimethylethyl (C14H22O)., Diethyl Phthalate (C12H14O4),  Hexadecanoic acid, methyl ester (C17H34O2 ),  Phthalic acid, butyl undecyl ester (C23H36O4) , 9,12-Octadecanoic (Z,Z )-, methyl ester ( C19H34O2),  9-Octadecanoic acid, methyl ester, (C19H36O2), 9,12,15-Octadecanoic acid,methyl ester,(Z,Z,Z) (C19H32O2), Octadecanoic acid,methyl ester(C19H38O2), Oleic Acid (C24H38O4), 9-Octadecanoic acid (Z)-,2-hydroxyl (hydroxymethyl) ethyl ester(C21H40O4) ,and Di-n-octyl phthalate (C24H38O4 ). The results showed that the crude extract of the fungus cause the best mortality rate  in the second instar larvae at concentrations of 3 and 5% after 72 hours of treatment when  the mortality rates ranged between 60-100%. The mortality rates were directly proportional to the increase in concentration and time with a significant difference. The results also showed that the treatment of the food media was the most effective in affecting the larvae of flies, recording mortality rates that reached 100%, with a significant difference with direct spraying and dipping methods. These results reveal the significant efficacy of the tested secondary metabolite crude of m.anesopalae against Musca domestica which could be used as an ecofriendly alternative for insect control

Effects of Castor Oil Nanoemulsion Extracted by Hexane on the Fourth Larval stage of Culex quinquefsciatus from Al Hawizeh Marsh/Iraq, and Non- Targeted Organism

           The current study aims to show the importance of plant products as mosquitocides against Culex quinquefasciatus. Castor oil Nanoemulsions were subedit in various ratios including castor oil, ethanol, tween 80, and deionized water by using ultrasonication. Thermodynamic, centrifugation, PH, assay which improved that the formula  of 10 ml  of castor  oil, ethanol  5ml, tween 80 (14 ml) and deionized water 71ml was more stable than other formulas. The stable formula of castor oil nanoemulsion was characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS). Nanoemulsion droplets were spherical in shape and were found to have a Z-average diameter of 87.4nm. A concentration of castor oil nanoemulsion 250, 350, 450, and 550 ppm were tested as larvicidal agents and bulk emulsion 1000, 1500, 2000 , and 2500 ppm were tested also and compared, against the fourth instar larvae of C. quinquefasciatus. Castor oil nanoemulsion exhibited higher activity when compared to bulk emulsion. LC50 of castor oil nanoemulsion and castor bulk emulsion were found as 291.46 and 439.19ppm after 72 h, respectively. The toxic effects of castor oil bulk and Nano emulsion was tested against non-target organism Guppy fish and found to be not toxic at the concentration which used in the study

Efficacy of some local isolates of Beauveria bassiana(Bals.) and Metarhizium anisopliae (Met.) in control of mosquito larvae of Culex quinquefasciatus (Say)

The main aim of this study is to investigate the ability of four local entomopathogenic isolates Beauveria bassiana (Bals.) and Metarhizium anisopliae (Met.) to control the mosquito larvae in the lab. The results revealed that the isolate (MARD48) B .bassiana reduced the survival rate of the mosquito larvae to (80%) followed by the isolate M. anisopliae (MARD10) to (90%) in the first two days of treatment, and 60 and 66% respectively in the third day. The results also showed that the isolate B. bassiana (MARD48) killed 50% of the population (LC50) with the concentration 1×104 conidia/ml compared to 1×107 conidia/ml for the isolates B. bassiana (MARD14) and M. anisopliae (MARD10), and 1×108 conidia/ml for the isolate B .bassiana (MARD76). The shortest lethal time was at concentration 1×107 conidia/ml within 3.3 day for the isolate B. bassiana (MARD48); while, it was 2.3 day for the isolate M. anisopliae (MARD10) of the concentration of 6 1×1011 spores / ml . According to the results, the isolate B. bassiana (MARD48) revealed the lowest concentration killed 50% (LC50) of the population and shortest time

Response of green lacewing Chrysoperla carnea (Stephens) to various densities of Ephestia cautella (walk)eggs

Results of exposure larvae of the most important predator in the integrated pest management , the green lacewings, Chrysoperla carnea (Stephens) to various densities of fig moth Ephestia cautella eggs showed increasing in the number of consumed prey at decreasing rate of increasing prey density where curve slope consumption decreased gradually until leveling off. These specifications concurred with type II functional response that predators appear towards varied densities of its preys ,that was confirm by logistic regression between the proportion of prey eaten in relation to prey offered . Third larval instars of the predator showed attack rate (a) of 4.85. This was greater than the second larval instar (3.58). Handling time (Th) per prey decreased as the predator aged , it was 0.0046 day for the second larval instar and 0.0041 day for the third larval instars. The greatest theoretical maximum number of moth eggs to be consumed was 244 eggs/day for the third larval instar followed by second larval instars as 217 eggs/day, respectively