Effectiveness of pheromone traps against Tuta absoluta

International audienceIn the Tunisian south, the heated greenhouses are an important axis of development of agriculture thanks to the big geothermal potential of this zone. Currently, this sector suffers from several phytosanitary problems. In the last years, a new insect, Tuta absoluta, threaten the cultures of cultivated tomatoes in heated greenhouses. To improve control of T. absoluta, the effectiveness of pheromone traps (associated or not with a source of light) and luminous traps (associated or not with water, with limed buckets for limed covers) were compared. The results show that the traps with pheromones significantly catch more adults of T. absoluta compared to all the other types of traps (average number of trapped adults of T. absoluta = 73.4 (± 142)). The luminous traps associated with water, with limed buckets as with limed covers show, as for them, an intermediate effectiveness. In spite of this slightly less effectiveness, the luminous traps have the advantage of low costs of production as well as the advantage of simultaneously capturing males and females of T. absoluta. ; Peer reviewe

Message to Gabonese people: “Are you ready to eat insect-based foods like a Westerner?”

peer reviewedInsect consumption is not as common in Gabon compared to other African countries. Moreover, this food practice is threatened by the westernization of eating habits, which is particularly exacerbated in urban areas. Innovation is one of the solutions to promote entomophagy. For example, in Western countries, insect industry develops new foods, consisting in familiar foods (pasta, crackers, etc.) enriched with insects, to promote entomophagy. Could such a strategy be replicated in Gabon? A study was conducted in urban areas of Gabon (i.e. Libreville and Franceville) to answer this question. This study consisted in face-to-face interviews with 416 respondents (mean age: 38.17 ± 11.39 years old). The willingness to eat (WTE) and the willingness to pay (WTP) for two insect-based foods (i.e. baguette and hamburger) were recorded. This survey also collected general information relative to entomophagy in Gabon (e.g. consumer acceptance, experience of eating insects, etc.). Almost 60% of respondents would accept to eat insects (i.e. potential eaters) and many of them have already had this eating experience. However, this food habit is not particularly common as many insect eaters consumed insects yearly or less frequently. Over 80% of potential eaters would be willing to eat at least one insect-based food. WTP for baguette enriched with insects was similar to average price of a conventional baguette. In contrast, respondents wanted to pay less for a hamburger with insects than the average price of a conventional burger

Quality of edible insects seen by Belgian academics

peer reviewedIn Belgium, as everywhere in Europe, edible insects are not yet introduced in food habits. Edible insects must reach a certain level of quality to be accepted as food by European people. Quality is defined as “the requirements necessary to satisfy the needs and expectations of the consumer”(1). In the case of food, quality is divided into five dimensions: Safety (i.e. hygienic quality), Health (i.e. nutritional quality), Satisfaction (i.e. organoleptic quality), Service (i.e. functional quality) and Society (i.e. symbolic quality). Each dimension has a variable importance depending on the consumer and the food. A study was conducted in Gembloux (Belgium) at Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech – University of Liège (GxABT). 475 respondents (mean age: 27.62 ± 11.45 years old) took part in the online survey voluntarily. This survey aimed to collect general information about entomophagy (e.g. consumer acceptance, experience of eating insects, etc.) and to define the most important quality dimension relative to entomophagy. This study was also an opportunity to challenge the questionnaire which is the initial version of a questionnaire for further studies. More than 60% of academics from GxABT stated they would be willing to eat edible insects and they have already experimented insect eating. Most respondents knew where they could buy this food, mainly on the Internet or in store. Concerning the quality of food, health was considered as the most important dimension followed by society and satisfaction. In other words, respondents wanted to eat a healthy food with edible insects. (1) Peri C., 2006. The universe of food quality. Food Qual. Prefer. 17(1–2), 3–8

Teneur en protéines et profils d'acides aminés d'espèces d'insectes comestibles sélectionnées de la République démocratique du Congo pertinentes pour le commerce transfrontalier à travers l'Afrique.

peer reviewedThis study analyzed the protein content of ten edible insect species (using the Dumas method), then focused on the amino acid (AA) profiles of the six major commercially relevant species using HPLC (high-pressure (or performance) liquid chromatography). The protein contents varied significantly from 46.1% to 52.9% (dry matter); the Orthoptera representative yielding both the highest protein content and the highest values in three essential amino acids (EAAs). Regarding Lepidoptera species, the protein content of Saturniidae varied more than for Notodontidae. Imbrasia ertli gave the best example of a species that could be suggested for dietary supplementation of cereal-based diets, as the sample contained the highest values in five EAAs and for the EAA index. Furthermore, first-limiting AAs in the selected insects have also been pointed out (based on a species-specific AA score), supporting that the real benefit from eating insects is correlated to a varied diet. Additionally, preliminary insights into AA distribution patterns according to taxa provided three clusters based on protein quality and should be completed further to help tailor prescriptions of dietary diets. Since the AA composition of the selected insects was close to the FAO/WHO EAA requirement pattern for preschool children and met the requirements of 40% EAAs with high ratio EAAs/NEAAs, the current study endorses reports of edible insects as nutrient-rich and sustainable protein sources.2. Zero hunge

Enrichissement en Ꙍ3 de prépupes d'Hermetia illucens (L. 1758) à partir de coproduits d'oléagineux.

To meet the growing demand for fish in human nutrition, aquaculture is developing increasingly from marine fishery products (i.e. fish meal and fish oil). New environmentally sustainable protein and lipid resources are recommended for this sector and insects, particularly black soldier fly (BSF), Hermetia illucens (L. 1758), are considered as promising candidates for fish feed production. BSF larvae convert organic materials into high-valued protein and lipid, their nutritional composition is related to their diet and could therefore be manipulated. The key issue in fish nutrition will be the fatty acid composition of BSF larvae that are characterized by high saturated fatty acids (SFAs) level (> 60%) with lack of essential polyunsaturated fatty acids. This study aimed to adjust the fatty acid profile of BSF larvae by manipulating their food on focusing on diet formulation with local oilseed cakes for essential ω3 fatty acid (ALA: α-linolenic acid, C18:3n3) enrichment. Selected populations (100 individuals/population) of 7 days old BSF larvae were reared on Chicken feed (CF) diets enriched with flax and rape cakes at six incorporation rates (10 - 20 - 40 - 60 - 80 - 100%), the CF was used as the control diet and all diets were tested in triplicate (n = 3). The first prepupae appeared from 15 rearing days on all diets with an average weight of 195 mg excepted for full oil cake diets showing longer prepupal collection time (7 days) and lower average weight (116 mg). Oil cakes incorporation shows an impact on the prepupae fatty acid profiles. The results show that progressive oil cakes diets incorporation decreased saturated fatty acids from 75.86 ± 0.34% to 56.10 ± 0.74%. Simultaneously, rape cake incorporation leads mainly to oleic acid (C18:1n-9) enrichment which not sought in fish nutrition and low ALA rate from 1.16 ± 0.25% to 2.42 ± 0.12% but Flax cake incorporation increase ALA enrichment up till 15.27 ± 0.02% favorable to fish needs allowing a potential increase BSF meal incorporation in fish feed. This research therefore presents a model of progressive prepupae oil enrichment from oilseed coproducts for application in fish feed.INSEC

Total replacement of fish meal by enriched-fatty acid Hermetia illucens meal did not substantially affect growth parameters or innate immune status and improved whole body biochemical quality of Nile tilapia juveniles

The study was designed to evaluate the effects of total remplacement of fish meal (FM) and fish oil (FO) by vegetable oil and black soldier fly (BSF) larval meal enriched with fatty acids (FAs) in Nile tilapia juveniles. Fish were fed a FMFO control diet compared to a non-FA-enriched BSF diet (BSF/T0) and diets enriched in linolenic acid-ALA (BSF/T1) or in eicosapentanoic acid-EPA (BSF/T2). After 59 days, the BSF diets did not affect growth except for a decrease by the BSF/T1 diet. However, protein utilization and digestibility were reduced by all the BSF diets. FA-enriched diets did not improve the digestive enzyme activities or immune parameters, while lysozyme and ACH50 values were increased by the BSF/T0 diet. Levels of polyunsaturated FAs in the whole body of fish fed ALA or EPA-enriched BSF diets were comparable to those of FMFO controls. The results demonstrate that BSF meal can totally replace FM without substantially effect on growth or innate immune status. The decrease in fish carcass FA quality induced by the BSF meal can be prevented by a well defined protocol for PUFA enrichment. Nonetheless, investigation of the long-term effects of the BSF meal use during the ongrowing phase is still needed

Efficiency of fatty acid-enriched dipteran-based meal on husbandry, digestive activity and immunological responses of Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus juveniles

peer reviewedThis study aimed to compare the enrichment capacity of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and the long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA) of two dipteran species, Hermetia illucens - black soldier fly (BSF) - and a blowfly, Chrysomya putoria (CP), and to test its influence on growth, digestive activities and immune responses of Nile tilapia. Two types of enriched insect larval meal were produced using larvae cultured either on vegetable substrates (VGS) to formulate two diets rich in linolenic acid (ALA) (BSF/VGD and CP/VGD), or on fish offal substrates (FOS), in order to produce two diets rich in ALA and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) (BSF/FOD) or in ALA + EPA and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) (CP/FOD). These four insect-based diets containing only palm oil as a lipid source were compared to a control diet based on fish meal (FM) and fish oil (FO). After 60 days of feeding, ALA or DHA muscle content of fish fed BSF/VGD or CP/FOD diet was comparable to that of the FMFO diet, and all insect diets increased the EPA muscle levels, except for a reduction by the BSF/VGD one. The CP/FOD diet induced similar fish growth, feed efficiency and protein efficiency ratio compared to the control FMFO diet, while a decrease was observed in fish fed other insect diets. Only BSF/VGD led to a decrease in protein and lipid digestibility. CP or BSF larval meal significantly increased alkaline phosphatase activity regardless of fatty acid (FA) enrichment. The expression level of fads2, fads6 and elovl5 was significantly higher in fish fed the BSF/VGD diet compared to fish fed the FMFO diet. FA-enriched insect diets increased some immune variables such as lysozyme, peroxidase and ACH50 values of fish fed CP/FOD, CP/VGD or BSF/VGD diets. Moreover, the expression level of β-defensin-1 and mhcII genes were significantly higher in fish fed the BSF/FOD diet than the FMFO diet. Also, the expression of the pro-inflammatory gene il-1-β was significantly higher in fish fed FMFO diet than in those fed CP/FOD diet, but comparable to fish fed all other diets. No significant effects were observed for the other tested genes. The results showed a better efficiency in LC-PUFA enrichment of the CP larvae compared to BSF ones, resulting in a higher stimulation of the fish nutrient utilization processes and therefore, a higher growth capacity. Nonetheless, all dipteran larval meal stimulated the immune status whatever the insect species or dietary essential fatty acids

Look but do not touch: the occurrence of venomous species across Lepidoptera

peer reviewedLepidoptera can cause several health issues in humans and domestic animals due to their setae, which are defensive adaptations that protect them from predators. The diversity of venomous Lepidoptera has been explored in several reviews starting from the first comprehensive attempt in 1984 by Kawamoto and Kumada (KK) who compiled a list of 228 species based on previous reviews; however, KK did not cite the original publications for listed species. In this review we validated and updated the KK table. The updated list of venomous Lepidoptera includes 5 superfamilies, 14 families, 208 genera, and 576 species, representing a two-fold increase for genera and 2.9-fold for species with respect to KK. The total number of species in the genera including at least one venomous species, which we argue is likely closer to the true number of venomous species, is 7 times higher (3,620). GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility) occurrences for venomous species are 1–4 orders of magnitude higher than those of confamilial non-venomous species. The presence of venomous structures is independent of the relatedness of the clades or geographic region; venom is produced by many species of Zygaenoidea, Lasiocampoidea and Bombycoidea but only by some specialized groups in Papilionoidea and Noctuoidea. There are likely to be multiple evolutionary origins of venom within Lepidoptera, but the exact number is difficult to estimate. The knowledge gap between medical and natural history fields needs to be addressed with novel approaches to study ecology and toxicology. This review offers health practitioners a tool to better understand the origin of the reactions observed and to improve the identification of the causal agents

Belgian Grasshoppers: A Nutritious Food Source

Rapid urbanization and rising economies are creating shifts in the composition of global food demand, so it is necessary to explore new sources of food with better nutritional profile. Among the alternative food that exists are the grasshoppers, about 80 species of which are consumed worldwide. Grasshoppers are not only rich source of proteins and lipids but also some important minor component like vitamins and minerals. Edible species of grasshopper in Belgium were identified and attempts were made for the lab rearing of meadow grasshopper (Chorthippus parallelus). The lipids as well as protein contents of meadow grasshopper (Chorthippus parallelus) & long winged conehead (Conocephalus discolor) were investigated. The fatty acid compositions of these two species were determined by gas chromatography. Some of the physicochemical properties of the lipids extracted were also analyzed. These two grasshopper species could be really nutritious source of food.AgricultureIsLif