Exploring the host range of Metarhizium novozealandicum (C14) against some common insect pests in New Zealand

Metarhizium novozealandicum (C14), isolated from a kiwifruit nursery soil in Nelson, is a potential biocontrol agent for grass grub as has shown high pathogenicity towards the larvae. If isolate C14 is to be used as a grass grub biocontrol agent, it is likely to remain in grass grub populations longer if alternate hosts are also present. In addition, commercial development of biopesticides can be more successful if the active agent is able to infect more than a single pest species. The virulence of C14 against five other New Zealand insect pests (Lepidoptera Plutella xylostella, Helicoverpa armigera and Wiseana sp., Hemiptera Myzus persicae, and Coleoptera Tenebrio molitor) was investigated using bioassays. These pests belong to three orders and have a range of differing life histories and ecological traits. M. novozealandicum (C14) had high pathogenicity against two of these insect pests, H. armigera and T. molitor, but was less effective against P. xylostella, Wiseana sp. and M. persicae

Reflections about the geotourism concept

Geotourism, like any other type of tourism, is an economic activity. This means that it is expected that this activity generate money in order to provide a solid income to investors and workers. In general, a higher tourism income is directly related with a higher numbers of tourists; this is what all tourism agents aspire. Without loosing the sense of environmental and social sustainability, geotourism managers also expect to have success in their businesses

Precedence effects and the evolution of chorusing

The structured choruses produced by rhythmically signalling males in many species of acoustic animals have long-captured the imagination of evolutionary biologists. Though various hypotheses have been forwarded to explain the adaptive significance of such chorusing, none have withstood empirical scrutiny. We suggest instead that alternating and synchronous choruses represent collective epiphenomena resulting from individual males competing to jam each other's signals. These competitions originate in psychoacoustic precedence effects wherein females only orient toward the first call of a sequence, thus selectively favouring males who produce leading calls. Given this perceptual bias, our modelling confirms that a resetting of signal rhythm by neighbours' signals, which generates either alternation or synchrony, is evolutionarily stable provided that resetting includes a relativity adjustment for the velocity of signal transmission and selective attention toward only a subset of signalling neighbours. Signalling strategies in chorusing insects and anurans are consistent with these predicted features

World Heritage and Tourism: Towards Coviability? Reflections on the Case of Scuba Diving in the Lagoon of New Caledonia

International audienceThe largest part of the lagoon of New Caledonia was registered in the list of world heritage of UNESCO in 2008. This registration is also a challenge: that of managing coviability between economic development and the conservation of natural heritage. A survey conducted on the principal diving clubs in the archipelago allows the study of the evolution in tourists visiting the Lagoon (from 2005 to 2012). The analysis of interviews held with professionals in aquatic sports and tourism promotion agencies, along with the data from the Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies, help to put into perspective the results of the study in order to make a comparison between before and after registration. Beyond measuring the attractiveness of the lagoon and putting into perspective the development of tourism in the territory and Oceania as a whole, we will address the process of listing the lagoon as world heritage site and the conditions for coviability between the protection of nature and scuba diving