How termite community assembly changes with anthropogenic disturbance in a tropical forest (Togo, West Africa)

Method development is one of the raisons d’etre of engineering design research and method uptake by industry is perceived as an important success criterion. This paper argues that one of the problems with methods is the lack of clarity about what is actually proposed to industry and the academic community when a new method is put forward, in terms of how detailed, strict, precise and rigorous the method is and what it can deliver. This paper puts the concept of method in the context of related concepts and proposes a multi-level model of the elements of a method to argue that a contribution on each of these levels can be of value and that the introduction of methods can fail on each of these levels. Implications thereof for industry and academia are discussed, concluding that a clear description of methods and their intended use is important for enabling proper validation of each of the method’s elements and for communicating methods to academia and industry

Effets d’extrait hydroéthanolique de feuilles de neem (Azadirachta indica A. Juss) sur Plutella xylostella (Lepidoptera : Plutellidae) et Lipaphis erysimi (Hemiptera : Aphididae) dans la production du chou au Sud du Togo

L’utilisation des pesticides botaniques dans le contrôle des insectes ravageurs des cultures constitue de nos jours, une alternative à l’utilisation abusive des pesticides de synthèse. L’objectif de cette étude est d’évaluer l’efficacité d’extrait hydroéthanolique de feuilles de neem dans la lutte contre Plutella xylostella (Lepidoptera : Plutellidae) et Lipaphis erysimi (Hemiptera : Aphididae), deux principaux insectes ravageurs du chou en milieu maraîcher au Sud du Togo. L’efficacité de cet extrait botanique a été comparée à celles de deux insecticides de synthèse, le Conquest Plus 388 EC et le Cydim Super, très utilisés par les producteurs en maraîchage au Togo. Les essais ont été effectués en zone maraîchère sur des parcelles de chou disposées en blocs complets randomisés et équilibrés. Les traitements à base d’extrait ont significativement réduit les populations de P. xylostella par rapport aux insecticides de synthèse. Les plants des parcelles traitées, ont tous été exemptes d’infestation de L. erysimi par rapport à ceux du témoin. Les rendements moyens en pomme de chou ont été compris entre 1,72 ± 0,77 t / ha pour le témoin et 14,48 ± 1,30 t/ha pour des parcelles traitées avec l’extrait de neem. Le taux de perte en feuilles pommées perforées a varié entre 32,31 ± 8,94% sur des parcelles traitées avec l’extrait de neem et 49,56 ± 8,99% sur les parcelles traitées avec le Cydim Super. Cette étude montre que l’extrait de feuilles de neem peut être utilisé dans la gestion intégrée de P. xylostella et de L. erysimi au sud du Togo.© 2016 International Formulae Group. All rights reserved.Mots clés: Plutella xylostella, Lipaphis erysimi, neem, chou, Sud du TogoEnglish Title: Effects of neem (Azadirachta indica A. Juss) leaves hydroethanolic extract on Plutella xylostella (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae) and Lipaphis erysimi (Hemiptera: Aphididae) in cabbage production in Southern TogoEnglish AbstractThe use of botanical pesticides against insect pests is nowadays an alternative to the abusive use of synthetic pesticides. The objective of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of hydroethanolic extract of neem  leaves against Plutella xylostella (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae) and Lipaphis erysimi (Hemiptera: Aphididae), two main insect pests of cabbage in gardening field in Southern Togo. The effectiveness of this botanical extract was compared to those of two synthetic insecticides, Conquest Plus 388 EC and Cydim Super, very used by producers in gardening in Togo. The trials were conducted in vegetable area on cabbage plots arranged in randomized complete blocks. Treatments containing extract significantly reduced the populations of P. xylostella compared to synthetic insecticides. The plants of plots treated, were all free of L. erysimi infestation compared to control’s. Cabbage yields were in average between 1.72 ± 0.77 t / ha for the control and 14.48 ± 1.30 t / ha for plots treated with neem extract. The loss rate of perforated cabbage leaves varied between 32.31 ± 8.94% in plots treated with the extract of neem and 49.56 ± 8.99% in plots treated with Cydim Super. This study shows that the extract of neem leaves can be used in the integrated management of P. xylostella and L. erysimi in Southern Togo.© 2016 International Formulae Group. All rights reserved.Keywords: Plutella xylostella, Lipaphis erysimi, neem, cabbage, Southern Tog

Evaluation Des Attaques De Termites (Isoptera Brulle, 1832) Sur Quatre Essences Forestieres D’importance Economique Au Togo (Afrique De L’ouest)

Termites are one of the most abundant invertebrates in tropical ecosystems, where they play a major ecological role in litter decomposition. Despite their important role, termites can cause considerable damage to wood structures in most tropical countries. The aims of this study was to evaluate termite attack in four economically important species in Togo including Antiaris africana Engl (Moraceae), Pterocarpus erinaceus Poir (Fabaceae), Triplochiton scleroxylon Schum (Malvaceae) (all local species) and teak or Tectona grandis Linné (Lamiaceae). For the latter species, termites were infested on 83.49% of 630 feet examined. However, the rate and type attacks differ from one plantation to another. On the studied forest species, termites were collected on about 97% of Triplochiton scleroxylon feet. For this species, at least 31% of examined feet have had their wood attacked. For the other two species, Pterocarpus erinaceus and Antiaris africana respectively about 80% and 67% of examined feet were attacked by termites. Amitermes evuncifer, Ancistrotermes guineensis and Microtermes lepidus were species of termite often harvested from trees examined. However the last two species namely A. guineensis and M. lepidus are encountered on the bark of trees inside veneers unlike A. evuncifer harvested in the heart of the wood. Therefore, the latter species deserves special attention as likely to cause serious damage not only to these species but also other species not taken into account in this study. It is therefore necessary to consider adequate control methods against these species

Record of New Termite (Blattodea, Termitidae) Species in Togo West Africa

In Africa, despite their economic and ecological importance, termites are still relatively unknown. Their systematic remains uncertain, the approximate number of species for many biogeographic areas is underestimated, and there is still confusion in the identification of the species for many genera. This study combined morphological traits with morphometric measurements to determine several species collected in Togo and provided head illustrations of soldiers. Termites were sampled within the frame of transects laid in several landscapes inside three different parks including: Fosse aux Lions, Galangashie, and Fazao Malfakassa. Samples were grouped by morphospecies and measurements of part of the body (length and/or width of head, mandible, pronotum, gula, and hind tibia) were conducted. Twelve termite species including Foraminitermescorniferus, Lepidotermes sp., Noditermes cristifrons, Noditermes sp. 1 and Noditermes sp. 2, Promirotermes holmgren infera, Promirotermes sp., Unguitermes sp., Amitermes evuncifer, A. guineensis, A. truncatus, and A. spinifer were separated and pictured. Ten new species were added to the check list of the country, including five unidentified ones. Further studies such as biomolecular analysis should be carried out in order to clarify the status of these unknown species

Effect of the Essential Oil of Clausena anisata (Rutaceae) and Palm Kernel Vegetable Oil on Engorged Females of Three Species of Ixodidae Cattle Ticks

Improving and increasing livestock production system yield requires parasite control, especially ticks, which stifle the emergence of successful breeding units. Effective environmentally friendly and biological parasite control is urgently required. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of the essential oil of Clausena anisata (Rutaceae) and of palm kernel vegetable oil compared to a reference chemical acaricide, flumethrin, on the biological parameters of the engorged females of three major tick species in the Maritime Region of Togo. The topical tests applied consisted respectively of depositing a drop of 75μL and 5μL of the crude extracts and their dilutions on the back of each female of Amblyomma variegatum, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) decoloratus, and Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus (Ixodida: Ixodidae). Fifteen females and three replicates were tested, incubated at 28 ± 1°C, 85-95% RH, 12: 12 L:D, and were monitored daily. C. anisata caused 100% mortality in all engorged females and its 1/8 dilution destroyed 100% of eggs laid by A. variegatum. Palm kernel vegetable oil caused 100% mortality in female species of the genus Rhipicephalus (B.). Flumethrin was very toxic to ticks. Since Palm kernel vegetable oil has a significant toxicity, the two oils tested can be an alternative control of the studied ticks after additional studies

Diversity of Ants and Termites of the Botanical Garden of the University of Lomé, Togo

Ants and termites are used as bioindicators in many ecosystems. Little knowledge is available about them in Togo, especially ants. This study aimed to find out how ants and termites could be used to assess the restoration of former agricultural land. These insect groups were sampled within six transects of 50 × 2 m2 (using pitfall traps, monoliths, baits for ants and hand sampling for termites) in two consecutive habitats: open area (grassland) and covered area (an artificial forest). Seventeen termite species and 43 ant species were collected. Seven ant species were specific to the covered area against four for the open area, while four unshared species of termite were found in the open area against three in the covered area. The presence of unshared species was linked to vegetation, as Trinervitermes (Holmgren, 1912), a grass feeding termite, was solely found in open area. Also, for some ant species like Cataulacus traegaordhi (Santschi, 1914), Crematogaster (Lund, 1831) species, Oecophylla longinoda (Latreille, 1802) and Tetraponera mocquerysi (Brown, 1960), all arboreal species, vegetation was a determining factor for their presence. The occurrence of these species together with Basidentitermes mactus (Sjöstedt, 1911), Strumigenys bernardi (Brown, 1960) and S. sistrura (Bolton, 1983), suggest a more advanced level of restoration of the covered area

Termites’ diversity in a protected park of the northern Sudanian savanna of Togo (West Africa)

Termites occur in many ecosystems throughout tropical and subtropical areas. Their distribution is driven by several factors, including landscape and some soil characteristics. This study aims to determine soil organic matter’s role on termites’ diversity in a shrubby savanna park. Termites were sampled across transects in 3 sites of Galangashi park (northern part of Togo). The soil in which termites were harvested was analyzed to check organic matter’s influence on termites’ species richness. A total of 28 termite species belonging to 14 genera and 6 subfamilies were identified. Feeding group II (all fungus-growing termites, grass feeders, and wood feeders) was the most important among the three identified groups. Nine species (with two potentially new species for sciences: Amitermes sp and Eremotermes sp) were recorded for the first time in the country. A strong correlation was found between species richness, total organic matter, and total organic carbon, suggesting the influence of soil richness on termite distribution. The occurrence of the unique member of the feeding group I, Coptotermes intermedius Silvestri, 1912, as well as the occurrence of Fulleritermes tenebricus Silvestri, 1914 (both wood-dwelling termites), was certainly due to the vegetation. The relatively higher species richness as well as the correlation between the species richness and the organic matter of shrub savanna, suggest a better conservation of this landscape

Termite taxonomy, challenges and prospects: West Africa, a case example

Termites are important ecosystem engineers. Yet they are often difficult to identify due to the lack of reliable species-specific morphological traits for many species, which hampers ecological research. Recently, termitologists working with West African termites (West African Termite Taxonomy Initiative) convened for a workshop with the aim of beginning to address this problem. Repeated determination of the same termite samples by the most renowned taxonomists for West African termites identified the huge scale of the problem, as less than 10% of all species could be unambiguously determined to the species level. Intensive discussions and comparisons increased the identification success to around 25% at the end of the workshop. Yet many groups remained problematic and molecular markers and barcoding techniques combined with species delimitation approaches will be needed to help resolve these existing taxonomic problems. Based on the outcome of this workshop, we propose concerted initiatives to address termite taxonomy on a global scale. We are convinced that dedicated workshops on regional taxonomy that follow a similar structured approach, with repeated determination of the same sample, will help overcome the difficulties that termite taxonomy faces. This initiative can also serve as a blueprint for other taxonomical groups that are difficult to identify.SCOPUS: re.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe