Insects

The current study was conducted to evaluate the toxicity and repellency of leaf aqueous extracts i.e., Melia azedarach (Bakain), Nicotiana tabacum L. (Tobacco), Eucalyptus globulus Labill (Eucalyptus), Moringa oleifera L. (Moringa) and Mentha piperita L. (Peppermint) against two major sucking pests i.e. aphid (Sitobion avenae F.) and two-spotted spider mites (Tetranychus urticae Koch) and their natural enemies such as ladybird
beetle (Coccinella septempunctata Linnaeus) and predatory mite (Amblyseius andersoni Chant). The leaf dip method was used to conduct bioassay and this experiment was performed under Complete Randomized Design (CRD) with three replications. The results showed that N. tabacum extract was more toxic to aphids, two-spotted spider mites, ladybird beetles and predatory mites and caused 80.82, 81.49, 39.77 and 51.55% mortalities, respectively, after 96 hours. M. azedarach extract showed the second highest mortalities i.e., 73.85% in aphids, 70.54% in two-spotted spider mites, 31.05% in ladybird beetles and 46.49% of predatory mites. Mortality trend observed in other aqueous extracts was eucalyptus > moringa > peppermint. The repellent effect of these extracts was also evaluated and observed after 12 and 24 hours. N. tabacum extract caused 80.55 and 86.88% repellencies against aphid and two-spotted spider mites, while 68.55 and 74.34% against ladybird beetle and predatory mites, followed by bakain > peppermint > moringa > eucalyptus. The results revealed that all these leaf aqueous extracts can be used effectively against aphids and two-spotted spider mites, but we have to be careful with their slightly toxic effects on predators.

For the development of novel selection traits in honey bees, applicability under field conditions is crucial. We thus evaluated two novel traits intended to provide resistance against the ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor and to allow for their straightforward implementation in honey bee selection. These traits are new field estimates of already-described colony traits: brood recapping rate (‘Recapping’) and solidness (‘Solidness’). ‘Recapping’ refers to a specific worker characteristic wherein they reseal a capped and partly opened cell containing a pupa, whilst ‘Solidness’ assesses the percentage of capped brood in a predefined area. According to the literature and beekeepers’ experiences, a higher recapping rate and higher solidness could be related to resistance to V. destructor. During a four-year field trial in Switzerland, the two resistance traits were assessed in a total of 121 colonies of Apis mellifera mellifera. We estimated the repeatability and the heritability of t...

Abstract: Asian Papaya Fruit Fly, B. papayae (Drew & Hancock) undergoes four stages (egg, larva, pupa and adult) during its growth and development. In this study, observation showed that the egg's stage took 1.16±0.00, larva's stage took 12.02±0.13 and pupa's stage took ...

Galls induced by insects develop through a complex series of plant cell responses. Bauhinia ungulata L. (Fabaceae: Caesalpinioideae) has leaf-folding galls, which were studied by means of anatomical and histochemical approaches. These approaches compared the non-galled leaves, non-parasitoidized galls, and parasitoidized galls by addressing two questions: (1) what structural and histochemical changes are caused by the gall inducer in the leaf tissues of the host plant? And (2) is the parasitoid capable of affecting the gall structure? The non-galled leaf is amphistomatic, with anomocytic stomata, and multicellular non-glandular and navicular glandular trichomes. The mesophyll is dorsiventral, and the vascular system is surrounded by a lignified bundle sheath. In the gall, the outer epidermis is derived from the abaxial leaf epidermis. The outer cortex of the gall originates from the chlorophyllian parenchyma, and is homogeneous, with polyhedral cells and few intercellular spaces. Th...

The noctuid Helicoverpa armigera is an economically important pest of agricultural crops in Iran and other countries. Research is evaluating the capacity of Trichogramma parasitoids to control H. armigera populations on field crops. The objective of this research was to determine if young rather than old H. armigera eggs were optimal for Trichogramma euproctidis development, reproduction, and life table parameters. Bioassays involved exposing T. euproctidis mated females to H. armigera 14, 38, or 62 h old eggs within 24 h in laboratory arenas. Results indicated that the number of host eggs parasitized successfully by T. euproctidis decreased as host egg age increased. Host egg age had no significant effect on T. euproctidis adult emergence. Adults that developed in 14 h old eggs had greater longevity and fecundity than those that developed in 38 h or 62 h old eggs. The intrinsic rate of increase (r) was greatest, and the mean generation time (T) was lowest for T. euproctidis reared ...

Insect pests cause severe crop damage, resulting in substantial economic losses and threats to global food security. Conventional insecticides are low-cost chemical agents that kill the target insects and some non-specific beneficial organisms. Due to their toxic and non-biodegradable nature, these conventional insecticides persist in the environment, thus causing pollution and accumulating in the food chain. The development of novel insecticidal products based on double-stranded (dsRNA)-based RNA interference (RNAi) technology is a sustainable tool to effectively control insect pests. The dsRNA-based insecticides are known for their specificity, non-toxicity, and biodegradability. The current review introduces the dsRNA-based RNAi technique as a novel tool to control crop insect pests. The review highlights the mechanism behind dsRNA uptake into insect cells. Furthermore, it discusses the commercial aspects of different dsRNA-based products available in the market, their penetration rates,
and public acceptance. The review details the latest developments in the field and the regulatory landscape regarding the technology. The advantages and limitations of dsRNA-based insecticides are discussed, and future research directions to overcome the potential challenges have been briefly suggested. The dsRNA-based insecticidal products may be a better alternative to conventional insecticides, thus delineating the resistance among insects
and increasing agricultural productivity.

Intensively-managed pine (Pinus spp.) have been shown to support diverse vertebrate communities, but their ability to support invertebrate communities, such as wild bees, has not been well-studied. Recently, researchers have examined intercropping switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), a native perennial, within intensively managed loblolly pine (P. taeda) plantations as a potential source for cellulosic biofuels. To better understand potential effects of intercropping on bee communities, we investigated visitation of bees within three replicates of four treatments of loblolly pine in Mississippi, U.S.A.: 3-4 year old pine plantations and 9-10 year old pine plantations with and without intercropped switchgrass. We used colored pan traps to capture bees during the growing seasons of 2013 and 2014. We captured 2507 bees comprised of 18 different genera during the two-year study, with Lasioglossum and Ceratina being the most common genera captured. Overall, bee abundances were dependent on pl...

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A cDNA fragment representing the hemagglutinin-esterase (HE) gene of bovine coronavirus (BCV) was inserted into the genome of Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus. Infection of insect cells with the recombinant virus resulted in the production of a 120-kilodalton disulfide-linked dimeric form of the BCV HE polypeptide. Deletion of the carboxy-terminal hydrophobic domain from the HE polypeptide resulted in secretion of a dimeric form of the truncated HE polypeptide. The acetylesterase activity of the BCV HE was detectable in insect cells expressing the BCV hemagglutinin and was inhibited by two monoclonal antibodies which also inhibit hemagglutination. * Corresponding author. t This report is published with the permission of the Director of the Veterinary Infectious Disease Organization as article no. 88.

Conventional approaches to measuring animal vibrational signals on plant stems use a single transducer to measure the amplitude of vibrations. Such an approach, however, will often underestimate the amplitude of bending waves traveling along the stem. This occurs because vibration transducers are maximally sensitive along a single axis, which may not correspond to the major axis of stem motion. Furthermore, stem motion may be more complex than that of a bending wave propagating along a single axis, and such motion cannot be described using a single transducer. Here, we describe a method for characterizing stem motion in two dimensions by processing the signals from two orthogonally positioned transducers. Viewed relative to a cross-sectional plane, a point on the stem surface moves in an ellipse at any one frequency, with the ellipse's major axis corresponding to the maximum amplitude of vibration. The method outlined here measures the ellipse's major and minor axes, and its angle of rotation relative to one of the transducers. We illustrate this method with measurements of stem motion during insect vibrational communication. It is likely the two-dimensional nature of stem motion is relevant to insect vibration perception, making this method a promising avenue for studies of plant-borne transmission.

Sixty years after Rachel Carson's Silent Spring exposed some harmful effects of pesticides on species and ecosystems, this article examines the enduring relevance of her call for a more sustainable approach to agriculture. We explore pest management through three examples where significant improvements have been achieved. While the ongoing use of pesticides is far from the international goal of minimizing their impact, a beacon of hope emerges in the growing movement toward ecosystem-based solutions supported by science and international organizations. This article delves into the core principles of integrated pest management (IPM) and biopesticides, offering alternatives to traditional chemical insecticides. We showcase success stories from the citrus and apple industries, demonstrating significant reductions in synthetic pesticide use through the implementation of these methods. Additionally, the article explores Push-Pull technology, a powerful example from Kenya where habitat management effectively controls pests without harming the environment. By examining these advancements, we emphasize the progress made toward achieving better ecological balance in agricultural practices. This review aims to provide support for more sustainable agricultural practices, highlighting a few win-win relationships between farmers and nature.

Aeromonas hydrophila is the most common Aeromonas species causing infections in human and other animals such as amphibians, reptiles, fish and crustaceans. Pathogenesis of Aeromonas species have been reported to be associated with virulence factors such as lipopolysaccharides (LPS), bacterial toxins, bacterial secretion systems, flagella, and other surface molecules. Several mutant strains of A. hydrophila AH-3 were initially used to study their virulence in two animal species, Pacifastacus leniusculus (crayfish) and Tenebrio molitor larvae (mealworm). The AH-3 strains used in this study have mutations in genes involving the synthesis of flagella, LPS structures, secretion systems, and some other factors, which have been reported to be involved in A. hydrophila pathogenicity. Our study shows that the LPS (O-antigen and external core) is the most determinant A. hydrophila AH-3 virulence factor in both animals. Furthermore, we studied the immune responses of these hosts to infection of virulent or non-virulent strains of A. hydrophila AH-3. The AH-3 wild type (WT) containing the complete LPS core is highly virulent and this bacterium strongly stimulated the prophenoloxidase activating system resulting in melanization in both crayfish and mealworm. In contrast, the DwaaE mutant which has LPS without O-antigen and external core was non-virulent and lost ability to stimulate this system and melanization in these two animals. The high phenoloxidase activity found in WT infected crayfish appears to result from a low expression of pacifastin, a prophenoloxidase activating enzyme inhibitor, and this gene expression was not changed in the DwaaE mutant infected animal and consequently phenoloxidase activity was not altered as compared to non-infected animals. Therefore we show that the virulence factors of A. hydrophila are the same regardless whether an insect or a crustacean is infected and the Oantigen and external core is essential for activation of the proPO system and as virulence factors for this bacterium.

In recent years, scientific studies have focused extensively on saturated fatty acid reduction in edible oils and potential benefits of unsaturated fatty acids with respect to health outcomes. A two-year study was carried out at Sids Agricultural Research Station, Beni Sweif government, Agricultural Research Center (ARC), Egypt, during 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 seasons to evaluate seed, protein and oil yields, as well as oil quality of Egyptian cotton under different cropping systems. The treatments were the combinations between four winter cropping systems (double cropping systems of Egyptian clover and cotton, relay intercropping cotton with faba bean, onion or wheat) and three summer cropping systems (sole cotton, intercropping cowpea or sesame with cotton). The treatments were compared in a split plot design with three replications. In the winter season, the legumes had positive effects on seed cotton yield and 100-seed weight, meanwhile intercropping cotton with wheat caused sign...

Background: Animals fertilize thousands of angiosperm species whose floral-display sizes can significantly influence pollinator behavior and plant reproductive success. Many studies have measured the interactions among pollinator behavior, floral-display size, and plant reproductive success, but few studies have been able to separate the effects of pollinator behavior and post-pollination processes on angiosperm sexual reproduction. In this study, we utilized the highly self-incompatible pollinium-pollination system of Asclepias syriaca (Common Milkweed) to quantify how insect visitors influenced male reproductive success measured as pollen removal, female reproductive success measured as pollen deposition, and self-pollination rate. We also determined how floral-display size impacts both visitor behavior and self-pollination rate. Results: Four insect taxonomic orders visited A. syriaca: Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera, and Lepidoptera. We focused on three groups of visitor taxa within two orders (Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera) with sample sizes large enough for quantitative analysis: Apis mellifera (Western Honey Bee), Bombus spp. (bumble bees) and lepidopterans (butterflies and moths). Qualitatively, lepidopterans had the highest pollinator importance values, but the large variability in the lepidopteran data precluded meaningful interpretation of much of their behavior. The introduced A. mellifera was the most effective and most important diurnal pollinator with regard to both pollen removal and pollen deposition. However, when considering the self-incompatibility of A. syriaca, A. mellifera was not the most important pollinator because of its high self-pollination rate as compared to Bombus spp. Additionally, the rate of self-pollination increased more rapidly with the number of flowers per inflorescence in A. mellifera than in the native Bombus spp. Conclusions: Apis mellifera's high rate of self-pollination may have significant negative effects on both male and female reproductive successes in A. syriaca, causing different selection on floral-display size than native pollinators.

Insectivorous Western Bluebirds (Sialia mexicana) occupy vineyard nest boxes established by California winegrape growers who want to encourage avian conservation. Experimentally, the provision of available nest sites serves as an alternative to exclosure methods for isolating the potential ecosystem services provided by foraging birds. We compared the abundance and species richness of avian foragers and removal rates of sentinel prey in treatments with songbird nest boxes and controls without nest boxes. The average species richness of avian insectivores increased by over 50 percent compared to controls. Insectivorous bird density nearly quadrupled, primarily due to a tenfold increase in Western Bluebird abundance. In contrast, there was no significant difference in the abundance of omnivorous or granivorous bird species some of which opportunistically forage on grapes. In a sentinel prey experiment, 2.4 times more live beet armyworms (Spodoptera exigua) were removed in the nest box treatment than in the control. As an estimate of the maximum foraging services provided by insectivorous birds, we found that larval removal rates measured immediately below occupied boxes averaged 3.5 times greater than in the control. Consequently the presence of Western Bluebirds in vineyard nest boxes strengthened ecosystem services to winegrape growers, illustrating a benefit of agroecological conservation practices. Predator addition and sentinel prey experiments lack some disadvantages of predator exclusion experiments and were robust methodologies for detecting ecosystem services.

Transgenic corn and cotton that produce Cry and Vip3Aa toxins derived from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) are widely planted in the United States to control lepidopteran pests. The sustainability of these Bt crops is threatened because the corn earworm/bollworm, Helicoverpa zea (Boddie), is evolving a resistance to these toxins. Using Bt sweet corn as a sentinel plant to monitor the evolution of resistance, collaborators established 146 trials in twenty-five states and five Canadian provinces during 2020–2022. The study evaluated overall changes in the phenotypic frequency of resistance (the ratio of larval densities in Bt ears relative to densities in non-Bt ears) in H. zea populations and the range of resistance allele frequencies for Cry1Ab and Vip3Aa. The results revealed a widespread resistance to Cry1Ab, Cry2Ab2, and Cry1A.105 Cry toxins, with higher numbers of larvae surviving in Bt ears than in non-Bt ears at many trial locations. Depending on assumptions about the inheritance ...

Many studies have shown that endotherms become more heterothermic when the costs of thermoregulation are high and/or when limited energy availability constrains thermoregulatory capacity. However, the roles of many ecological variables, including constraints on foraging opportunities and/or success, remain largely unknown. To test the prediction that thermoregulatory patterns should be related to foraging opportunities in a heterothermic endotherm we examined the relationship between the lunar cycle and heterothermy in Freckled Nightjars (Caprimulgus tristigma), which are visually orienting, nocturnal insectivores that are dependent on ambient light to forage. This model system provides an opportunity to assess whether variation in foraging opportunities influences the expression of heterothermy. The nightjars were active and foraged for insects when moonlight was available, but became inactive and heterothermic in the absence of moonlight. Lunar illumination was a much stronger predictor of the magnitude of heterothermic response than was air temperature (T a ). Our data suggest that heterothermy was strongly related to variation in foraging opportunities associated with the lunar cycle, even though food abundance appeared to remain relatively high throughout the study period. Patterns of thermoregulation in this population of Freckled Nightjars provide novel insights into the environmental and ecological determinants of heterothermy, with the lunar cycle, and not T a , being the strongest predictor of torpor use.

This study explored the chemical components of the egg glue used by the Western Conifer Seed Bug (Leptoglossus occidentalis Heidemann, 1910) to agglutinate eggs and adhere to pine needles. Results showed that the adhesive secretion includes plasticizers and thermoplastic elastomer resins with semiochemical properties in an oily matrix containing proteins. This knowledge of the egg glue composition can be used to develop new control strategies for L. occidentalis, potentially limiting the economic impact caused by this pest insect that reduces the production of pine nuts by up to 25%.

How insects promote crop pollination remains poorly understood in terms of the contribution of functional trait differences between species. We used meta-analyses to test for correlations between community abundance, species richness and functional trait metrics with oilseed rape yield, a globally important crop. While overall abundance is consistently important in predicting yield, functional divergence between species traits also showed a positive correlation. This result supports the complementarity hypothesis that pollination function is maintained by non-overlapping trait distributions. In artificially constructed communities (mesocosms), species richness is positively correlated with yield, although this effect is not seen under field conditions. As traits of the dominant species do not predict yield above that attributed to the effect of abundance alone, we find no evidence in support of the mass ratio hypothesis. Management practices increasing not just pollinator abundance,...

Wild and managed bees are well documented as effective pollinators of global crops of economic importance. However, the contributions by pollinators other than bees have been little explored despite their potential to contribute to crop production and stability in the face of environmental change. Non-bee pollinators include flies, beetles, moths, butterflies, wasps, ants, birds, and bats, among others. Here we focus on non-bee insects and synthesize 39 field studies from five continents that directly measured the crop pollination services provided by non-bees, honey bees, and other bees to compare the relative contributions of these taxa. Non-bees performed 25-50% of the total number of flower visits. Although non-bees were less effective pollinators than bees per flower visit, they made more visits; thus these two factors compensated for each other, resulting in pollination services rendered by non-bees that were similar to those provided by bees. In the subset of studies that mea...

The controversial mating of the strepsipteran Xenos vesparum was studied to investigate the possible sperm routes for fertilization. The female, which is a neotenic permanent endoparasite of Polistes wasps, extrudes only its anterior region, the "cephalothorax," from the host abdomen. This region has an opening where both mating and larval escape occur. Observations with scanning and transmission electron microscopy revealed spermatozoa not only in the hemocoel, but also in the "ventral canal" (an extragenital duct peculiar to strepsipteran females) and in the "genital ducts" (ectodermal invaginations connecting the ventral canal to the hemocoel) of recently mated females. Xenos vesparum spermatozoa can reach the oocytes either through the hemocoel as a result of a hypodermic insemination, or by moving along the extragenital ducts, which are later used by first instar larvae to escape. The hypothesis of hypodermic insemination is reconsidered in the light of behavioral and ultrastructural evidence.

This work is the first study of the Curculionoidea fauna from Kurdistan region of Iraq, based on the intensive survey in different localities of Kurdistan from March 2016 to November 2017. In total, 41 species belonging to 28 genera, 21 tribes and 3 families were collected and identified, including 25 species newly recorded for the Iraqi fauna.

Bu çalışma ile Erzurum ve çevresinde patates bitkisinde 7 fa milyaya ait '23 heteropter türünün varlığı saptanmıştır. Bunlar içe risinde en yoğun populasyonu Exolyqus rugulipennis (Popp.) oluş turmakta, ıbunu Polymerus coqnatus (Bb.) ve Orthotylus flavosparsus (C.Sb.) izlemektedir.

Silkworms' Gut are home to various microorganisms, including viruses, fungi, and bacteria. Bacteria are the most prevalent and varied group, with more than 100 species known to exist. These bacteria are members of several phyla, such as Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, and Bacteroidetes. A wide variety of beneficial bacteria are found in the gut of silkworms. Probiotics mainly influence some aspects of the immune system and gut health by interacting with the complex community of intesti
nal bacteria known as the gut microbiota. Certain bacteria produce essential vitamins, amino acids, and other nutrients, while others help break down dietary fibres. Silkworms are an invaluable model organism for gut microbiota research due to their significance in ecology and economy. The present review discusses the diversity and functions of bacteria in silkworm digestive tracts and explores potential applications of these microbes in other sectors of the economy. The findings of this study havehighlighted the importance and potential of silkworm gut microbiota, as well as the prospective applications of these microbes in the future to enhance silkworm health and resistance to illness. Thus, comprehending the relationships between silkworms and the bacteria in their stomachs may offer fresh perspectives on the biology of these significant insects and open the door to thecreation of innovative methods for increasing silk production.

New classes of small and micro-sized UAVs, with wingspans on the order of meters and tens of centimeters, respectively, present interesting challenges to the field of autonomous flight enabling sensing and control technologies. There is currently a desire to develop a sensor/control suite that will allow such UAVs to fly through complex environments, such as in an "urban canyon" or underneath a forest canopy, at altitudes of just meters above the ground. The development of such capabilities requires new approaches for perceiving the environment. There is increasing interest in borrowing ideas from flying animals such as insects, which are able to fly through such environments with high reliability. This has led to the development of optic flow sensing techniques that currently are able to provide such capabilities as altitude control and terrain following. However, more difficult tasks such as flying in the urban canyon or in a forest require advances in image processing that allow obstacles to be reliably detected by a machine vision package weighing tens of grams, including all optics, hardware, and software. A blueprint for such a visual sensor is proposed that makes use of anticipated developments in microelectronic technology. With disciplined "best engineering practices", Cellular Nonlinear Network (CNN) techniques can make significant contributions to the development of such sensors. Uninhabited air vehicles (UAVs), or "drone airplanes", are a class of robotic platforms that are becoming increasingly important at the start of the 21 st century. Such UAVs were originally designed to perform military missions deemed too risky for a human pilot. Sample applications for UAVs include remote imaging, surveillance, environmental monitoring, and carrying a transponder or repeater for wireless communication. Many of these applications envision UAVs that are able to operate with reliable partial or full autonomy. The desire to provide UAVs with such autonomy has led to the development of reliable autopilots incorporating GPS (global positioning service) receivers, advanced inertial measurement units (IMUs), radar, and control algorithms to allow these UAVs operate for hours at a time without significant human intervention. Smaller classes of UAVs are becoming increasingly important in both the military and commercial spheres. Such "mini-UAVs" and "micro-UAVs" have wingspans on the order of one or two meters and ten or twenty centimeters, respectively. There is a strong desire to provide such mini-and micro-UAVs with the same autonomy as their full-sized brethren, which has stimulated the development miniaturized sensors and autopilots. Typical mini-and micro-UAVs have payload capacities on the order of several kilograms and tens of grams, respectively. For applications in which a small UAV can fly at a high altitude, the appropriate technologies have been developed that are essentially incremental improvements over existing technologies. However, some proposed applications for these smaller UAVs require that they be able to fly close to the ground, with altitudes measured in meters or tens of meters. At such altitudes, complex terrain features such as hills, buildings, and trees need to be reliably detected and avoided. Current sensing and control approaches are no longer sufficient for such capabilities. Primarily this is because GPS is not sufficiently accurate for such low-level flight, and radar technologies are not mature enough to provide adequate depth perception in the reduced payload capacity of such UAVs. Therefore two challenges are presented:

New classes of small and micro-sized UAVs, with wingspans on the order of meters and tens of centimeters, respectively, present interesting challenges to the field of autonomous flight enabling sensing and control technologies. There is currently a desire to develop a sensor/control suite that will allow such UAVs to fly through complex environments, such as in an "urban canyon" or underneath a forest canopy, at altitudes of just meters above the ground. The development of such capabilities requires new approaches for perceiving the environment. There is increasing interest in borrowing ideas from flying animals such as insects, which are able to fly through such environments with high reliability. This has led to the development of optic flow sensing techniques that currently are able to provide such capabilities as altitude control and terrain following. However, more difficult tasks such as flying in the urban canyon or in a forest require advances in image processing that allow obstacles to be reliably detected by a machine vision package weighing tens of grams, including all optics, hardware, and software. A blueprint for such a visual sensor is proposed that makes use of anticipated developments in microelectronic technology. With disciplined "best engineering practices", Cellular Nonlinear Network (CNN) techniques can make significant contributions to the development of such sensors. Uninhabited air vehicles (UAVs), or "drone airplanes", are a class of robotic platforms that are becoming increasingly important at the start of the 21 st century. Such UAVs were originally designed to perform military missions deemed too risky for a human pilot. Sample applications for UAVs include remote imaging, surveillance, environmental monitoring, and carrying a transponder or repeater for wireless communication. Many of these applications envision UAVs that are able to operate with reliable partial or full autonomy. The desire to provide UAVs with such autonomy has led to the development of reliable autopilots incorporating GPS (global positioning service) receivers, advanced inertial measurement units (IMUs), radar, and control algorithms to allow these UAVs operate for hours at a time without significant human intervention. Smaller classes of UAVs are becoming increasingly important in both the military and commercial spheres. Such "mini-UAVs" and "micro-UAVs" have wingspans on the order of one or two meters and ten or twenty centimeters, respectively. There is a strong desire to provide such mini-and micro-UAVs with the same autonomy as their full-sized brethren, which has stimulated the development miniaturized sensors and autopilots. Typical mini-and micro-UAVs have payload capacities on the order of several kilograms and tens of grams, respectively. For applications in which a small UAV can fly at a high altitude, the appropriate technologies have been developed that are essentially incremental improvements over existing technologies. However, some proposed applications for these smaller UAVs require that they be able to fly close to the ground, with altitudes measured in meters or tens of meters. At such altitudes, complex terrain features such as hills, buildings, and trees need to be reliably detected and avoided. Current sensing and control approaches are no longer sufficient for such capabilities. Primarily this is because GPS is not sufficiently accurate for such low-level flight, and radar technologies are not mature enough to provide adequate depth perception in the reduced payload capacity of such UAVs. Therefore two challenges are presented:

Storage of cereals and their products is a vital part of postharvest operations through which food commodities passes from farmer field (producer) to the ultimate consumer. Annual post-harvest losses of stored cereals due to various biological factors in the storages range from 10-20% of overall production (Phillips and Throne, 2010). There is a continuous need to protect the stored grains and their products against deterioration, especially the loss of weight and quality during storage. Insect pests are the main factor responsible for these losses as they reduce both the quality and quantity of grains (Weaver and Subramanyam, 2000). Sabet and Sabr, 2015). The Khapra Beetle, Trogoderma granarium (Everts) is a serious pest of stored grains and their products (Burges, 2008; Mark et al., 2010). The khapra beetle generally restricts its activity to the top 12 inches of the stored grains. The beetle has a substantial economic impact due to its capability to cause huge losses to grains th...

Abstract.- The data on jassid population per leaf obtained from varietals trials in 2006-2007 at various dates of observation were correlated with the ambient weather conditions such as maximum, minimum and average temperatures, average relative humidity and rainfall. ...