scholarly journals The occurrence of Megastigmus pictus (Förster) (Hymenoptera: Torymidae) and Resseliella skuhravyorum Skrzypcz. (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) in the Chełmowa Góra forest reserve of theŚwiętokrzyskiNational Park (Poland)

2012 ◽  
Vol 52 (No. 6) ◽  
pp. 249-254
Author(s):  
J. Bąk

A study conducted in 1999&ndash;2000 in 6 compartments of the Chełmowa G&oacute;ra forest reserve, situated in the ŚwiętokrzyskieMountains, was aimed at harmful insects infesting cones and seeds of Larix decidua Mill. subsp. polonica (Racib.) Domin. Insect rearing and seed and cone cutting yielded 1,045 specimens of insects belonging to <br />8 species. Resseliella skuhravyorum Skrzypcz. (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) and Megastigmus pictus (F&ouml;rster) (Hymeno-ptera: Torymidae) were the most abundantly represented species. They were present in cone samples of all investigated trees. The index of infestation of cones by insects (WZS) was higher in the case of trees growing at the forest edge. The analysis by cutting showed an insignificant percent increase &ndash; 6.7% of sound seeds while 88.9% of seeds were blind. M. pictus damaged 2.6% of larch seeds, while R. skuhravyorum 1.7%. The parasitoid Mesopolobus zetterstedtii (Dalla Tore) was received from the mass rearing where its host is M. pictus.

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 167-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Å. Berggren ◽  
A. Jansson ◽  
M. Low

As wild harvesting of insects gives way to mass rearing, there is an urgent need to develop expertise and methods in insect animal husbandry and facility design. In order to advance the science of animal husbandry and production in this field, comparisons and contrasts of different insect rearing facilities currently in production are likely to be beneficial. Here we initiate this discussion by suggesting a focus on insect rearing facilities at the two ends of the production scale spectrum (small-scale rearing and mass rearing) that have different end products (insects-as-food and insects for other purposes). We suggest that organisations with a philosophy of information sharing (e.g. universities) need to play an active role in this developing production system, by bridging gaps between academia, industry and traditional knowledge to ensure a rapid and societally acceptable development of wide-scale entomophagy.


Oryx ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Ilaria Greco ◽  
Francesco Rovero

Abstract We report on the first population found in Tanzania of the Vulnerable African golden cat Caracal aurata, extending its documented range c. 200 km to the south and south-east. This is one of the least-known and truly forest-dependent felines in Africa, ranging across the Guinea–Congolian forest block. We recorded the new population in Minziro Nature Forest Reserve, north-west Tanzania, during a 3-month survey in 2018. We deployed 70 camera traps on a regular grid and obtained 33 detection events of the golden cat at 26% of sites, with a minimum of 10 individuals across 257 km2. We estimated occupancy and detection probability and modelled these in relation to the distance of sampling sites to the forest edge, which coincides with both the Reserve boundary and proximity to human settlements surrounding the Reserve. Mean estimated occupancy was 0.41 ± SE 0.12 (mean detectability = 0.13 ± SE 0.05), with occupancy increasing significantly with distance from the forest edge. Detectability did not vary significantly with distance from the forest edge, but was higher for camera models that had a shorter trigger time. Our findings add to the scant data available for this species. It appears threatened by human activity, which we recorded both outside and within the Reserve, and the presence of the species indicates Minziro Forest is an important site for its conservation.


Zootaxa ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 3006 (1) ◽  
pp. 63 ◽  
Author(s):  
CLAUDIA HEMP

P. hildebrandtiana Karsch, 1889 was relocated in the Taita Hills of Kenya. To present only the single female holotype was known. Male and female specimens of this species were found along forest edge in herbaceous vegetation in the Ngangao forest reserve. Closest relative of P. hildebrandtiana Karsch is P. uguenoensis Hemp restricted to the North and South Pare mountains. P. hildebrandtiana is re-described and the male newly described in this paper. Ecological information is provided and co-occurring Saltatoria species listed. Faunistic similarities in flightless Saltatoria between the Taita Hills and the South Pare mountains are discussed.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
D. G. R. M. M. Kaushalya Rathnayake ◽  
I. Sandunika Ileperuma Arachchi ◽  
Buwaneka S. Pathirana ◽  
S. Wickramasinghe

Distribution patterns corresponding to habitat characteristics in tropical forests have not been largely studied. Natural forest structure as well as the anthropogenic alterations to the forests equally affects the distribution patterns of wet zone avifauna. The study reveals the importance of % canopy closure, distance from the forest edge, tree density, diversity, and elevation to the community composition of local forest birds inhabiting Gannoruwa Forest Reserve, Sri Lanka. The most important factors resulting in the study for shaping the avian distribution pattern are distance from the edge,elevation, and the % canopy closure. With the increase of favouring resources to the avian fauna at the edges and the juxtaposition of the edge, many forest loving species were observed to move towards the edge. The pattern is proven advantageous, but harmful in the long run. Thus, it is advisable that the conservation plans should focus on habitat destruction and the anthropogenic disturbance along forest edges.


1957 ◽  
Vol 89 (10) ◽  
pp. 448-449 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. P. Randall

During the course of control investigations on the black-headed budworm, Acleris variana (Fern.), a preliminary difficulty occurred in the mass rearing of budworm larvae under laboratory conditions. In the forest the eggs are laid on the needles of hemlock and balsam fir trees in late summer. The young larvae emerge the following spring and migrate to the growing buds where they commence active feeding. Under laboratory conditions, however, cut hemlock twigs shed their needles in a very few days and thus the budworm eggs are shed with the needles and exposed to desiccation.


2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 20170186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachakonda Sreekar ◽  
Richard T. Corlett ◽  
Salindra Dayananda ◽  
Uromi Manage Goodale ◽  
Adam Kilpatrick ◽  
...  

Large tracts of tropical rainforests are being converted into intensive agricultural lands. Such anthropogenic disturbances are known to reduce species turnover across horizontal distances. But it is not known if they can also reduce species turnover across vertical distances (elevation), which have steeper climatic differences. We measured turnover in birds across horizontal and vertical sampling transects in three land-use types of Sri Lanka: protected forest, reserve buffer and intensive-agriculture, from 90 to 2100 m a.s.l. Bird turnover rates across horizontal distances were similar across all habitats, and much less than vertical turnover rates. Vertical turnover rates were not similar across habitats. Forest had higher turnover rates than the other two habitats for all bird species. Buffer and intensive-agriculture had similar turnover rates, even though buffer habitats were situated at the forest edge. Therefore, our results demonstrate the crucial importance of conserving primary forest across the full elevational range available.


2011 ◽  
Vol 162 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rolf Ehrbar ◽  
Kurt Bollmann ◽  
Pierre Mollet

Due to a national species action plan, in Switzerland the capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus) stands in the center of the forestry measures taken to promote the preservation of biodiversity in mountain forests. Special forest reserves are suitable instruments for the conservation of capercaillie because the consecutive reduction of standing stock is the most important measure to improve the species' habitat quality in Swiss forests. In this article, we describe the ecological conditions, fundamentals and the instruments used to delineate the special forest reserve of Amden (Canton St Gallen, Swiss Pre-Alps) in 2006. Further, we report the planning of the measures and the first experiences with the actions done. The special forest reserve encompasses a national priority area for capercaillie conservation and has a surface of 1772 ha. Forest, particularly high-montane fir-beech forest and high-montane fir-spruce forest, interspersed with many mires and fens, covers 55 percent. For the planning we used an area-wide map of forest stands and one showing habitat suitability. We derived the measures that have to be taken in the near future by comparing the actual and the target state of the forest stands on eleven habitat reference areas. The range of the measures includes thinning for regeneration, the creation of flight and escape aisles, the partial clearing of the proximity of roosting trees, the regulation of young growth in favour of conifers, the planting of silver firs, forest edge improvements, increasing the number of lying logs and pulling down trunks. Until the end of 2009 52 harvests had been done with a volume of 14000 m3, 8 ha of young growth were tended and 3700 young silver firs planted. The procedure has worked well during the first four project years. But only success control regarding the development of habitat quality and the species' population response will show how effective the management concept was. The newly developed principle of habitat reference areas that has been applied for the first time will provide valuable support for such a task ten years after the first measures have been taken.


1993 ◽  
Vol 88 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick von Aderkas ◽  
Parker Anderson

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