Bioactivity of Cereal- and Legume-Based Macaroni Pasta Volatiles to Adult Sitophilus granarius (L.)

The attractiveness of ten commercially available Italian macaroni pastas made from different cereals [Triticum durum; Triticum durum (whole wheat); Triticum dicoccum; mixture of five cereals; Triticum turgidum; Triticum turanicum] or legumes (Cicer arietinum; Lens culinaris; Pisum sativum; Vicia faba) to Sitophilus granarius, was compared. S. granarius adults were more attracted to cereal pastas than legume pastas, but the differences in attractiveness were not always significant. Consistent with the results of behavioural bioassays, the mortality of adults over 20 days exposed to pasta samples was 100% with the legume pasta samples and only 8% with the T. turanicum pasta. GC-MS analysis of HS-SPME extracts from the different pasta samples highlighted marked qualitative and quantitative differences, with aliphatic aldehydes and aliphatic alcohols being the most abundant volatile components of cereal- and legume-pastas, respectively. In two-choice behavioural bioassays, insect attraction to a 1:1 combination of T. turanicum and C. arietinum pastas (80%) was even higher than that observed in T. turanicum pasta alone (64%) and in C. arietinum pasta alone (20%). This strongly suggested that the low attractiveness of legume pasta is mainly due to the lack of attractant stimuli rather than emission of repellent compounds.

Insect attraction to the six major types of traditional-style, residential light bulbs and implications for insect survival and light pollution

Artificial light at night can affect the behavior and survival of the arthropods attracted to it. Most light pollution research focuses on high-wattage street lamps, but lower-wattage lamps used to illuminate porches, paths, facades, and backyards vastly outnumber street lamps. Thus, residential consumers could potentially have an enormous influence on artificial light ecologies by their choice of lamp. This study compared insect attraction to the six major types of traditional-style, residential light bulb: incandescent, CFL, halogen, warm color temperature LED, cool color temperature LED, and the yellow bug lights marketed as reducing insect attraction. The bulbs were alternately used in a baffle-funnel light trap from early spring through late fall, and capture rates were determined for the orders of insects. Incandescent bulbs produced the highest trap captures; the warm color temperature LED bulb produced the fewest, even fewer than the yellow bug light. The yellow bug light attracted more Dermaptera (Leach) than the other bulbs. The data support a recommendation of LED bulbs, especially those with a warm color temperature, to minimize the effects of night lighting on insect behavior and mortality. Further, the use of yellow bug lights, in contrast to their marketing, could attract earwigs and other minor pests.

Investigation of insect attraction effect of lamps with different color temperatures

The aim of our research is to analyze the ecological effects of light sources of different colors. Quantity and size of arthropods captured by light traps are continuously recorded by the Zoolog auto sampler, along with temperature and humidity data. By statistically analyzing large amounts of data, it is possible to estimate the amount of biomass removed by different types of lamps from their habitat, to monitor daily and longer-term activity changes, and to analyze the attractiveness of LEDs of different color temperatures. This will also allow conclusions to be drawn for conservation management.

Influence of Clothing on Decomposition and Presence of Insects on Rabbit Carcasses

The decomposition rate and insects attraction to carcasses are affected by a number of factors such as temperature, body mass, the presence of poisons, humidity, and insect activity. The present study was planned to investigate the influence of clothing on both the decomposition process and the presence of insects on rabbit carcasses. The study was performed in May 2016 and involved the use of 18 live mature rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus L.), which were euthanized by chloroform. Rabbit carcasses were divided into three replicates with six rabbits in each replicate. Rabbits in each replicate were further subdivided, so that three rabbits were wrapped with cloth, whereas the remaining three were left unclothed. Both clothed and unclothed carcasses reached the dry stage within 6 d. The results of this study showed that clothes neither affect the decomposition process nor the presence of insects (flies and beetles). The pattern of flies and beetles, however, did vary significantly in the different decomposition stages. In total, 2,849 insects, including 2,459 flies and 390 beetles, were collected and sorted during the decomposition process. Among the dominant species, flies were assigned to the families Calliphoridae and Muscidae, whereas beetles were assigned to the families Dermestidae and Histeridae. Lucilia sericata Meigen, Musca domestica L., Dermestes maculatus DeGeer, and Saprinus moyses Marseul were the most abundant species occurring on both the clothed and unclothed carcasses. In conclusion, this study emphasized that, the clothes have no effect when dealing with decay process and insect attraction to the carrions.

Distribution of native European spiders follows the prey attraction pattern of introduced carnivorous pitcher plants

Carnivorous plants and spiders are known to compete for resources. In North America, spiders of the genus Agelenopsis are known to build funnel-webs, using Sarracenia purpurea pitchers as a base, retreat and storage room. They also very likely profit from the insect attraction of S. purpurea. In a fen in Europe, S. purpurea was introduced ~65 years ago and co-occurs with native insect predators. Despite the absence of common evolutionary history, we observed native funnels-spiders (genus Agelena) building funnel webs on top of S. purpurea in similar ways as Agelelopsis. Furthermore, we observed specimen of the raft-spider (Dolmedes fimbriatus) and the pygmy-shrew (Sorex minutus) stealing prey-items out of the pitchers. We conducted an observational study, comparing plots with and without S. purpurea, to test if Agelena were attracted by S. purpurea, and found that their presence indeed increases Agelena abundance. Additionally, we tested if this facilitation was due to the structure provided for building webs or enhanced prey availability. Since the number of webs matched the temporal pattern of insect attraction by the plant, we conclude that the gain in food is likely the key factor for web installation. Our results provide an interesting case of facilitation by an introduced plant for a local predator, which has developed in a very short time scale.