Relative palatability and efficacy of brodifacoum-25D conservation rodenticide pellets for mouse eradication on Midway Atoll

Invasive mice (Mus spp.) can negatively impact island species and ecosystems. Because fewer island rodent eradications have been attempted for mice compared to rats (Rattus spp.), less is known about efficacy and palatability of rodenticide baits for mouse eradications. We performed a series of bait acceptance and efficacy cage trials using a standard formulation of brodifacoum-based rodenticide on wild-caught mice from Sand Island, Midway Atoll, to help inform a proposed eradication there. Mice were offered ad libitum brodifacoum pellets along with various alternative food sources, and a “no choice” treatment group received only bait pellets. Mortality in the no choice trial was 100%; however, when offered alternative foods, mice preferred the alternative diets to the bait, leading to low mortality (40%). Because there was concern that the bittering agent Bitrex® in the formulation may have reduced palatability, we conducted a subsequent trial comparing brodifacoum bait with and without Bitrex. Mortality in the with-Bitrex treatment group was slightly higher, indicating that the bittering agent was not likely responsible for low efficacy. Laboratory trials cannot account for the numerous environmental and behavioral factors that influence bait acceptance nor replicate the true availability of alternative food sources in the environment, so low efficacy results from these trials should be interpreted cautiously and not necessarily as a measure of the likelihood of success or failure of a proposed eradication.

Evaluation of Natural and Factitious Food Sources for Pronematus ubiquitus on Tomato Plants

Pronematus ubiquitus (McGregor) is a small iolinid mite that is capable of establishing on tomato plants. Once established, this mite has been shown to control both tomato russet mite, Aculops lycopersici (Tryon) (Acari: Eriophyidae), and tomato powdery mildew (Oidium neolycopersici L. Kiss). In the present study, we explored the effects of a number of alternative food sources on the oviposition rate in the laboratory. First, we assessed the reproduction on food sources that P. ubiquitus can encounter on a tomato crop: tomato pollen and powdery mildew, along with tomato leaf and Typha angustifolia L. In a second laboratory experiment, we evaluated the oviposition rate on two prey mites: the astigmatid Carpoglyphus lactis L. (Acari: Carpoglyphidae) and the tarsonemid Tarsonemus fusarii Cooreman (Acari: Tarsonemidae). Powdery mildew and C. lactis did not support reproduction, whereas tomato pollen and T. fusarii did promote egg laying. However, T. angustifolia pollen resulted in a higher oviposition in both experiments. In a greenhouse trial on individual caged tomato plants, we evaluated the impact of pollen supplementation frequency on the establishment of P. ubiquitus. Here, a pollen addition frequency of every other week was required to allow populations of P. ubiquitus to establish.

Training for the Making of Singkong Leaves and Lele Fish for Communities in the Region of New Benda Kelurahan Pamulang-Tangerang Selatan

To increase community empowerment in the Benda Baru sub-district, Pamulang sub-district, South Tangerang City, in the form of product diversification of cassava leaves and catfish so that community welfare is created through optimizing the potential of cassava, processing various processed products of mashed beef jerky from cassava leaves and catfish that are varied, of high quality, nutritious and has a high selling value. This Community Service Program is aimed at the community as many as 16 mothers. The goal is to enable the community to plan and manage the potential of cassava to form/develop a group of people who are economically independent and prosperous. Outputs: (1) Products of cassava leaf jerky and catfish jerky (2) Publication of the activity of making pulverized cassava leaves and catfish jerky on YouTube. The method used in this activity is the provision of material, direct practice, and assistance. The presentation of the material was carried out in the local hall, with material on diversification of local food ingredients to introduce various alternative food sources and to introduce several examples of diversification of food based on existing local ingredients. The technique of making cassava leaves and catfish jerky is mentoring as well as the practice of making ground beef jerky and catfish jerky.

MICROBIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF GROWING MUSHROOMS

Рост численности населения земного шара, истощение природных ресурсов и связанная с этим нехватка продовольствия ставят вопрос о необходимости переработки производимых растительных отходов с целью защиты окружающей среды и получения альтернативных источников пищи. Использование целлюлозосодержащих пожнивных остатков для производства высших грибов является оптимальным решением указанных проблем. Высокая пищевая и лекарственная ценность высших грибов доказана многочисленными исследованиями. Однако процессы культивирования высших грибов сталкиваются с проблемой селективности субстрата, сдерживающей рост этой отрасли производства. К настоящему времени накапливаются данные о взаимодействии высших грибов и микроорганизмов, которое открывает возможности управляемого культивирования и направленного биосинтеза практически ценных метаболитов высших грибов. Статья посвящена различным аспектам воздействия микроорганизмов на процесс выращивания высших грибов. The growing population of the world, the depletion of natural resources and the associated food shortage raise the question of recycling the plant waste produced to protect the environment and obtain alternative food sources. The use of cellulose-containing crop residues for the production of mushrooms is the optimal solution to these problems. The high nutritional and medicinal value of mushrooms has been proven by numerous studies. However, the processes of cultivation of higher fungi are faced with the problem of substrate selectivity, which inhibits the growth of this industry. To date, data are accumulating on the interaction of higher fungi and microorganisms, which opens up possibilities for controlled cultivation and directed biosynthesis of practically valuable metabolites of higher fungi. The article is devoted to various aspects of the influence of microorganisms on the process of growing mushrooms.

Tracking Changes of Hidden Food: Spatial Pattern Learning in Two Macaw Species

Food availability may vary spatially and temporally within an environment. Efficiency in locating alternative food sources using spatial information (e.g., distribution patterns) may vary according to a species’ diet and habitat specialisation. Hypothetically, more generalist species would learn faster than more specialist species due to being more explorative when changes occur. We tested this hypothesis in two closely related macaw species, differing in their degree of diet and habitat specialisation; the more generalist Great Green Macaw and the more specialist Blue-throated Macaw. We examined their spatial pattern learning performance under predictable temporal and spatial change, using a ‘poke box’ that contained hidden food placed within wells. Each week, the rewarded wells formed two patterns (A and B), which were changed on a mid-week schedule. We found that the two patterns varied in their difficulty. We also found that the more generalist Great Green Macaws took fewer trials to learn the easier pattern and made more mean correct responses in the difficult pattern than the more specialist Blue-throated Macaws, thus supporting our hypothesis. The better learning performance of the Great Green Macaws may be explained by more exploration and trading-off accuracy for speed. These results suggest how variation in diet and habitat specialisation may relate to a species’ ability to adapt to spatial variation in food availability.

Effect of extraction condition on technological properties of protein from Protaetia brevitarsis larvae

Alternative food sources are garnering increasing interest owing to overpopulation and environmental stresses. Edible insects are a promising alternative protein source. In this study, we evaluated the effect of pH and NaCl concentration on the quality and technical properties of extracted Protaetia brevitarsis protein. Nine different solutions were used to extract edible insect protein (pH 1, 4, 7, 10, and 14 and 0, 0.1, 0.5, and 1 M NaCl). The pH of the extracted protein increased with increasing pH (1.12±0.02 to 12.81±0.03) and decreasing NaCl concentration (6.52±0.02 to 6.89±0.01). Colour difference increased when deviating from neutral pH and 0 M NaCl. Further, surface hydrophobicity (μg) and solubility (mg/ml) of the protein decreased at pH 1 (12.25±1.39 μg and 0.74±0.08 mg/ml) and 14 (20.62±1.48 μg and 0.18±0.02 mg/ml) compared with pH 7 (71.81±1.76 μg and 1.26±0.22 mg/ml). Higher pH and NaCl concentrations yielded higher thermal stability. Foaming capacity was the highest at 0.5 (110.5±0.71%) and 1 M (100.5±10.61%) NaCl, and pH 14 (122.5±3.54%), followed by that at pH 1 (72.50±3.54%), although with low stability. Furthermore, emulsifying capacity and stability of the protein increased when deviating from pH 4. Therefore, the protein of P. brevitarsis had high functionality when extracted at highly alkaline conditions using NaCl.

Divergent long-term impacts of lethally toxic cane toads (Rhinella marina) on two species of apex predators (monitor lizards, Varanus spp.)

Biological invasions can massively disrupt ecosystems, but evolutionary and ecological adjustments may modify the magnitude of that impact through time. Such post-colonisation shifts can change priorities for management. We quantified the abundance of two species of giant monitor lizards, and of the availability of their mammalian prey, across 45 sites distributed across the entire invasion trajectory of the cane toad (Rhinella marina) in Australia. One varanid species (Varanus panoptes from tropical Australia) showed dramatic population collapse with toad invasion, with no sign of recovery at most (but not all) sites that toads had occupied for up to 80 years. In contrast, abundance of the other species (Varanus varius from eastern-coastal Australia) was largely unaffected by toad invasion. That difference might reflect availability of alternative food sources in eastern-coastal areas, perhaps exacerbated by the widespread prior collapse of populations of small mammals across tropical (but not eastern) Australia. According to this hypothesis, the impact of cane toads on apex predators has been exacerbated and prolonged by a scarcity of alternative prey. More generally, multiple anthropogenically-induced changes to natural ecosystems may have synergistic effects, intensifying the impacts beyond that expected from either threat in isolation.

Subterranean Termite (Coptotermes gestroi (Blattodea: Rhinotermitidae)) Colony Elimination Through Exposure to a Novaluron CSI Bait Formulation in Laboratory

The development of baits for subterranean termite control over the past 25 yr has provided cost-effective alternatives to liquid termiticide treatments. Current bait products use one of the few available benzoylurea chitin synthesis inhibitors (CSIs) labeled for subterranean termites. These insecticides are used because of their nonrepellency, their slow-acting mode of action, and their dose-independent lethal time. Although many studies have provided ample evidence of the efficacy of CSI baits for subterranean termite colony elimination, most have focused on hexaflumuron and noviflumuron. However, bait products using alternative CSIs have not received the same level of scrutiny, limiting the amount of evidence proving their efficacy. One such compound is novaluron, the active ingredient currently used in the Trelona ATBS—Advance Termite Baiting System bait product. The current study independently tested the efficacy of this commercially available bait formulation against whole colonies of Coptotermes gestroi (Wamann) (~63,910 workers) in the laboratory, using an extended experimental setup to simulate a 15-m foraging distance from the central part of the nest to the bait, while having access to alternative food sources. Treated colonies progressively ceased to feed on wood items within 45 d after being provided access to the novaluron bait formulation, with a subsequent progressive collapse of the population, leading to colony elimination by 91 d. This study therefore confirms the efficacy of novaluron baits against subterranean termites, and currently remains one of the few CSIs that can be applied for the successful control of Coptotermes infestations.