The host preferences of populations of Meloidogyne naasi from England, California, Illinois, Kentucky and Kansas were compared. Among 22 plant species tested, most were hosts for isolates of all five populations; crabgrass was added to the list of known hosts. Differential reactions of isolates on creeping bentgrass, curly dock, sorghum, and common chickweed demonstrated the existence of at lea...

Southern crabgrass (Digitaria ciliaris [Retz.] Koel.) is often viewed as an undesirable weed, largely because it encroaches upon field and forage crops, gardens, and lawns. However, visual observations of livestock grazing mixed-species pastures suggest that cattle seem to prefer crabgrass to many other summer forages. The objectives of this study were to assess the nutritive value of crabgrass...

The natural abundance of 13C was used to estimate the turnover of the soil organic matter in a vertisol re-grassed with Digitaria decumbens (C4 plant) following intensive market gardening (C3 plants). In addition, the experimental design allowed us to determine the respective roles of roots and earthworms (Polypheretima elongata) in soil C stock restoration in D. decumbens pasture. The C stock ...

Some bees and pollen wasps have independently evolved simple, stiff, erect, apically-curved, curly or hooked facial setae as adaptations to collect pollen from nototribic flowers. A distinctive new species of Chalicodoma Lepeletier de Saint Fargeau subgenus Pseudomegachile Friese from Saudi Arabia with such morphological adaptations, Chalicodoma riyadhensesp. n., is described and figured. The s...

We examined the nutritive value of common grass species in the semi-arid rangelands of Borana in southern Ethiopia using local experience based herbage preference (LEBHP) perception and laboratory techniques. Local pastoralists in the study area were asked to identify common grass species and rank them according to the species' preferences and palatability to cattle. The pastoralists listed a t...