Entomopathogenic nematodes (a.k.a. EPN) represent a group of soil-inhabiting nematodes that parasitize a wide range of insects. These nematodes belong to two families: Steinernematidae and Heterorhabditidae. Until now, more than 70 species have been described in the Steinernematidae and there are about 20 species in the Heterorhabditidae. The nematodes have a mutualistic partnership with Entero...

Eradication of bovine tuberculosis (TB) from free-ranging white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) requires mortality rates of infected deer exceed the rate of new infection. Efforts to reduce TB transmission in Michigan, USA, are based on 2 assumptions: 1) deer mortality may be increased through recreational hunting, and 2) encounter rates between infected and noninfected deer may be reduced...

We measured the seasonal abundance and bloodfeeding behavior of species A and C of the mosquito Anopheles minimus Theobald 1901 in an endemic malarious area of western Thailand. An. minimus s.l. is a major vector of human malarial and filarial parasites in Southeast Asia. Mosquitos were collected once a month for one year using four collection methods: human-baiting indoors, human-baiting outdo...

W hich urban pest is the most difficult to control? Most PMPs say ants. But the answer to this question has shifted completely over the past 20 years — from cockroaches to ants. Today, few people consider the German cockroach a difficult pest to manage. What made the change is the invention of highly effective baits, in particular, gel baits. Then, the question is, why is the German cockroach s...

138 soil samples were collected from various loca-tions in Ladakh, a cold desert in the Himalayan region, India and the samples were screened for the presence of keratinophilic fungi using the hair baiting techniques. 58 isolates were recovered and identified. The cultures were identified based on their macroand micro-morphological features. A total of six genera and fourteen species were isola...

A total of 9 species belonging to 3 genera of keratinophillic fungi were recovered from twelve soil samples collected from different sites in shivamogga using the hair-baiting technique. Most of the fungal species isolated are known to be agents of human and animal infection. The methanolic root extract of Piper longum was evaluated for antifungal activity against the isolated strains to determ...

A survey was carried out to establish the status of rat infestation and recent rat control practices in oil palm plantations in Peninsular Malaysia. Rattus tiomanicus (Miller) constitutes a major rat species (68%), followed by Rattus argentiventer (Robinson and Kloss), (46%) and Rattus rattus diardii (L.), (28%). Although 75% of estates did not consider rats as a serious problem, the damage est...

Whether or not baiting influences stickleback catch per unit effort (CPUE) remains a matter of debate among stickleback researchers: While the opinions about the impact of baiting on CPUE differ, supporting quantitative data are scarce. The effect of baiting and trap type on nine-spined stickleback (Pungitius pungitius) CPUE was studied in a field experiment conducted over four consecutive days...

Enclosed and insulated commercial poultry buildings provide ideal habitat for supporting unusually large populations of the house mouse (Mus musculus L.). Mice cause damage to various structural and operational components of poultry facilities; thus, they are of economic significance as well as general nuisances. Effective mouse control programs in poultry operations are often difficult, compli...

A Coniothyrium minitans strain (T3) co-transformed with the genes for beta-glucuronidase (uidA) and hygromycin phosphotransferase (hph), the latter providing resistance to the antibiotic hygromycin B, was used to investigate the survival and infection of sclerotia of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum by C. minitans over time in four different soils. Infection of sclerotia was rapid in all cases, with th...