Sejenis semut yang berasal dari Asia yang dipanggil semut besar Asia atau lebih tepat lagi Semut Api telah dikesan di London. Semut besar atau semut api ini biasanya mudah tertarik pada kehadiran aliran elektrik.

Sebuah sarang yang penuh dengan semut api itu telah ditemui di sebuah rumah di London. Sarang yang besar tersebut sudah cukup untuk mendatangkan rasa risau penduduk di sana.

Untuk maklumat, semut api mula dikesan hadir di London pada tahun 2009. Sebanyak lebih kurang 35,000 ekor semut api ditemui bersarang di National Trust property, Gloucestershire.

Berikutan penemuan terbaru ini, para pakar khuatir ia sedang membiak dan mula melanda ke kawasan lain pula di England. Ini amat merisaukan.

Semut api suka pada letrik

Oleh kerana tabiat semut api ini yang nampaknya suka pada letrik, ia mendatangkan satu lagi masalah lain. Semut api akan merayap dan berkumpul pada soket dan peralatan eletrik lain yang mana akan berlaku litar pintas dan kemungkinan menjadi punca kepada berlakunya kebakaran.

Semut pi ini juga nampaknya lebih tertarik kepada letrik berbanding kepada makanan. Mereka akan sanggup berjalan jauh semata-mata untuk mendapatkan kabel eletrik. Masalah akan timbul lagi apabila mereka nampaknya suka menggigit dan mengunyah bahan salutan pada kabel letrik itu.

Cabaran mengawal semut api

Menurut pengusaha perkhidmatan pest control di sana, semut api ini lebih mencabar untuk dikawal berbanding dengan semut jenis lain yang ada di sana.

Semut api biasanya lebih tahan lasak berbanding semut-semut lain. Ini menyukarkan usaha untuk membenteras semut api.

Dengan merebak dan membiaknya semut api dari Asia di sekitar England, nampaknya ia menjadi satu lagi masalah serangga perosak di sana. Dan dalam masa yang sama ia bakal menjadi satu cabaran dan sumber perniagaan pada pengusaha pest control di England. sumber maklumat

Once described on TV as having one of the 'worst jobs in Britain', Sevenoaks District Council's 'pest buster', Mark Evans, gave FIONA SIMPSON the opportunity to experience a day in the life of a pest control officer.

The idea of facing rats, mice cockroaches and fleas on a daily basis might leave some people running for the hills, but the buzz of a wasp nest or a trail of mice droppings don't phase Mark Evans, who has been battling the region's bugs for more than a quarter of a century.

Mark started out working for a private pest control team and joined forces with senior officer, John Felgate around 25 years ago. The pest control team deals with up to 20 different jobs a day and in the summer months the majority of these are wasps and hornets nests with up to 10,000 insects per nest.

He said:
"I like to get out and about, no two days are the same. "

The biggest wasp nest recorded measured more than six feet high, five feet wide and had about a quarter of a million wasps living in it.

"Wasps nests normally just take one visit. "

With rodents it normally takes three visits to get rid of them but it could take four or five - we never leave a job half done, we will persevere until the problem is solved.

"Squirrels are the worst - we had one case were they had gotten up into the roof of a house and chewed through the plastic water pipes so that when the owner got back the house was completely flooded."

A day in the life of a pest control officer

10.30am
Decked out in protective head and body gear, Mark takes me to a house in Saxon Place, Horton Kirby, following reports of a wasp's nest in the porch roof . Poking a small tube through a hole in the nest, Mark blasts them with a poisonous powder to kill them off - but not before they get a bit angry.

"I'd stand back if I were you,"

Mark warns, as hundreds of wasps fly out of the hole and attack him. He explains: "Wasps and hornets tend to head butt you first to warn you to leave them alone before they sting."

11.30am
We tackle another wasp nest in Azalea Drive, Swanley. This time the nest is slightly smaller and tucked inside an air brick at the back of the house. Mark wipes out the nest in little more than five minutes.

2pm
The afternoon sees us hunting mice in the kitchen of a local business in New Ash Green. After a short hunt we find droppings and a hole in the wall cavity just big enough for a mouse to squeeze through. Mark explains mice can fit through a hole just big enough to poke a pen through.

3pm
We make our way to the back of the building and find several holes around gas and water pipes as well as a broken ventilation fan. After a chat with the company's handyman, we decide to block up the holes with wood and poly-filla.

3.30pm
Mark uses tamper-proof boxes containing a wax-block bait laced with poison to tackle the mice. He then arranges a contract with the business to keep any further pests at bay.

Job done. Source

BASF announces a new termite product, Trelona Compressed Termite Bait. Trelona ATBS delivers certainty and flexibility to pest management professionals to control termites

July 29, 2014 – The BASF Pest Control Solutions business announced today that Trelona™ ATBS (Advance® Termite Bait System) is now available for use to control termites.

Trelona ATBS delivers certainty and flexibility to pest management professionals (PMPs) who want control, predictability and price assurance as part of a successful termite baiting system.

Certainty and Flexibility

Trelona Compressed Termite Bait, with the new active ingredient Novaluron, provides faster termite elimination and uses less bait than previous active ingredients.

Trelona ATBS offers flexibility in selling either the Trelona ATBS Monitoring System or the Trelona ATBS Direct Baiting System to homeowners.

In addition, PMPs that are already using ATBS and have existing accounts that haven’t had termite activity for a year can begin using Trelona ATBS and benefit from a six-month inspection interval.

Control, Predictability and Price Assurance

Trelona ATBS gives PMPs the opportunity to have greater control of their business and ability to grow and increase their profits.

Unlike other bait systems currently in the market, the Trelona ATBS model allows PMPs to control, own and manage their baiting program without requirements to share their customer information

Another significant benefit to PMPs is that Trelona Compressed Termite Bait is sold as an agency product through BASF distribution partners, which ensures consistent pricing.

This takes the upfront guesswork out of bait costs, allowing PMPs to better understand the cost per home from the start of each project.

For more information about pest-related solutions from BASF, visit www.pestcontrol.basf.us or contact your BASF Pest Control Solutions sales specialist. Trelona is a trademark of BASF.

Laporan media mengatakan beberapa ekor tikus ditemui berkeliaran di dalam Kapal Terbang milik Air India. Jurucakap Air India, syarikat penerbangan kepunyaan negara India tersebut nampaknya menafikan laporan media tersebut.

"Hanya seekor tikus sahaja yang ditemui", kata jurucakap Air India ketika menafikan laporan akhbar yang seperti cuba sensasikan berita penemuan tikus dalam kapal terbang mereka.

Laporan dalam Times of India menceritakan bahawa sebuah kapal terbang milik Air India terpaksa dilakukan rawatan fumigasi bagi menghapuskan tikus setelah ianya didapati berkeliaran dalam kapal terbang itu. Baca laporan tersebut di sini.

Berikutan dari laporan itu, ada juga komen yang menyatakan bahawa penemuan tikus di dalam kapal terbang merupakan sesuatu yang jarang berlaku.

Prosedur jika jumpa tikus dalam kapal terbang

Menurut En Ang Tang Loong, pengasas syarikat pest control Stopest yang berpusat di Kuala Lumpur, prosedur biasa yang mesti dilaksanakan jika tikus ditemui berada di dalam kapal terbang adalah melakukan rawatan Fumigasi pada seluruh kapal terbang itu.

Jika anda jumpa seekor tikus dalam kapal terbang, berkemungkinan di dalamnya adalah lebih banyak lagi. Anda tak akan dapat memerangkap kesemua tikus yang berada di dalam kapal terbang itu begitu saja dengan menggunakan perangkap biasa.

Oleh itu rawatan fumigasi mesti dilaksanakan. Dengan rawatan fumigasi, kita dapat pastikan kesemua tikus yang ada, di mana saja mereka menyorok dalam kapal terang tersebut akan mati.

Ini dapat menyelamatkan keadaan. Kemalangan lebih besar dapat dielakkan. Kehadiran tikus dalam kapal terbang membuatkan risiko wayar-wayar penting dalam kapal terbang digigit oleh tikus adalah besar. Jika wayar digigit tikus, kapal terbang berada di dalam keadaan yang berisiko tinggi.

Bagaimana tikus masuk kapal terbang

Biasanya tikus dapat masuk ke dalam kapal terbang dengan berbagai cara. Salah satu daripada cara adalah apabila kapal terbang sedang diselenggara.

Ketika kapal terbang dicuci dan dibersihkan, keadaan pintu yang terbuka membuat kemungkinan tikus lari masuk ke dalamnya adalah tinggi. Oleh itu adalah penting untuk pastikan keadaan persekitaran di mana kapal terbang dicuci bebas daripada masalah tikus dan serangga perosak lain.

Satu lagi cara tikus masuk ke dalam kapal terbang adalah melalui proses penghantaran makanan kepada kapal terbang. Ada kemungkinan tikus menumpang duduk menyorok bersama makanan dan bungkusan kotak makanan yang dihantar masuk ke dalam kapal terbang.

Cara lain tikus masuk ke dalam kapal terbang adalah melalui bagasi samada dalam cargo atau melalu bagasi orang ramai yang menumpang kapal terbang.

Walau bagaimana cara sekalipun, semua perkara tersebut perlu dielakkan. Kita tidak boleh menerima adanya tikus dalam kapal terbang. Pastikan orang ramai tak jumpa tikus dalam kapal terbang, ia adalah sesuatu yang tidak bagus.

Baca laporan asal di sini.

Apakah masalah tikus dalam kapal terbang satu perkara yang jarang berlaku?.

Kalau anda tanya soalan yang sama pada pegawai mana-mana syarikat kapal terbang di dunia, sudah tentu jawapan yang akan mereka berikan adalah, jarang berlaku.

Tetapi hakikatnya masalah tikus dalam kapal terbang merupakan satu perkara biasa dan sering berlaku. Tikus sudah tentu berjaya masuk ke dalam kapal terbang dengan berbagai cara.

Tambahan pula, tikus merupakan makhluk perosak yang banyak terdapat di kawasan perbandaran. Tikus yang pada asalnya merupakan makhluk yang mendiami kawasan hutan, terpaksa menyesuaikan diri mereka untuk berada di dalam kawasan pembangunan atau kawasan perbandaran.

Kewujudan tikus di kawasan bandar

Malah pembiakan tikus menjadi tidak terkawal dan amat cepat membiak dan membesar di dalam persekitaran bandar berbanding kawasan hutan. Ini disebabkan oleh tidak adanya makhluk yang membunuh, makan atau mengawal pembiakan tikus di kawasan bandar.

Jika di hutan, tikus merupakan makhluk mangsa kepada banyak lagi haiwan lain termasuklah ular, kucing hutan dan lain-lain lagi. Tapi ini tidak berrlaku di bandar. Oleh itu, di mana ada bandar dan ada manusia, maka di situ akan ada tikus.

Bila ini berlaku, maka tidak hairanlah tikus juga akan berada di kawasan di mana adanya kapal terbang seperti di lapangan terbang mana-mana negara.

Aliran barang yang keluar dan masuk ke dalam kapal terbang juga membantu untuk membawa tikus dari persekitaran lapangan terbang, masuk ke dalam kapal terbang. Tikus masuk melalui bagasi, tikus juga masuk melalui penghantaran makanan ke dalam kapal terbang.

Kekerapan masalah tikus dalam kapal terbang

Menurut sebuah agensi di India yang menjalankan kerja-kerja fumigasi bagi mengawal serangga dan makhluk perosak di dalam kapal terbang. mereka biasanya akan melakukan kerja fumigasi bagi membunuh tikus yang berada di dalam kapal terbang sebanyak 5 kali sebulan.

Ini menunjukkan bahawa secara purata, ada lima kapal terbang yang dikesan telah di masuki oleh tikus. Apabila ini berlaku, tiada cara lain yang lebih berkesan untuk membunuh tikus selain daripada melaksanakan aktiviti fumigasi.

Perkara yang sama juga didedahkan oleh syarikat pest control di Malaysia yang menjalankan kerja-kerja fumigasi terhadap kapal-kapal terbang daripada syarikat penerbangan di Asia. Mereka biasa melakukan kerja fumigasi bagi mengawal masalah tikus dalam kapal terbang.

Kebiasaannya, syarikat penerbangan tidak membocorkan maklumat tersebut kepada pihak umum atas sebab-sebab imej dan keselamatan. Jika maklumat sebegitu didedahkan, sudah tentu akan membuatkan orang ramai rasa khuatir untuk menaiki kapal terbang mereka.

Anda boleh mebaca maklumat yang sama berkenaan masalah tikus dalam kapal terbang di sini.

Kes demam denggi nampaknya turut melanda negeri Kelantan. Kes demam denggi di Kelantan telah meningkat sebanyak 7 kali ganda pada tahun ini berbanding pada tahun lepas.

Pada tahun 2013, tiada kematian dicatatkan yang disebabkan oleh kes demam denggi. Tapi pada tahun ini saja sejak 7 bulan yang lalu, Kelantan telah mencatatkan seramai 7 kematian.

Mengikut statistik pada tahun 2013, Kelantan hanya mencatatkan kes demam denggi sebanyak 756 kes sahaja. Data statistik pada tahun ini dalam tempoh hanya 7 bulan, kes demam denggi telah dicatatkan sebantak 5,367 kes.

Peningkat tersebut menunjukkan kes demam denggi telah naik mendadak sebanyak 7 kali ganda berbanding tahun lalu. Itupun baru hanya 7 bulan berlalu dan kemungkinan untuk kes demam denggi terus meningkat adalah amat tinggi.

Kes demam denggi meningkat, Hospital tak muat

Akibat daripada peningkatan kes demam denggi yang luar biasa itu, kesan paling ketara boleh dilihat kepada keadaan hospital di seluruh Kelantan.

Hospital Raja Perempuan Zainab II (HRPZII) terpaksa mewujudkan kerjasama dengan Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM), Kubang Kerian di sini bagi mengatasi masalah kekurangan tempat untuk pesakit demam denggi. sumber gambar

Jumlah katil yang ada sekarang nampaknya tak cukup untuk menampung jumlah pesakit yang meningkat secara amat mendadak. Hospital di Kelantan terpaksa merawat seramai purata 180 pesakit ke s demam denggi dalam masa satu hari.

Sehingga hari ini seramai 174 pesakit ditempatkan di Hospital Raja Perempuan Zainab II dan daripada jumlah tersebut seramai 22 pesakit kini ditempatkan di Unit Rawatan Rapi (ICU).

Bilangan kes di hospital daerah turut meningkat tetapi ditahap yang terkawal. Hospital daerah Tumpat merupakan bilangan kes yang kedua tertinggi selepas Kota Baharu iaitu seramai 12 pesakit.

Menurut Dr Ghazali Hasni yang merupakan Pengarah di Hospital Raja Perempuan Zainab II, pihaknya terpaksa mendapatkan kakitangan termasuk doktor dan jururawat di jabatan lain hospital itu untuk bertugas di jabatan perubatan bagi membantu merawat pesakit demam denggi.

"Lebih kurang empat atau lima orang daripada satu jabatan akan bertugas secara berkala dan ditukarkan setiap dua minggu," katanya.

Yes! Dragonflies can be used to control the breeding activities of Mosquitoes. This is something new for most of us. I get this information from here, which stated that Dragonflies help control Mosquitoes in Virginia,

Regina doesn't have an official count of how many dragonflies are in the city, but the manager of forestry, pest control and horticulture is thankful for the healthy population this season.

"They contribute to the elimination of adult mosquitoes and the larvae as well," explained Ray Morgan with the City.

"We don't go out and measure how many dragonflies are in a certain area. But just (by a) visual observation, it's certainly higher than average." 

Morgan expects the high dragonfly population to continue into next year as well due to the extremely high number of mosquitoes.

Regina saw a near-record amount of the insects in mid July. Since then, Morgan says the numbers have decreased but the high rainfall seen the evening of August 8 will bring another spike in the mosquitoes - and dragonflies - again.

Dragonflies aren't the only mosquito control nature offers. Morgan says Purple Martins and bats also help get rid of mosquitoes. However, he pointed out that dragonflies eat both adults and larvae while bats only eat the hatched mosquitoes.

Use dragonflies to control mosquitoes in Malaysia

Do we have studies to look into this natural method of controlling mosquitoes in Malaysia? so far, no reports from any university suggesting this approach to fight against mosquiroes in our country.

May be we should start to look into breeding dragonflies seriously at the areas where population of mosquitoes are high.

The best thing about dragonflies base on the above article is that, dragonflies eat both adults mosquitoes and larvae. By ensuring that numbers of dragonflies increased around Klang River throughout Klang Valley, we can control the number of mosquitoes aroung Selangor and Kuala Lumpur... what say you?

Lumpur ada banyak kegunaannnya di negara kita. Tanah liat yang merupakan sebahagian daripada jenis lumpur sudah biasa digunakan dalam industri pembuatan berbagai bahan binaan dan juga peralatan dapur serta rumah.

Bagi orang Islam, lumpur dah terkenal sebagai salah satu bahan untuk melaksanakan aktiviti samak. Orang Islam bermazhab Shafie mewajibkan diri mereka menyamak anggota atau peralatan yang terkena najis berat seperti khinzir, anjing atau keturunan daripadanya.

Tapi pernahkah anda dengar penggunaan lumpur sebagai bahan untuk mengawal serangan serangga perosak di dalam industri pertanian?

Kajian penggunaan lumpur sebagai bahan kawalan serangga perosak di Universiti Queensland

Universiti di Queensland sekarang ini sedang kembangkan kajian mereka terhadap penggunaan bahan lumpur sebagai bahan kawalan serangga perosak.

Dengan kejayaan mengembangkan teknik ini, para petani dapat satu lagi alternatif yang boleh dijadikan bahan kawalan serangga untuk mengelakkan penggunaan bahan kimia.

Bahan kimia walaupun berguna dan sudah biasa dijadikan bahan kawalan serangga perosak, ia tetap menjadi salah satu daripada bahan yang merbahaya terhadap kehidupan manusia.

Molekul membunuh serangga perosak di dalam lumpur

Lumpur digunakan sebagai bahan lengai untuk dimasukkan molekul yang mampu bertindak membunuh serangga perosak dan juga virus.

Jika molekul disembur secara terus pada tumbuhan dan kawasan pertanian, ia tidak dapat kekal lama dan bertahan untuk jangkamasa yang panjang. Oleh itu ianya tidak berkesan dalam aktiviti mengawala serangga perosak.

Oleh itu bagi mengatasi masalah tersebut, molekul pembunuh virus dan serangga perosak dimasukkan ke dalam lumpur dan membentuk beberapa lapisan di dalamnya sebagai bahan yang bersedia untuk membunuh serangga perosak dan virus.

Molekul yang terperangkap dalam lumpur tersebut akan dapat bertahan dan keluar secara berkala selama 6 ke 8 minggu. Ini menjadikan ianya amat berkesan untuk mengawal serangga perosak dan virus penyakit tumbuhan pertanian.

Kajian yang dijalankan terhadap tumbuhan seperti kekacang, tomato, cabai dan jagung di dalam rumah hijau didapati berkesan.

Kini para pengkaji akan melakukan kajian lapangan di dalam ladang kecil sebagai lanjutan daripada kajian penggunaan lumpur sebagai bahan mengawal serangga perosak dan virus penyakit tumbuhan.

Kajian ini dilakukan oleh beberapa orang saintis dan diantaranya ialah associate professor Neena Mitter dan juga associate professor Zhi Ping Xu. Kajian dibiayai oleh Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Ada sebanyak empat jenis virus yang menjadi penyebab demam denggi. Keempat-empat jenis virus itu dipanggil sebagai DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3 dan DEN-4.

Virus demam denggi yang sedang melanda negara kita sekarang adalah DEN-2 yang mana ianya merupakan virus yang ganas melebihi virus sebelum ini.

Virus sebelum ini yang menyerang negara kita adalah DEN-4,  diikuti oleh DEN-3 kemudiannya. Evolusi virus ang ada pada nyamuk Aedes telah berlaku dan sekarang mereka mengeluarkan virus DEN-2.

Jadi masalah sebenarnya adalah evolusi virus yang menjadi semakin ganas dan merbahaya. Akibat daripada virus itu membuatkan jumlah mereka yang meninggal dunia disebabkan demam denggi telah meningkat dengan begitu tinggi sekali.

Bila DEN-2 mula merebak

Pengarah kesihatan bahagian vektor kawalan penyakit, Dr Rose Nani Mudin menyatakan bahawa DEN-2 mula muncul dalam negara kita pada bulan March 2013, iaitu lebih setahun yang lalu.

Selain daripada kemunculan DEN-2 yang dikatakan menjadi punca meningkatnya kes demam denggi dan juga kes kematian pada tahun ini, faktor cuaca juga memainkan peranan yang besar.

Keadan cuaca yang kering dan panas sekarang merupakan satu suasana yang sesuai untuk nyamuk. Ditambah pula dengan sekali sekala berlakunya hujan lebat, aktiviti pembiakan nyamuk menjadi bertambah menggalakkan.

Nyamuk Aedes mudah membiak

Nyamuk Aedes dilaporkan mampu bertelur dan menetaskan sebanyak 100 telur di dalam sedikit air yang ada di dalam sudu teh. Dalam masa seminggu sahaja, air dalam sudu teh itu akan melepaskan sebanyak 100 ekos nyamuk Aedes dewasa.

Bayangkan jika ada banyak kawasan yang terbiar dan dipenuhi oleh air bersih yang sesuai untuk aktiviti pembiakan nyamuk Aedes?, keadaan ini membuatkan kawalan nyamuk Aedes menjadi satu perkara yang amat sukar.

Adalah mustahil kerja mengawal pembiakan nyamuk Aedes dalam dilaksanakan dengan baik dan berkesan jika orang ramai tidak turut serta ambil bahagian secara aktif dan konsisten.

Oleh itu, anda perlu mainkan peranan bagi membantu penularan demam denggi ini. Sentiasa pastikan persekitaran rumah anda kering dan bersih. Anda mampu melakukannya!

Ever wondered why and when you should be applying insect repellent? Find out in our infographic below.

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Ops Mega dilancarkan dua buan lalu atas matlamat untuk memerangi kes serangan demam denggi yang melanda teruk di negara kita. Ops Mega dilancarkan oleh Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia dalam usaha mereka melawan denggi.

Menurut Menteri Kesihatan Datuk Seri S Subramaniam, Ops Mega nampaknya telah berjaya mengurangkan kes demam denggi di kebanyakan tempat di seluruh negara.

Kes demam denggi telah dilapurkan menurun berdasarkan jumlah kawasan panas yang dicatit sepanjang Ops Mega dijalankan.

Di kawasan Lembah Klang sahaja, kawasan panas kes demam denggi telah mencatatkan penurunan daripada 98 lokasi kepada hanya 58 lokasi. Negeri Selangor sahaja telah mencatitkan penurunan kes demam denggi sebanyak 48% pada tarikh 21hb Sept 2014.

Kes demam denggi negeri lain juga turun

Negeri lain seperti negeri Sembilan, Kuala Lumpur dan Kelantan juga mencatitkan penurunan dalam kes demam denggi.

Kes demam denggi di Negeri Sembilan menurun sebanyak 50%

Kes demam denggi di Kuala lumpur menurun sebanyak 36%

Dan kes demam denggi di negeri Kelantan menurun sebanyak 62%

Jumlah kes demam denggi yang dilaporkan sebanyak 3,000 kes dalam tempoh seminggu sebelum Ops Mega dilancarkan telah menyaksikan penurunan kepada hanya 1,600 kes sahaja seminggu.

Ops Mega juga berjaya menghapuskan terus kawasan panas di Seremban di mana tiada lagi kawasan panas yang dikenal pasti sekarang di sana sejak 5 minggu yang lalu.

Teruskan usaha benteras masalah denggi

Walau bagaimana pun, kerajaan menggesa agar orang ramai meneruskan usaha mereka dalam membantu membenteras kes demam denggi agar dapat dkawal dengan lebih baik.

Bantulah menjaga kebersihan di persekitaran anda dan pasti kawasan sentiasa kering dah tiada potensi untuk nyamuk aedes membiak dan merebak.

Untuk maklumat, kes demam denggi telah dilaporkan sebanyak 74,335 kes sejak 20hb Sept 2014 lalu dan jumlah kematian telah dicatitkan sebanyak 143 kes berpunca daripada demam denggi.

Ini merupakan satu angka yang amat tinggi berbanding hanya 21,453 kes demam denggi dan 45 kematian dalam tempoh masa yang sama tahun sebelum ini.

I share with readers a few pest-related facts and explain whether they have any merit. This is an article taken from here given by experts from Orkin Pest Control.

You will get bed bugs when you walk into a room that has them.

You won’t necessarily get bed bugs just by walking into a room where they are present. Bed bugs hate light, sound and commotion.

While they are good hitchhikers and can spread by attaching themselves to clothing and luggage, they are generally lazy insects and spend more of their time resting and hiding.

Using household chemicals like bleach, sanitizers and cleaning agents will kill and control ants and other insects

These chemicals will not control ants or insects. They might kill the ones you spray depending on the strength of the chemical, but these household cleaners do not have the active ingredients to serve as a pest control solution.

While maintaining a clean home is key to reducing your risk of an infestation, you should not rely solely on household cleaners to solve your pest issues.

Carpenter ants eat wood. Fiction

Carpenter ants do not have the ability to digest wood as termites do. They only excavate wood and nest in the voids.

If your home has a wood foundation that is compromised with moisture or is rotting, work with your pest management professional to implement a program that helps keep this pest at bay.

After eating rodent poison, rats or mice will move out of the house to die outside

A rat or mouse will die anywhere as long as it has consumed a lethal amount of the poison, and regardless of where they die, they will smell.

The poison does not dry them out. The degree of the smell depends on the body mass of the rat or mouse, and temperature in relation to decomposition.

Experts recommend working with your pest management professional to set up a plan to address the specific pests in and around your home.

“When it comes to pests, there is often a lot of misinformation or simply a lack of information,” says Alice Sinia, Ph.D., resident entomologist with Orkin Canada.

“Education is critical when it comes to managing pests and for mitigating the risks associated with them.”

A recent study on the European corn borer (ECB), a major corn pest, finds no significant difference in yield between genetically engineered (GE) Bt (ECB-resistant) corn and non-GE corn in the Northeast, where pest pressure has decreased.

Considering the high cost of GE corn, researchers determine that farmers will see no benefits in terms of profit. The study, published in the journal Pest Management Science, examines the damage that ECBs cause to crops, comparing corn genetically engineered to express the insecticidal toxin Bacillus Thuringiensis (Bt) with non-Bt crops at 29 sites around Pennsylvania over three years.

The study concludes that although Bt corn hybrids reduced ECB damage in comparison to non-Bt crops, they found no difference in yields, explaining that because of higher seed costs they also “rarely improved profits.”

Although researchers attribute the decline in ECB population to the adoption of Bt corn, the study does not address long-term insect resistance which can develop in fields after the introduction of GE crops and lead to an increased use in pesticides.

“With less ECB damage around, non-Bt hybrids in our tests yielded just as well as Bt hybrids, so the decline in ECB populations provides an opportunity for growers to generate greater profits by planting high-yielding non-Bt seed, which is much cheaper than Bt seed,” said Eric Bohnenblust, graduate student and co-author of the study, to Penn State News.

“Planting more non-Bt corn will [also] reduce the potential for ECB to develop resistance to Bt toxins as corn rootworms have done in about a dozen states so far.”

The researchers suggest that farmers should consider planting non-Bt corn as a cost-cutting measure,and conclude that “Bt hybrids remain valuable control options.”

However, there is mounting evidence demonstrating insect resistance, crop contamination, and potential adverse impacts of GE crops to human health and the environment.

Indeed, in 2011 entomologists at Iowa State University published a study verifying the first field-evolved resistance of another corn pest, corn rootworm, to a Bt toxin.

The study found the western rootworm’s ability to adapt was strongest in fields where Bt corn was planted for three consecutive years and suggested that insufficient planting of refuges may have contributed to the resistance.

This study was cited by a group of 22 prominent entomologists who submitted formal comments to the EPA, identifying significant flaws in current practices for managing insect resistance to Bt corn and cautioning that failure to implement alternative measures would result in all forms of Bt losing its effectiveness.

Similarly, a 2013 study by University of Illinois researchers found corn rootworm to be resistant to GE Bt corn within two of Illinois’ counties, causing severe damage to those crops. The European corn borer causes severe damage to the corn in the larval stage.

As larvae emerge from overwintering, they feed and tunnel within the tassel, ear, and stem forming cavities within the crop. This boring damage weakens the plant, diminishing yields as the plant becomes unable to transport water and nutrients through the damaged stalk.

Previous research in Pennsylvania suggests that ECB was responsible for about a 5.5% yearly yield reduction in field corn.

Extensive yield losses from reduced leaf area, broken stalked, dropped years, and stalk rot, caused by ECB and corn rootroom led to widespread use of Bt-corn.

Research here suggests however, that these yield gains are no longer being made, and farmers should consider planting non-Bt corn.

Genetically engineered crops not only facilitate insect resistance but also threaten the sustainability of organic agriculture. There has long been a concern that EPA’s allowance of plant incorporated protectants (PIPs) with Bt would lead to the failure of a biological tool used in organic farming systems as an alternative to highly toxic synthetic inputs.

Organic farmers have expressed concern since the introduction of PIPs in 2003 that the overuse of Bt, which is inevitable when Bt is genetically engineered into every cell of a plant, will lead to insect resistance and leave many farmers without an important tool of organic agriculture.

Organic agriculture is the last sustainable refuge from genetically engineered crops. It represents an ecologically-based management system that prioritizes cultural, biological, and mechanical production practices and natural inputs by strengthening on-farm resources, such as soil fertility, pasture and biodiversity.

For more reasons to support organic agriculture, visit Beyond Pesticides

Berikut maklumat berkenaan kes denggi di Negeri Pulau Pinang. Kes denggi nampaknya meningkat sebanyak 161.5% di sana.

Nampaknya kes denggi yang mencatatkan penurunan di kebanyakan tempat terutamanya di Lembah Kelang, seperti mana yang dilaporkan dalam laporan di sini sebelum ini, tidak diikuti oleh negeri Pulau Pinang.

Berikut laporan berita berkenaan kes denggi di Pulau Pinang seperti mana yang dipetik dari sini:


GEORGE TOWN - Bilangan kes denggi di Pulau Pinang sejak bulan Januari hingga 27 September lepas mencatatkan peningkatan sebanyak 987 kes atau 161.5 peratus menjadi 1,598 kes, berbanding tempoh sama pada tahun lepas yang direkodkan hanya 611 kes.

Exco Pertanian dan Industri Asas Tani dan Kesihatan, Dr. Afif Bahardin dalam kenyataannya hari ini memberitahu, lima kematian akibat denggi turut direkodkan pada tahun ini, berbanding dua kematian pada tahun lepas.

Justeru, beliau mengingatkan seluruh warga Pulau Pinang agar meningkatkan langkah-langkah pencegahan, termasuk menghapuskan kawasan pembiakan nyamuk aedis di kawasan kediaman masing-masing.

"Pada ketika ini, terdapat 12 lokaliti wabak terkawal dilaporkan di P.Pinang iaitu di lokaliti Mutiara Idaman, Apartment Sri Wonder, Taman Harmoni, Taman Gottlieb dan Jalan Cantonment di George Town, daerah Timur Laut, Flat Bukit Gedong dan Persiaran Mahsuri di daerah Barat Daya, Bagan Lebai Tahir, Taman Aman Ceri dan Kampung Perlis di daerah Seberang Perai Utara, Taman Desa Damai di daerah Seberang Perai Tengah dan Kampung Sungai Udang di daerah Seberang Perai Selatan.

"Dua lokaliti wabak tak terkawal dilaporkan iaitu di Apartment Kota Emas di George Town daerah Timur Laut dan Flat Teluk Bahang di daerah Barat Daya.

"Satu lokaliti hotspot dilaporkan di Greenlane Heights di George Town, daerah Timur Laut," jelas Dr. Afif yang juga Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri (ADUN) Seberang Jaya dalam satu kenyataan bertulis.

Untuk anda yang peka kepada masalah wabak denggi yang sedang melanda negara kita sekarang tentu sentiasa ingin tahu apakah perkembangan kes denggi di negara kita.

Kementerian kesihatan telah berusaha memberikan maklumat terkini yang sentiasa dikemas kini untuk memberikan kesedaran terhadap keseluruhan warga negara Malaysia.

Adalah pening untuk kita sentiasa peka akan keadaan dan kes denggi yang sedang melanda terutamanya dipersekitaran tempat tinggal kita agar dengan maklumat tersebut, kita akan lebih peka untuk pastikan pembiakan nyamuk aedes dibenteras.

Untuk mereka yang nak tahu maklumat kes denggi terkini di Malaysia, anda boleh klik di wabsite ini. Ia memberikan maklumat terperinci keseluruhan dan juga di kawasan yang anda mahu tahu dengan hanya klik pada kawasan yang anda berminat.

Maklumat terkini kes denggi

Setakat hari ini, iaitu 3hb Oct 2014, carta menunjukkan jumlah kes denggi dilaporkan sebanyak 76,700 ke di seluruh negara.

Negeri Selangor mendahului carta tertinggi dengan jumlah kes sebanyak 37,350 kes. Jumlah kes harian juga paling tinggi di Selangor dengan 115 kes.

Tempat kedua tertinggi berlaku di negeri Kelantan. Negeri tersebut mencatatkan jumlah kes sebanyak 13,050 kes sejak januari 2014 hingga 3 oct 2014.

Negeri-negeri lain yang banyak kes denggi adalah di Wilayah Persekutuan, Johor dan juga negeri Perak.

Pastikan anda sentiasa luangkan sekurang-kurang 15 minit setiap hari untuk membuat pembersihan di sekitar rumah anda.

Galakkan jiran anda melakukan perkara yang sama dan jangan hanya harapkan pihak berkuasa sahaja untuk melakukan semua aktiviti pembersihan.

Kesihatan anda, andalah yang perlu jaga. Jangan harapkan orang lain untuk melakukannya untuk anda.

Maklumat kes denggi dari Ketua Pengarah Kesihatan

Berikut kemas kini dari portal Ketua Pengarah Kesihatan Malaysia yang memberikan update berkenaan penurunan kes denggi di beberapa negeri:

"Pada pagi ini saya mempengerusikan Mesyuarat Pasukan Petugas Khas Denggi Peringkat Kementerian Bil.6 /2014.

Hasil dari pelaksanaan pelan tindakan ini, ketiga-tiga negeri di lembah Klang telah menunjukan tren penurunan bagi kes mingguan dan wabak yang dilaporkan seterusnya berjaya mengurangkan bilangan kes keseluruhan negeri tersebut. 

Dalam tempoh 2 bulan, Negeri Sembilan telah berjaya menurunkan kes sebanyak 51%, Selangor berjaya menurunkan kes sebanyak 48% dan WP Kuala Lumpur sebanyak 36%. 

Manakala Kelantan, dalam tempoh 5 minggu pelan tindakan bersepadu dijalankan juga menunjukkan tren penurunan kes mingguan dan telah berjaya menurunkan kes sebanyak 69%. 

Begitu juga dengan dengan kesan terhadap wabak denggi, bilangan Hotspots di Lembah Klang berjaya diturunkan dari 94 kawasan kepada 58 kawasan. Manakala di Seremban tiada kejadian hotspots dilaporkan sejak 6 minggu lalu.

Pihak Kementerian Kesihatan ingin mengucapkan tahnian dan terima kasih kepada semua kementerian dan agensi yang terlibat iaitu;

a. Kementerian Kesejahteraan Bandar, Perumahan dan Kerajaan Tempatan, 
b. Kementerian Kerja Raya, 
c. Kementerian Sumber Manusia, 
d. Kementerian Pendidikan, 
e. Kementerian Komunikasi dan Multimedia, 
f. Kementerian Dalam Negeri, 
g. Kerajaan Negeri

Anda boleh layari portal tersebut dengan banyak lagi berita kesihatan di sini

PUTRAJAYA: Dengue cases are expected to increase following the change in weather conditions from the end of this November.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S.Subramaniam said the weather, alternating between wet (rainy) and dry, was conducive for Aedes mosquitoes to breed based on experience in previous years, hence dengue cases might possibly increase.

In light of this, he said, the Health Ministry would be collaborating with the state governments and local authorities in operations and activities of cleaning up open areas and in destroying Aedes breeding grounds.

"Besides that, the ministry and related agencies will also be stepping up cleaning of public places and working with non-governmental organisations in the fight against dengue at the grassroot level.

"The public must also be involved in combating dengue, such as through the search-and-destroy activity on Aedes breeding grounds each week," he said at a news conference, here.

Dr Subramaniam said to help control the dengue outbreak in Selangor, the ministry continued with its outsourcing activities of thermal fogging and ULV (ultra low volume) fogging by the pest control operators, especially in areas like Petaling, Hulu Langat and Gombak, as well as in Kelantan, the period of which had been extended to two months from one.

He said until Sept 27, this year, the number of reported deaths nationwide from dengue had reached 146 compared to 48 over the same period last year.

He added that over that period this year, the number of reported dengue cases nationwide totalled 76,616 cases, an increase of 239 per cent over the 22,602 cases reported the previous year.

Dr Subramaniam also noted 589 localities with dengue cases with Selangor having the most number at 340, followed by Kelantan (153), Johor (22), Sarawak (17), Penang (14), Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya (13), Pahang (11), Melaka (five), Terengganu and Perak (four each), Perlis (three), Negeri Sembilan (two) and Sabah (one).

Of the 157 dengue hot spots reported nationwide, 98 are in Kelantan, 56 in Selangor and one each in Melaka, Pahang and Penang. – source

Find above infografic of dengur epidemic in Malaysia. Its really alarming and need your attention to stay safe and keep out of mosquitoes. If you need more info on latest news about dengue cases in your area, please klik and visit Idengue.

The Entomological Society of America (ESA) is pleased to announce the winners of its 2014 awards. The awards will be presented at Entomology 2014, ESA's 62nd Annual Meeting in Portland, Oregon from November 16-19, 2014.

The following individuals are recipients of the 2014 ESA professional and student awards. 

DISTINGUISHED ACHIEVEMENT AWARD IN EXTENSION

This annual award recognizes outstanding contributions to extension entomology. Dr. John C. Palumbo is a professor and extension specialist in the Department of Entomology at the University of Arizona.

John is an Arizona native and received his BS in agricultural science (1982), and MS in entomology (1985) from the University of Arizona, and a PhD degree in entomology from Oklahoma State University (1989).

He joined the department in 1990 as a faculty member at the Yuma Agricultural Center, where he has developed an internationally recognized extension and research program in IPM for desert vegetable crops.

He has previously served as the state IPM coordinator, and is presently the Arizona state liaison to the USDA IR-4 Program. Dr. Palumbo's translational research and outreach program provides the Arizona vegetable and melon industries with innovative insect management solutions designed to reduce their reliance on broadly-toxic insecticides without sacrificing yield and quality.

Over the past 24 years, he and his colleagues have collaboratively developed pest management alternatives and educational programs for several invasive species in the western U.S., including Bemisia tabaci, Nasonovia ribisnigri, and most recently Bagrada hilaris.

These efforts have resulted in numerous refereed publications, book chapters, and extension publications, including nearly 200 papers in the ESA's Arthropod Management Tests. He has delivered more than 500 presentations to growers and agricultural consultants on a wide range of topics on vegetable IPM and reduced-risk pesticides.

John's accomplishments in extension have been recognized by stakeholders in Arizona and California, where he has received the Distinguished Service to Agriculture Award (Arizona Farm Bureau), the Distinguished Service Award (Yuma Fresh Vegetables Association), and the Outstanding Contribution to Agriculture Award (California Association of Pest Control Advisors, Desert Chapter).

He was recently recognized as the University of Arizona, CALS Faculty Member of the Year by the Arizona Agriculture 100 Council.

AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT

This award, which is sponsored by Syngenta Crop Protection, is based on outstanding contributions which have a direct relation to integrated pest management (IPM). Dr. Peter C. Ellsworth is an IPM specialist and professor at the University of Arizona Department of Entomology, and the director of the Arizona Pest Management Center.

He received degrees in entomology from the University of New Hampshire (BS), the University of Missouri (MS), and North Carolina State University (PhD). He established the Arizona Pest Management Center (APMC) in 2003 as a multidisciplinary consortium of pest management scientists focused on research, outreach, and implementation of IPM in Arizona, which in 2012 was awarded the US-EPA's PESP Gold Tier Shining Star Award.

He serves as director of the APMC, state IPM coordinator, state pesticide coordinator, and co-director of the Western IPM Center. Dr. Ellsworth develops science-based solutions for IPM through applied ecological investigations and organized outreach programs of cooperative extension, with principal focus on the cotton agroecosystem.

He has special interests in the integration of chemical and biological controls, and landscape processes that govern pest and beneficial insect distributions. He is located at the University of Arizona's largest experiment station, the Maricopa Agricultural Center in Maricopa, a 2,100-acre laboratory, research, and demonstration farm complex.

Dr. Ellsworth has studied cotton IPM for over 23 years and has authored the successful US-EPA Section 18 Emergency Exemption that made two strategic insect growth regulators, pyriproxyfen and buprofezin, available to Arizona cotton growers for the control of whiteflies in 1996.

Together with many other cotton pest management advances, it is estimated that the Arizona cotton industry saved over $388,000,000 (1996-2011) by pracicing the IPM programs that Dr. Ellsworth helped to develop. In collaboration with many others, he has helped implement innovative, cross-commodity whitefly management programs that have helped producers of cotton, melons, and vegetables to stabilize their IPM systems in Arizona.

DISTINGUISHED ACHIEVEMENT AWARD IN HORTICULTURAL ENTOMOLOGY

This award honors any ESA member who has contributed to the American horticulture industry. Dr. Daniel A. Herms is professor, state extension specialist, and chair in the Department of Entomology at The Ohio State University (OSU), where he has been a member of the faculty since 1997.

He received his BS in landscape horticulture from OSU in 1982, his MS in both horticulture and entomology from OSU in 1984, and a PhD from Michigan State University in entomology with a specialization in ecology and evolutionary biology in 1991.

From 1984-1996, he was also employed by the Dow Gardens, a public horticultural display garden in Midland, Michigan, where he directed the pest management program.

His research and extension programs address the ecology and management of insect pests in forests, urban forests, ornamental landscapes, nurseries, and Christmas tree plantations, with foci on chemical ecology of plant-insect interactions, phenological modeling, ecological impacts of invasive insects, and biologically-based pest management.

He has published more than 200 research and extension papers, including more than 70 peer-reviewed journal articles, and has been invited to present more than 450 research and extension presentations.

He teaches or co-teaches Forest and Shade Tree Entomology and Pathology, Insect Ecology and Evolutionary Processes, and the Nature and Practice of Science. He has served on the USDA Emerald Ash Borer Science Advisory Panel and the Asian Longhorned Beetle Technical Working Group, he chairs the International Union of Forest Research Organizations Working Group on Tree Resistance to Insects, and he is a subject editor for Environmental Entomology.

DISTINGUISHED ACHIEVEMENT AWARD IN TEACHING

This award is presented annually to the member of the Society deemed to be the most outstanding teacher of the year. Dr. Diane E. Ullman received a BS in horticulture from the University of Arizona (1976) and a PhD in entomology from the University of California (1985).

She began her career at the University of Hawaii-Manoa (1987), relocating in 1995 to the University of California, Davis, where she is a faculty member in the Department of Entomology and Nematology, and the Department of Plant Pathology.

Dr. Ullman chaired the Department of Entomology at UC Davis (2004-2005), after which she was named associate dean for undergraduate academic programs in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (2005-2014).

There she led curriculum and program development, student recruitment and outreach, and she administrated all undergraduate academic activities. Dr. Ullman is known for innovative, multidisciplinary teaching strategies that connect science and art programs that mentor the next generation of scientists and help undergraduates succeed.

Key examples are the Art/Science Fusion Program (using experiential learning to enhance scientific literacy), the Career Discovery Group Program (training mentors to help students explore careers and select majors), and the national Thrips-Tospovirus Educational Network (training graduate students and postdoctoral scholars to mentor new scientists).

Ullman's research revolves around insects that transmit plant pathogens, in particular plant viruses. She is best known for advancing international knowledge of interactions between thrips and tospoviruses and aphids and citrus tristeza virus.

Her contributions have played a fundamental role in developing novel strategies for management of insects and plant viruses. She leads a $3.75 million Coordinated Agricultural Project, and has authored more than 100 refereed publications (cited 3,660 times, h-index of 32).

Ullman is an ESA Fellow (2011) and the recipient of numerous awards, including the USDA Higher Education Western Regional Award for Excellence in College and University Teaching (1993), the UC Davis Chancellor's Achievement Award for Diversity and Community (2008), and the 2014 Distinguished Award in Teaching from ESA's Pacific Branch.

EARLY CAREER INNOVATION AWARD

This award, which is sponsored by BASF, honors young professionals working within the field of entomology who have demonstrated innovation through contributions within any area of specialization (research, teaching, extension, product development, public service, etc.).

Dr. Mary Gardiner is an associate professor in the Department of Entomology at The Ohio State University. She received her MS from the University of Idaho in 2004 and her in PhD from Michigan State University in 2008.

She currently advises eight graduate students and two research scientists who work in a diversity of agricultural and urban ecosystems. Much of this research takes place within an urban ecosystem that encompasses 20,000 vacant lots in Cleveland, Ohio that were formerly residential and commercial space.

Here, her laboratory is focused on how redesigning vacant land to restore native plant communities, improving storm-water infiltration, and providing access to locally-produced food can influence arthropod communities and their contributions to ecosystem functions and services.

To fund her research, Dr. Gardiner has generated over $4 million in grant dollars as a lead or co-principal investigator, including a prestigious NSF Faculty Early Career Award. She has published 22 peer-reviewed publications, two book chapters, and eight extension publications in her career.

She also has a book due out in February, 2015 titled Good Garden Bugs: Everything You Need to Know About Beneficial Predatory Insects, published by Quarry Books.

Mary is actively engaged in extension activities related to enhancing home landscapes, urban green spaces, and small-scale farms as habitats for beneficial arthropods. She co-teaches two graduate courses: Insect Ecology and Evolutionary Processes, and Presentation Skills for Scientists.

HENRY and SYLVIA RICHARDSON RESEARCH GRANT

This grant provides research funds to postdoctoral ESA members who have at least one year of promising work experience, are undertaking research in selected areas, and have demonstrated a high level of scholarship.

Sarah Jandricic grew up thinking she was going to be a zoologist, a marine biologist, and an environmental lawyer. At age 22, she decided she should settle on just one profession. After falling in love with insects at the University, she began studying entomology and toxicology.

Under the guidance of Drs. Cynthia Scott-Dupree and Bruce Broadbent, she earned a joint MS in both fields in 2005. After graduating, Sarah worked for two years as the director for research for Eco Habitat Agri-Services, a company offering pest management consulting for the greenhouse industry.

Realizing she had so much more to learn about insects and their control, she returned to academia in 2007, receiving her PhD from Cornell University in 2013 with Dr. John Sanderson. Her project investigated oviposition decisions of an aphidophagous predator (Aphidoletes aphidimyza) in multi-prey environments, as well as the biology of a serious and emerging greenhouse pest, the foxglove aphid.

Sarah is now actively avoiding interacting with snow and cold by working as a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Dr. Steven Frank at North Carolina State University, where she is investigating non-consumptive predator effects on the behavior and fitness of western flower thrips, as well as other avenues for improving integrated pest management of these pests.

Over her career, Sarah has received several prestigious awards, including funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, a North East SARE grant, and the John Henry Comstock Award from ESA's Eastern Branch. She hopes to continue in a career studying predator-prey interactions and the optimization of IPM programs in agriculture.

NAN-YAO SU AWARD FOR INNOVATION AND CREATIVITY IN ENTOMOLOGY

Each year this award is given to an ESA member who is able to demonstrate through his/her projects or accomplishments an ability to identify problems and develop creative, alternative solutions that significantly impact entomology.

Dr. Luke Alphey is a leader in the emerging field of genetic pest management, focusing particularly on mosquitoes. He is a non-executive director of Oxitec Ltd, a spin-out company from Oxford University that he co-founded in 2002 (he was the research director from 2002-2014).

Oxitec is developing innovative technology known as RIDL (Release of Insects carrying a Dominant Lethal) to control insect pests, based on the use of engineered sterile males of the pest insect species. These insects carry a simple genetic system imparting conditional (repressible) lethality.

In the lab or factory, provision of tetracycline allows the insects to thrive. On release into the wild, the males mate with wild female insects, which lay eggs that are unable to develop into adults, due to inheritance of the control circuit and the absence of the repressor "antidote." In 2006, Oxitec and the USDA led the first open field releases of a genetically-modified insect.

In 2009 and 2010, in collaboration with government of the Cayman Islands, the first outdoor GM mosquito experiments were conducted, showing that RIDL male mosquitoes could indeed find, mate with, and suppress a wild mosquito population.

Further open trials in Malaysia and Brazil have subsequently been successfully completed, indicating that the engineered mosquitoes can perform well across a broad range of ecological and social settings.

Prof Alphey's earlier career focused on basic science, using Drosophila as a model system. After 11 years at Oxitec, he moved to the Pirbright Institute in Feb, 2014. Dr. Alphey has published extensively on insect genetic engineering and contributed to regulatory frameworks. He and Oxitec have won several awards for this pioneering green technology.

RECOGNITION AWARD IN ENTOMOLOGY

This award, which is sponsored by Syngenta Crop Protection, recognizes entomologists who are making significant contributions to agriculture. Dr. James F. Campbell is a research entomologist with the USDA-ARS Center for Grain and Animal Health Research in Manhattan, Kansas.

Dr. Campbell received a BS and an MS in entomology from Rutgers University, and a PhD in entomology from the University of California, Davis.

He joined USDA-ARS in 1999 and has since then conducted research focused on the spatial distribution and movement patterns of stored-product insects in food facility landscapes, improving the implementation and interpretation of insect monitoring programs, and determining the impact of different management tactics on pest populations within commercial food facilities.

Dr. Campbell is an adjunct professor in the Department of Entomology at Kansas State University, where he has co-supervised eight graduate students and served on many other graduate student committees.

He has written more than 110 peer-reviewed journal articles and more than 35 book chapters, proceedings papers, and technical articles. He has also given more than 150 invited presentations, and has been a part of collaborative research teams that have obtained more than $9 million in extramural funding.

Dr. Campbell serves as the secretary/treasurer for the Permanent Committee of the International Working Conference on Stored Product Protection and is on the editorial board of the Journal of Stored Products Research. He has served ESA as Secretary, Vice-Chair and Chair of the former Section Cd.

Dr. Campbell has received the USDA-ARS-NPA Early Career Research Scientist of the Year Award and the ESA NCB Award for Excellence in Integrated Pest Management and the Recognition Award in Entomology.

RECOGNITION AWARD IN INSECT PHYSIOLOGY, BIOCHEMISTRY, and TOXICOLOGY

This award, which is sponsored by Apex Bait Technologies, Inc., recognizes and encourages outstanding extension, research, and teaching contributions in urban entomology.

Dr. Sarjeet Gill is a professor of cell biology and neuroscience and an entomologist in the Agricultural Experiment Station at the University of California, Riverside. He received his doctorate in insecticide toxicology from UC Berkeley and joined the Department of Entomology at UC Riverside in 1983.

He helped established the Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience and the Graduate Program of Environmental Toxicology, and served as chair of the department and director of the program. Professor Gill is currently the editor of Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, a premier journal in entomology, and he co-edited the series Comprehensive Molecular Insect Science.

Professor Gill's laboratory has two principal research foci. The first area is to elucidate the mode of action of insecticidal toxins derived from the bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis. These toxins are active against agricultural pests and vectors of human diseases.

More recently, his work involves another Gram positive bacteria, Clostridium bifermantans, which is mosquitocidal. The aim of the research in Professor Gill's lab is to gain a molecular understanding of the toxins involved, and how these toxins interact with cellular targets, thereby causing a disruption of ion regulation and lethality.

A second area of research focuses on understanding mosquito midgut and Malpighian tubules function, in particular ion and nutrient transport, and changes that occur following a blood meal and how toxins affect these functions. Prof. Gill is a fellow of the AAAS, and has served on numerous grant review panels at the NIH and USDA.

RECOGNITION AWARD IN URBAN ENTOMOLOGY

This award recognizes and encourages outstanding extension, research, and teaching contributions in urban entomology. Dr. Nancy Hinkle moves easily between agricultural and urban entomology, dealing with significant pests in both areas.

Most of her research has involved flies—not only on flies around the home, but also concerning their origins and their impact on animal agriculture. Discoveries from field studies on avian mites inform her work with delusory parasitosis (and debunk many of the claims made on http://www.birdmites.org).

Because fleas are both significant ectoparasites and household pests, she investigates on-host control as well as environmental suppression. She has studied the distribution of brown recluse spiders in Georgia, seasonality of tick activity in north Georgia, and the role darkling beetles play in Salmonella transmission in poultry.

After completing her bachelor's and master's degrees at Auburn University, Nancy worked in veterinary entomology at UGA's Coastal Plain Experiment Station in Tifton. She then went back to school and received a PhD in urban entomology (working on fleas) from the University of Florida.

For nine years she taught at the University of California, Riverside before returning to the University of Georgia (Athens) in 2001. Nancy served ESA on the Governing Board (2010-13), as chair of the Medical, Urban, and Veterinary Entomology Section (2005), and she is currently President-Elect of ESA's Southeastern Branch.

In 2009 she served as president of the Society for Vector Ecology. She coached the UCR Linnaean Games team to the 1998 national championship, and the UGA Linnaean Games team to the national championship in 2012. In 2012 she received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Veterinary Entomology, and she was awarded ESA's Distinguished Achievement Award in Extension in 2001.

THOMAS SAY AWARD

This ESA award acknowledges significant and outstanding work in the fields of insect systematics, morphology, or evolution. Dr. Bryan N. Danforth, a professor in the Department of Entomology at Cornell University, is internationally recognized for his research on the biodiversity, natural history, and evolution of bees and their closely-related wasp relatives.

Danforth, a native of Oyster Bay, NY, received his BS in zoology from Duke University, and his MS and PhD degrees in entomology from the University of Kansas. He was a postdoctoral associate with George Eickwort at Cornell before he joined the faculty in the Department of Entomology in 1996. 

Danforth's work spans a range of topics, including the origins of bees, the higher-level phylogeny of bees, the evolutionary history of bee social behavior, the antiquity of bees based both on hard fossil evidence as well as fossil-calibrated molecular phylogenies, the historical biogeography of bees, the evolution of cleptoparasitism, and, most recently, the role of native bees in agricultural pollination.

Danforth has conducted field work on bees in Australia, Africa, Madagascar, Europe, and North America. He has published nearly 80 peer-reviewed papers and has played a significant role in the careers of graduate students, postdocs, and visiting scholars.

Danforth teaches a number of courses at Cornell, including Alien Empire: Bizarre Biology of Bugs; Insect Diversity and Evolution; and Tropical Field Entomology. He is also a regular contributor to the Bee Course, an annual workshop on all aspects of bee biology and systematics that takes place at the Southwestern Research Station in Portal, AZ.

Danforth holds additional appointments at the American Museum of Natural History, the Cornell University Insect Collection, the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future, and the Cornell Center for Comparative and Population Genomics.

ESA STUDENT AWARDS LARRY LARSON GRADUATE STUDENT AWARD FOR LEADERSHIP IN APPLIED ENTOMOLOGY

This award, which is sponsored by Dow AgroSciences, recognizes Dr. Larry Larson's role as a leader and pioneer in insect management and carries that legacy to the next generation of leaders in applied entomology.

Zachary DeVries was born in Columbus, Ohio, but raised in Auburn, Alabama. As an undergraduate at Auburn University, Zach jumped right in to field work, exploring his interests in biology by working in both a fish ecology lab and a herpetology lab.

Zach later began conducting research with Dr. Ray Henry (Dept. of Biological Sciences, Auburn University), studying the physiology and behavior of giant aquatic salamanders. Zach completed his BS degree in zoology with a minor in statistics in 2011.

Upon completion of his BS, Zach began pursuing his master's degree in entomology at Auburn University, working with Dr. Art Appel. His research focused on the physiology of urban pests, such as silverfish, firebrats, and bed bugs.

His work has led to some interesting discoveries about the metabolism of these species as well as numerous collaborations with other departments and universities. Zach completed his master's degree in 2013.

Zach is currently a PhD student at North Carolina State University, where he is studying the physiology, behavior, and management of urban pests under the direction of Dr. Coby Schal. Zach's dissertation research integrates two important areas of urban entomology: German cockroach allergen mitigation, and bed bug chemical ecology and behavior.

Through his work, Zach hopes to improve the management of both of these pests by acquiring both basic and applied knowledge. Zach would like to thank both the Entomological Society of America and Dow AgroSciences. This opportunity will be invaluable to his career development.

LILLIAN and ALEX FEIR GRADUATE STUDENT TRAVEL AWARD IN INSECT PHYSIOLOGY, BIOCHEMISTRY, OR MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

This award aims to encourage graduate students working with insects or other arthropods in the broad areas of physiology, biochemistry, and molecular biology to affiliate with ESA's Physiology, Biochemistry, and Toxicology Section and to attend the ESA Annual Meeting or an International Congress of Entomology.

Holly Holt is a graduate student in Dr. Christina Grozinger's laboratory at Penn State University. Her PhD research focuses on two fungal pathogens of honey bees, Nosema apis and Nosema ceranae. Infection with either pathogen species is energetically costly for honey bee workers and can lead to numerous aberrations in worker physiology and behavior, culminating in premature death.

Using a whole-genome approach, Holly and collaborators (Drs. Kate Aronstein and Christina Grozinger) identified molecular factors with intersecting nutritional, hormonal, and metabolic roles that likely drive the physiological and behavioral symptoms of infection in worker honey bees.

Holly is currently characterizing molecular, physiological, and behavioral symptoms of infection in male honey bees and directly comparing drone disease management strategies to worker responses. She hopes that by contributing to our basic understanding of Nosema pathology in honey bees, we can find effective, long-term treatments for these damaging pathogens.

Holly also enjoys outreach, mentoring, and policy activities, and she appreciates opportunities to engage with the general public, beekeepers, and scientists.

STUDENT ACTIVITY AWARD

Sponsored by Monsanto Company, this award is presented annually to recognize a student for outstanding contributions to the Society, his/her academic department, and the community, while still achieving academic excellence.

Rebecca Schmidt-Jeffris received her BS in biology from Washburn University in Topeka, KS. With her research advisor, Dr. Lee Boyd, she completed an independent research project investigating prey preferences and kin selection in praying mantids.

She is currently in the final year of her doctoral studies in the Department of Entomology at Washington State University. Her dissertation research, under her major advisor Dr. Elizabeth H. Beers, focuses on the biological control of mite pests by phytoseiid mites in apple orchards.

Aspects of this work include phytoseiid releases, diversity surveys, and behavioral and pesticide bioassays. Rebecca enjoys actively participating in both ESA and her department. She has served in several offices for the WSU Entomology Graduate Student Association, including representative to the graduate senate, secretary, and two terms as president.

In this capacity, she coordinated several department events, including visits by guest speakers and the annual Insect Expo. She also volunteers as a teaching assistant and guest lecturer for the department.

At the Branch level, Rebecca has enjoyed chairing the Student Symposium and Text-Messaging Competition. She is currently the Vice Chair and Pacific Branch Representative of the ESA Student Affairs Committee and will begin her term as the Chair at the end of this year.

One of her favorite activities to organize is the annual Student Debates. She was excited to be appointed as a Co-Chair of the Student Affairs Committee for the 2016 International Congress of Entomology and is currently working to plan student activities for this meeting.

After completing her degree, Rebecca hopes to find a postdoctoral or professorship position working in integrated pest management, and would love to continue studying predatory mites.

JOHN HENRY COMSTOCK GRADUATE STUDENT AWARDS

These six awards are given to one graduate student from each ESA Branch to promote interest in entomology and to stimulate interest in attending the ESA Annual Meeting. Flor Edith Acevedo (Eastern Branch) is a PhD candidate at the Pennsylvania State University.

Her dissertation research focuses on the study of the adaptive mechanisms used by polyphagous insects to exploit different host plants. She has been working in entomology for the last 10 years. For her undergraduate thesis research, she developed DNA molecular markers in the coffee berry borer to study the dispersion of this insect in field conditions.

After receiving her bachelor's degree in 2006 from Universidad de Caldas (Colombia), she joined the entomology team of the Colombian Center for Coffee Research (Cenicafé), where she studied the genetic variability of the coffee berry borer in Colombia. In 2010, she started her PhD studies at Penn State, partially sponsored by a Fulbright scholarship.

Flor has been captivated by research in the field of insect-plant interactions. She is interested in understanding how insects evolved the ability to feed on plants and how this influences insect diversification.

Further avenues that she would like to explore are related to the factors driving insect-plant specialization and its relation to speciation. She is also interested in studying the evolution of neuroethological adaptations mediating host finding in plant feeding insects.

Rebecca Dew (International Branch) is currently in her second year of her PhD at the Flinders University of South Australia. Rebecca's research is focused on the evolution of social behavior with climate in the allodapine bee tribe and, in particular, the arid adapted genus Exoneurella.

Rebecca have always been interested with animal behavior, particularly social behavior, and this genus of bee is a fascinating group to study due to the presence of Exoneurella tridentata, which demonstrates eusociality, the most extreme form of social behavior.

The occurrence of eusociality in this group is of particular interest as the three other members of this genus are only weakly social. Rebecca has been studying the Exoneurella since 2010 when she undertook a three-year undergraduate research project under her current supervisor, Associate Professor Michael Schwarz.

After receiving her bachelor's degree, she took a year off to travel before deciding to return to Flinders to complete her Honors in 2012. This led straight into her PhD project, which expands on her previous work.

She is employing behavioral studies, haplotype networks and phylogenetic reconstructions to explore changes in social behavior within and between species, and how these may have been influenced by climate.

Outside of her PhD work, she is also the editor for the monthly email newsletter for the Society of Australian Systematic Biologists. Michael McCarville (North Central Branch) will complete his PhD in entomology with a plant pathology minor this spring at Iowa State University (ISU).

He completed his BS at Briar Cliff University in 2008 and his MS in 2011 at ISU. He is advised by Dr. Matthew O'Neal. Michael's research focuses on integrating soybean aphid and soybean cyst nematode management through host-plant resistance.

Michael has always been intrigued by how insects, nematodes, and pathogens manipulate host-plant defenses and primary metabolism. He realizes that multiple herbivores and stressors attack plants simultaneously, and this can lead to plant-mediated interactions between herbivores and pathogens.

Integrated pest management, therefore, should not be limited to using multiple tactics to manage a single pest, but should include combining tactics to efficiently manage multiple pests at once. Michael's dissertation is divided into two parts.

The first evaluates the compatibility of a resistance pyramid with other tactics for managing both soybean aphid population densities and virulence allele frequencies. The second explores the ability of host-plant resistance to manipulate pest population densities and subsequently alter soybean aphid-soybean cyst nematode interactions.

Michael has authored six peer-reviewed journal articles, nine extension publications, and has co-authored a grant to fund his all of his PhD research. He has given 16 scientific presentations, five extension talks, and eight posters. Michael has taught courses at ISU in insect biology and pest management, serving as a lab instructor for six semesters.

He has been active in the ESA's North Central Branch, serving on the Student Affairs Committee for two years. Dr. Kelly Hamby (Pacific Branch) received her PhD in entomology in March, 2014 under the direction of Professor Frank Zalom at the University of California, Davis with a focus on sustainable integrated pest management strategies for various insect pests.

Her dissertation research, titled "Biology and pesticide resistance management of Drosophila suzukii in coastal California berries," covered monitoring, yeast associations, chronobiology, chronotoxicity of insecticides, and the implications of this work to managing a recent invader, the spotted wing drosophila.

Kelly also received a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to study molecular mechanisms of target site resistance to insecticides in this system. In 2011, she was awarded the Lillian and Alex Feir Graduate Student Travel Award in Insect Physiology, Biochemistry, or Molecular Biology from the ESA Pacific Branch.

Amber Dawn Tripodi (Southeastern Branch) earned her BS in biology with a minor in entomology from the University of Arkansas, with undergraduate projects in termite phylogeography and sexual selection in cactophilic Drosophila.

She obtained her MS in environmental sciences from the University of Colorado, studying the effect of nitrogen deposition on the growth of high-altitude trees, before returning to the University of Arkansas for a PhD while working on native bees.

Her dissertation combined community ecology, population genetics, and phylogeography to provide insights into the distributions and conservation status of bumble bees and carpenter bees. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the USDA-Logan Bee Laboratory, where she investigates bumble bee pathogens.

Dr. Nathan Lord (Southwestern Branch) is an insect systematist specializing in the order Coleoptera. He is broadly interested in alpha- and beta- level taxonomy, reconstructing phylogenies utilizing both morphological and molecular data, and exploring interesting evolutionary scenarios within Coleoptera.

Nathan received his BSES in entomology in 2006 and his MS in entomology in 2008 from the University of Georgia under the direction of Dr. Joseph McHugh. His MS thesis was a molecular phylogeny of the minute brown scavenger beetles (Coleoptera: Latridiidae), a description of a new beetle family (Akalyptoischiidae), and a taxonomic revision of the genus Deretaphrus Newman (Coleoptera: Bothrideridae).

He received his PhD in biology in 2013 from the University of New Mexico under the direction of Dr. Kelly Miller, where his research focused on phylogenetic reconstruction and taxonomic revisionary work within the beetle family Zopheridae, with an emphasis on the biogeography of the southern hemisphere through the use of zopherids as a model taxon.

In addition, he has conducted several descriptive and revisionary projects within Zopheridae and Bothrideridae, where numerous new taxa have been described. Nathan has also produced several interactive, digital tools (e.g. Lucid keys).

He has authored a book chapter and nine peer-reviewed papers/taxonomic tools, and is the recipient of numerous academic awards. Nathan is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Brigham Young University under the advisement of Dr. Seth Bybee, where his research involves applying NGS methods to investigate the evolution of visual systems within the beetle family Buprestidae and across the order Odonata.

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Members are researchers, teachers, extension service personnel, administrators, marketing representatives, research technicians, consultants, students, and hobbyists.
For more information, visit http://www.entsoc.org.

BOGOR, Indonesia - They’re green. They’re flowery. And to many of the insects that ravage crops in Africa, they’re deadly.

Call it a “back to nature” approach to pest management

With infestations still threatening the food security of many smallholder farmers in Africa and global demand growing for produce free of synthetic pesticides, researchers say it is high time to tap African farmers’ knowledge of naturally occurring pesticides to make such botanical solutions efficient, affordable and accessible.

“Current pest management technologies are not accessible to those who need them,” said Phosiso Sola, Senior Scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).

“Those pesticides that get to smallholder farmers are often out of date or adulterated.”

Sola is the lead author of a new study on botanical pesticides in Africa, which makes the case for deeper investment in plant-based products.

She pointed out that up to 30 percent of crop yields were lost before harvesting and during storage in sub-Saharan Africa because farmers cannot protect them adequately from parasites.

Meanwhile, synthetic pesticides pose health risks to their users and may shut them off from lucrative export markets such as Europe and the U.S., where regulations on chemical residues are getting stricter, the publication notes.

OF DOUBT AND WITCHCRAFT

In this context, the authors see botanical products as an attractive alternative:

“The high diversity of African plant species with pesticidal properties and existing indigenous use of such plants by resource-poor farmers suggest that there is scope for developing a strong market that meets local as well as international demand for more ecologically benign pest control,” they write.

Yet despite their appeal, botanical pesticides are currently underdeveloped in Africa.

“Studies show that many more farmers know about them than use them — by deduction, there is a certain amount of doubt,” said Philip Stevenson, a professor of plant chemistry at the University of Greenwich’s Natural Resources Institute and a co-author of the paper.

“The main reason is that synthetic pesticides are promoted more effectively and farmers think they are more efficient — which includes a part of misinformation when you realize the resistance to them that has been building up,” Stevenson added.

He also mentioned the influence of some religious groups who denounce the use of plants as witchcraft.

Many botanical pesticides are currently used in a low-tech way, with farmers growing or collecting selected plants and using their flowers, leaves or bark in crude form to combat infestations of insects or fungi in crops.

Such traditional techniques yield inconsistent results, which has contributed to reinforcing the image of botanicals as less reliable than synthetic pesticides.

This gap is where science is now needed to turn plant-based products into a viable alternative, according to Stevenson.

“We don’t need research to find new plant species — we have enough — but rather to learn how to grow and use them more efficiently and sustainably,” he said.

While researchers noted a complete lack of interest for botanicals among the multinationals that currently produce synthetic pesticides, they remarked that Chinese and Indian companies had successfully converted some tropical plants such as neem into commercial sprays.

They believe there is a middle ground for researchers and commercial investors to develop plant-based products in Africa, for use by African farmers.

The paper analyzes examples of well-known botanical pesticides such as pyrethrum, an insecticidal flower grown in East Africa that generates significant export revenues for the region’s local farmers.

Inefficiency and financial problems at the Kenyan state-owned monopoly that processed pyrethrum had triggered the industry’s decline, according to the study, but there are now opportunities for private investors to revive it.

Tephrosia Shrub

The tephrosia shrub is also known across Africa to kill insects. A more scientific approach to its use could help farmers select the best varieties and the most efficient techniques to draw insecticide from its leaves.

“It would be possible to produce plant material and pack it in tea-bag-like containers so that farmers can make their own extract without having to grow it or dry the leaves, thus creating business for entrepreneurs,” Stevenson said.

Such cheap insecticide, he said, could become the first ever accessible to some smallholder farmers in poorer regions of sub-Saharan Africa.

NO POLICY FRAMEWORK

To enable such developments, researchers highlight the need for African governments to adapt existing regulations designed with botanical pesticides in mind.

“There is no policy framework for the production and distribution of botanicals. It’s very difficult to conduct the research to bring them to market,” Sola said.

While some countries such as Kenya have moved to adapt registration requirements more specific to each type of pesticide, in most countries the cost is often too high for potential local producers of botanicals.

For example, “while synthetic products have a simple list of chemical contents, plant products include multiple chemicals, and you cannot begin to conduct toxicology studies on each of them,” Stevenson said.

Researchers say African governments could foster vibrant domestic industries by opening simpler avenues to support botanicals value chains — including incentives for conservation where their collection or cultivation may threaten forests, as in the case of promising species found in the wild such as species of Lippia and Securidaca.

“Botanical pesticides produced on a commercial basis by smallholder farmers could increase household incomes, and if used could increase food security by reducing yield losses,” Sola said.

Not to mention the export of low-residue fruit and vegetables so eagerly sought by Western consumers. source

There are about 40 fatal bee attacks in the US every year.

The danger is not the toxicity of the venom but that when killer bees are disturbed “they are more likely to pursue the source of disturbance more consistently,” Dr May Berenbaum, a professor at the University of Illinois, told CBSNews.com.

A gardener in Arizona has died after being dive bombed by a swarm of killer bees and another man was taken to hospital with 100 stings.

The 32-year-old victim was working on a house in Douglas near the Mexican border with three colleagues who were preparing to cut the lawn of a 90-year-old man when the bees struck.

They were working for a charity that provides work for people with learning difficulties and assists needy or elderly people in the community.

As soon as they turned on their lawn mower they were dive bombed by a huge swarm of bees from a hive which was concealed in the back of the house.

Two of the other gardeners who were not badly stung ran to a neighbor’s house to call the fire service but when the emergency services arrived on the scene one of the men had collapsed and was already in respiratory arrest.

“A witness said his face and neck were covered in bees,” Captain Ray Luzania, from the Douglas fire department, told the Arizona Republic.

The man, whose name has not been released, later died on arrival to hospital having suffered a heart attack.

The second victim is believed to have been stung about 100 times before managing to escape and remains in critical condition in the hospital.

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