Broflanilide has recently emerged as a highly effective tool for managing a diverse array of pest insects, including both chewing and sucking species. However, its compatibility with natural enemies—a crucial component of Integrated Pest Management strategies—remains underexplored. Therefore, there is an urgent need to evaluate its selectivity towards natural enemies, particularly the generalist egg parasitoid Trichogramma evanescens Westwood (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae). This study aims to investigate the lethal and sublethal effects of host eggs being treated with broflanilide on T. evanescens. To determine the median lethal concentrations, a series of concentrations, 0.0, 0.1, 0.5, 1, 5, 7, and 10 mg.ai.L⁻¹, were employed to cause mortality. The median lethal concentrations were determined as an LC₂₅ = 0.3 mg.ai.L^-1 and an LC₅₀ = 1.1 mg.ai.L^-1. The F0 parasitism performance and the F1 emergence ratio were unaffected by these concentrations. Subsequently, further experiments assessed whether the parasitoids could distinguish between untreated host eggs and those treated with sublethal broflanilide concentrations (LC₂₅ and LC₅₀). The parasitism preference index showed that the parasitoids could not distinguish between the insecticide-treated and untreated host eggs in two-choice experiments. These findings offer preliminary insights into the toxicity of broflanilide to T. evanescens when the host eggs are treated prior to parasitism. Ongoing research aims to refine these results and offer more conclusive and practical recommendations.

Insect diversity and abundance are often the base for formulating strategies that involve the appropriate application of pest control methods, considering the ecosystem services provided by insects. Arthropods represent more than half of the global described biodiversity, and form part of several food webs providing ecosystem services and serving as ecosystem engineers. For over 40 years, there have been no updated data on the diversity and abundance of insects in commercial sugarcane under field conditions in South Africa. Thus, a knowledge gap exists on the current diversity and abundance of insects associated with conventional sugarcane in South Africa. Therefore, the aim of this study was to provide recent baseline data on the diversity and abundance of insects in conventional sugarcane, based on two sugarcane fields in KwaZulu-Natal. Three sampling methods, namely pitfall, sticky and water pan traps, were used to sample insects in rainfed and irrigated sugarcane in Gingindlovu and Pongola from March to October 2022. This study collected 12,493 insects belonging to 14 insect orders and 88 families in rainfed sugarcane and 22,309 insects belonging to 14 orders and 94 families in irrigated sugarcane. Significant differences in the diversity indices were found between the sampling methods and between the sampling periods. This study provides recent baseline data on the diversity and abundance of insects in sugarcane.

Stored-product insects such as Tribolium castaneum (red flour beetle), Sitophilus oryzae (rice weevil), and Rhyzopertha dominica (lesser grain borer) threaten food security by infesting stored grains and processed commodities. This study evaluates the initial and residual efficacy of two contact insecticides, Tempo® SC Ultra (β-cyfluthrin) and Gravista™ (deltamethrin, methoprene, and piperonyl butoxide), applied to wood, metal, and concrete surfaces under controlled temperatures (16, 22, 27, 32, and 37°C) at 65% RH. A total of 675 bioassay arenas (225 per surface type) were prepared using 6 mm plywood, 20-gauge steel, and concrete sections secured in 100 × 20 mm plastic Petri dishes. Each arena was treated with an insecticide using an artist spray brush at label rates. Ten adults of each species were introduced per arena along with a 500 mg diet. Mortality was assessed at 1, 3, and 7 days post-exposure, with residual bioassays conducted every 4 weeks up to 24 weeks post-application. The bioassay conditions were monitored and recorded by using HOBO data loggers. The preliminary results suggest that insecticide efficacy varied significantly across surface types and temperature conditions, generally showing greater lethality as the temperature increased. These findings emphasize the importance of considering various environmental conditions to maximize the efficacy of insecticides in protecting stored grains from insect pest damage and ensuring long-term food security worldwide.

Millions of people suffer from mosquito-borne infections yearly, including dengue fever, chikungunya, and the Zika virus. All these infections pose great threats to global health. The main vector population requires careful management to prevent its spread. This study delves into the larvicidal activity of hexanolic extracts prepared from different plants as a measure of controlling and reducing the larval population of Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus) in New Delhi, India. Some of the plants explored in this study include African basil, garlic vine, lemongrass, and moringa leaves. The WHO standard protocol was used for the evaluation of the larvicidal activity of various plant extracts. All the plants were potent and excellent against Aedes aegypti larvae, with the cidal activity ranging from 10.503 ppm to 6.376 ppm. The LC₅₀ of Cymbopogon citratus was 10.503 ppm after exposure for 24h and decreased to 1.924 ppm after 48h. Among the four plants tested in this experiment, Cymbopogon citratus was 3.92 fold more effective than Moringa oliefera, 5.73 fold more effective than Ocimum gratissimum, and 5.94 fold effective than Mansoa alliacea within the 24h exposure period. With emphasis on the development of natural measures to control mosquitoes, the present study intends to design novel and efficient methods to manage mosquitoes and also reduce disease transmission. The findings of this research might provide the reader with insight into the development of new insightsand applications of plant-based larvicides, creating eco-friendly means of controlling mosquito populations and conserving these populations from spreading hazardous diseases.

Introduction. The negative effects of excessive folic acid consumption by insects are widely known, like gut microbiota disruptions, reactive oxygen species accumulation, and aberrant DNA methylation. These can either directly lead to an individual's death due to metabolic changes, or affect further generations through the aberrant gamete production of exposed individuals. At the same time, there is a high demand for folates during the larval stage, including for proper DNA synthesis and DNA and histone methylation. This study represents the analysis of folic acid supplementation effects at 1 mg/ml concentration on the imago life expectancy of two Drosophila melanogaster stocks (radius incompletus and Canton-Special).

Methods. To determine if adaptation to folic acid excess in a larval culture medium takes place or not, we performed a chronic experiment in a sixth generation of flies. Additionally, to determine the sex-specific parental influence on the offspring's survival, two groups were added to the analysis, in which either the mother or father came from a group that consumed additional folic acid at the larval stage. The survival curve analysis was conducted using Aalen’s additive model from the survival package in R.

Results. When chronically consuming excess folic acid (1 mg/ml), drosophila imago life expectancy varies depending on the genotype (belonging to a particular stock) and sex of the individual. The directionality of the detected effects does not depend on which parent (mother, father, or both) was exposed, but depends on the sex of the offspring under analysis. We note the negative impact of excess folic acid intake by parents at the larval stage on their offspring's life expectancy at the adult stage, especially that of male offspring.

Conclusions. Folic acid, when consumed in excess by Drosophila melanogaster individuals at the larval stage for several generations, has genotype- and sex-dependent effects, including negative ones, on the life expectancy of the imago--offspring of exposed parents.

Urban land use changes can drive brownification by washing compounds such as dissolved organic matter and iron from terrestrial ecosystems into urban blue spaces. Such changes in the physicochemical properies of water can consequentially impact aquatic communities. Here, I present the results of how diving beetles, a family of aquatic insects, respond to water colour in 26 urban ponds in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, Finland. My results showed that urbanisation did not have significant effects on water colour in urban ponds. Yet diving beetle assemblages in urban ponds were shaped by the colour of the pond water. Diving beetle assemblages responded to water colour differently in ponds with and without fish: in the presence of fish, diving beetle species richness and abundance exhibited significant positive correlations with increasing water colour, but in ponds without fish, the correlation was not significant. Although more species could be found in highly coloured water, some species, such as Hyphydrus ovatus and Hygrotus spp., tended to occur in clear water, indicating that some species are intolerant to brown water, despite the fact that brown water may provide dytiscids with prey refuges. This study emphasises the availability of heterogeneous habitats to meet the habitat requirements of aquatic invertebrates to support urban aquatic biodiversity.

The effects of competitive modulators of insect nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), such as those of neonicotinoids on bee pollinators, have been—and still are—a subject of extensive research and debate. Recent studies on honey bee cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (P450s) identified CYP9Q3 as the key determinant driving insecticide selectivity for various chemical classes, including neonicotinoids. In this study, artificial diet overlay bioassays were conducted with transgenic Drosophila melanogaster (Diptera: Drosophilidae) strains expressing honey bee P450s, particularly CYP9Q2 and CYP9Q3. Flies were exposed to varying concentrations of eight different commercial nAChR competitive modulators, and mortality was assessed after 48 hours. Our results demonstrate a varying level of mortality depending on the transgene when compared to wildtype flies and underpins the importance of CYP9Q enzymes as molecular determinants of insecticide selectivity. We identified nicotine as the least effective compound when tested against wildtype flies. Nitenpyram was most effective against wildtype flies, while showing significantly lower toxicity to flies ectopically expressing honey bee CYP9Q3. In general, our findings underscore the utility of transgenic D. melanogaster as a model to study various aspects of insect toxicology and resistance. Future studies will expand on these results by exploring biochemical and molecular tools to further understand and evaluate the mechanisms of insecticide selectivity and the potential risks to bee pollinator health.

In Nigeria, there are a ton of untapped edible insect species that present countless business opportunities. Additionally, they are a necessary part of a human diet for sustainability given their substitutionary characteristics over other expensive protein source. It is therefore important to have a thorough understanding of the current degree of its commercialization in order to formulate appropriate policies that will maximize their potential. The objective of this study is therefore to determine the contribution of commercialization of under-utilized edible insects to the livelihood status of rural households. The study was carried out in Benue State due to its high involvement in edible insect commercialization in the North-central zone of Nigeria. A random selection of 5% out of the 368 rural communities was then sampled. A total of 10 respondents were then randomly selected from the sampled 19 communities making a total of 190 respondents that were involved in the commercialization of under-utilized edible insects in Benue State. Of this lot, only 156 were valid for the study. Descriptive statistics, Household commercialization index, livelihood security index and the Ordinary Least Square regression analytical tools were adopted for this study. The study revealed that commercialization is on the high side and cricket, termite, caterpillar, grasshopper and palm weevil were the edible insect species that are popularly commercialized in the study area. About 55.13% of the respondents fell in the low livelihood security class while 44.87% were in the high livelihood security class. Commercialization of under-utilized edible insects significantly enhanced the livelihood status of the rural households. Estimates showed that for every unit increase in commercialization, there is a 6.8% increase in livelihood status of the respondents. The study recommended that farmers be encouraged to commercialize more of these under-utilized edible insects.

Mangroves play a vital role in coastal protection, biodiversity, and supporting local livelihoods. Kerala, known for its rich mangrove habitats, is facing a significant threat, as this study reports the first recorded infestation of these critical ecosystems by the invasive moth Hyblaea puera in Dharmadam and other regions of Kannur District, Kerala, India. The aggressive feeding behaviour of the larvae has led to severe defoliation in Avicennia officinalis (Acanthaceae), the dominant mangrove species, across vast areas, leaving the landscape with a scorched, ashy appearance. This ecological crisis poses serious risks to local biodiversity, livelihoods, and the crucial role of mangroves in Kerala's coastal ecosystems. H. puera, commonly known as the teak defoliator, has caused similar outbreaks in Maharashtra's Airoli and Vashi Creek, predominantly affecting Avicennia marina. In Kannur, epidemic-level infestations were recorded in 2024, with sporadic occurrences during the monsoon months. The larvae of H. puera not only feed on mangroves but also pupate on other plant species, including Volkameria inermis (Lamiaceae), Derris trifoliate (Fabaceae), Rhizophora mucronata (Rhizophoraceae), Acanthus ilicifolius (Acanthaceae), Avicennia officinalis (Acanthaceae), and Bruguiera cylindrical (Rhizophoraceae), further expanding their impact on the local flora. This species was previously documented in Brazil, with the first report in Paraná in 2016. During the infestation in Kerala, various natural predators, including birds, snails, spiders, and many parasitoids, were observed interacting with the pest, indicating their potential as biological control agents. This study evaluates the impact of H. puera on Kerala’s mangroves and explores management strategies to protect these ecosystems. Potential control methods include leveraging natural predators as biological control agents, chemical treatments, or physical removal techniques. By assessing the scale of the infestation and developing effective control measures, this research aims to mitigate the detrimental effects of H. puera on Kerala's rich coastal mangrove environment.

The mid-20th century saw significant shifts in land use, transforming diverse agricultural landscapes into uniform expanses. This consolidation drastically reduced or eliminated crucial ecological niches like field borders, disrupting habitats for various species. The consequences were far-reaching, altering the composition of local natural communities of birds, insects, and mammals.

Beneficial insects, such as pollinators and natural enemies, have been severely affected and have suffered the greatest decline, reaching up to 50%. Reviews demonstrate that six key factors explain the reduction in insect abundance and diversity: habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation; invasive species; parasites and diseases; unsustainable use of pesticides; extinction cascades; and climate change.

Following the LIVINGRO^® protocol, which promotes regenerative agriculture practices with the aim of protecting biodiversity and improving soil health while ensuring crop yields, insect biodiversity studies were conducted in productive (non-experimental) stone fruit orchards in Spain over the years 2020–2024.

In each field, we investigated which groups of insects are attracted and what the impact of multifunctional areas is on insect biodiversity. Additionally, populations of pests and beneficial insects, especially predators and parasitoids, have been compared. Malaise traps and sweep nets were used as sampling methods.

The studies revealed higher concentrations of insects, especially beneficial species, in areas featuring diverse vegetation corridors. This early evidence suggests that modern agricultural practices can coexist with biodiversity conservation efforts, paving the way for food systems that are equitable, health-promoting, and environmentally sustainable.