Abstract: Common bean is an essential crop for food security, nutrition, and country economy mainly for Sub-Saharan African’s smallholder farmers. However, the production and productivity of common bean is mainly constrained by post-harvest loss induced by Mexican bean beetle. Thus, the objectives of this study were to evaluate the effectiveness of Plant seed powders (neem, Hochst and wild marigold), leaf powders (sweet fennel and broad-leaved croton), plant essential oils (neem and Hochst...
Abstract: The fall armyworm (FAW) (Spodoptera frugiperda) is a devastating pest of maize which has recently invaded the African continent. Since its first reports in Africa in 2016, it has spread rapidly in Zambia and it is causing extensive damage to maize and other cereal crops. The efficacy of the integration of botanical pesticides with entomopathogenic fungi and synthetic pesticide, on FAW were tested under field conditions. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block des...
Abstract: Lepidopteran stemborers are key destructive insect pests of cereal crops in sub-Saharan Africa with the indigenous noctuids Busseola fusca (Fuller) and Sesamia calamistis Hampson and the exotic crambid Chilo partellus Swinhoe accounting for ~5-75% of potential cereal crop yield losses. The main larval endoparasitoids comprising, indigenous Cotesia sesamiae and exotic Cotesia flavipes Cameron contribute to a significant extent in managing these economic herbivorous insect pests. How...
Abstract: Plastic adjustments of physiological tolerance to a particular stressor can result in fitness benefits for resistance that might manifest not only in that same environment, but might also be advantageous when faced with alternative environmental stressors, a phenomenon termed cross-tolerance. The nature and magnitude of cross-tolerance responses can provide important insights into the underlying genetic architecture, potential constraints on, or versatility of, an organism’s stre...
Abstract: Global insect pest invasions have dramatically increased over the past decades, posing significant biosecurity threats to natural and managed ecosystems. As such, the mechanisms of spread and rapid establishment of invasive species have been a key issue for agricultural stakeholders. Similarly, while availability of suitable plant hosts is key to establishment, the eco-physiological mechanisms facilitating invasion amongst most invasive species are unclear. The South American ...
Abstract: Pheromone trap catches were used to study the spatial distribution of Diamondback moth (DBM), Plutella xylostella L., at both single field and regional levels. At the field level, the DBM population tended to remain within the cabbage field. At the regional level, DBM captures were highly influenced by geographic location and cropping systems. In highland areas, daily maximum temperatures positively influenced the aggregation index, whereas in the lowland areas, rainfall had a nega...
Abstract: The reproductive compatibility between four different species/populations of the tephritid parasitoid Psyttalia (Walker) species from Kenya and individuals of the morphologically identical Psyttalia concolor (Sze´pligeti) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) from a laboratory culture in Italy used in augmentative biological control of olive fly, Bactrocera oleae (Gmelin) (Diptera: Tephritidae) was assessed through cross mating tests using single-pair and group mating methods. Reciprocal cros...
Abstract: Plant and surrogate stems exhibiting specific combinations of physical cues were used to determine which plant-related stimuli influence the oviposition of Busseola fusca (Fuller) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). The number of eggs and egg batches laid per female increased with an increase in diameter of both natural and artificial stems. Direct observations of the oviposition behaviour (walking, antennating, and sweeping with the ovipositor) indicated that the female moths preferred ovip...
Abstract: Morphometric studies of five allopatric parasitoid populations (genus Psyttalia Walker) from coffee plantations in Cameroon (Nkolbisson), Ghana (Tafo) and Kenya (Rurima, Ruiru and Shimba Hills) and one non-coffee population (from Muhaka, Kenya) were compared with individuals of Psyttalia concolor (Sze´pligeti), a species released in several biological control programmes in the Mediterranean Region since the 20th Century. Analyses of wing vein measurements showed the second submarg...
Abstract: Plants subjected to insect attack usually increase volatile emission which attracts natural enemies and repels further herbivore colonization. Less is known about the capacity of herbivores to suppress volatiles and the multitrophic consequences thereof. In our study, the African forage grass, Brachiaria brizantha, was exposed to ovipositing spotted stemborer, Chilo partellus, moths. A marked reduction in emission of the main volatile, (Z)-3-hexenyl acetate (Z3HA),occurred followin...
Abstract: The African stem borer, Busseola fusca (Fuller) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), is an important pest of maize and sorghum in sub-Saharan Africa. As in many other lepidopteran insects, the ability of B. fusca to recognize and colonize a variety of plants is based on the interaction between its sensory systems and the physical and chemical characteristics of its immediate environment. In this study, we tried to identify the behavioural steps of B. fusca leading to host selection and ovipos...
Abstract: Field trials were set up in the humid forest zone of Cameroon to investigate the effects of combinations of different rates of nitrogen (N) (0, 60, and 120 kg N ha 1) and potassium (K) (0, 80, and 160 kg K ha 1) applied to the soil on the incidence and damage of the noctuid stemborer Busseola fusca (Fuller), and on maize, Zea mays L., yield. Each N/K combination had an insecticide control to assess yield losses due to borers. In contrast to N, K had no effect on plant growth and bo...
Abstract: We discovered serendipitously a new and highly effective intervention against Striga spp., including Striga hermonthica (African witchweed), in cereals, which involves intercropping with cattle fodder legumes, Desmodium spp., including D. uncinatum. Although soil shading and additional nitrogen made some contribution to the reduction of S. hermonthica infestation, an allelopathic mechanism associated with the intercrop was a major factor. Root exudates of D. uncinatum contain novel...
Abstract: The braconid larval parasitoids Cotesia chilonis (Matsumura), C. flavipes Cameron and a strain of Cotesia sesamiae (Cameron) from coastal Kenya, reared at the International Centre of Insect Ecology and Physiology, were introduced at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in the Republic of Benin for suitability testing on West African stemborers prior to release. C. chilonis was originally collected in Japan while C. flavipes was imported into Kenya from Pakistan. The ...
Abstract: The sweet potato whitefly Bemisia tabaci (WF) can be controlled by two commercial neem products, NeemAzal-T/S (1% azadirachtin) for foliar application, and NeemAzal-U (17% azadirachtin) for soil application, alongwith two biorational products of microbial origin, Abamectin (avermectin) and Success (spinosad). Side effects of these products were tested in a laboratory bioassay against a native aphelinid, Eretmocerus warrae (EW). Eggs and early larval instars of the parasitoid, commo...