Minerals in edible insects:a review of content and potential for sustainable sourcing

In response to the rapid increase in world population and subsequent demands for food,edible insects represent an alternative food source for humans that is rich in proteins,amino acids and minerals.Entomophagy is a tradition in many countries including China and Thailand,and edible insects have attracted a lot of attention in Western World due to their suitable nutrient composition,high mineral content(e.g.,Fe,Zn,Ca,Mg)and potential use as a supplement in human diet.In this study,we surveyed mineral content in seven insect orders and 67 species of mass produced and wild-harvested edible insects.The total content of essential elements in edible insects was very high in Tenebrio molitor,Bombyx mori,and Zonocerus variegatus.The heavy metal content(summarized for eight species)was below the maximum limit allowed for safe consumption.Sustainable supply of minerals derived from insect biomass is complicated due to the high variations of mineral content in insects and the potential of its change due to processing.

31 Plant Species against Blood Feeding and Disease Vectors Insects: Beyond Anti-Insect Properties, Unvalued Opportunities and Challenges for Health and Sustainability

Plants with bioactive properties are greatly useful in preventing and controlling blood-sucking and disease-vector invertebrates, particularly in developing countries and low-income communities. Their application is a promising alternative to synthetic compounds whose use remains a health, environmental, and economic challenge. However, many are still unknown and unvalued, while others are becoming ignored and threatened. The main objective of this ethnobotanical study is to identify and characterize indigenous and locally grown plants against blood-sucking and disease-vector insects. Salient opportunities and challenges of using these plants are documented and discussed. Semi-structured interviews, using a prepared questionnaire, were conducted with 228 informants. The consensus index (CI) was calculated to analyze the reliability of the collected information. The identified 31 anti-insect plant species belong to 20 botanical families, four morphological categories, and six habitat types. They can be categorized as insecticidal plants (42% of the total), insect repellent (42% of the total), and both insecticidal and insect repellent (16% of the total). More than 54% of these are still abundant in the study area, while about 35.5% have become rare and difficultly accessible. Based on the numerical importance of related anti-insect plant species, the seven targeted blood-sucking insects range in the following decreasing order: Jiggers (16 species) > Fire Ants (9 species) > Flies (8 plants) > Mosquitoes (4 species) > Fleas (2 species) > Bedbugs (1 species) > lice (0 species). The three most commonly used plants, with the highest confirmation indices, are Tetradenia riparia (ICs = 0.712), Eucalyptus globulus subsp. maidenii (ICs = 0.302), and Solanum aculeastrum (ICs = 0.288). The antimicrobial role of many locally grown anti-insect plants and the multiple other associated valorization possibilities are ignored by most informants. Domesticating, propagating, protecting, and promoting the sustainable use of these plants would be an appropriate route for their conservation and continued availability.

Asymptotic Analysis of a Stochastic Model of Mosquito-Borne Disease with the Use of Insecticides and Bet Nets

Ross’ epidemic model describing the transmission of malaria uses two classes of infection, one for humans and one for mosquitoes. This paper presents a stochastic extension of a deterministic vector-borne epidemic model based only on the class of human infectious. The consistency of the model is established by proving that the stochastic delay differential equation describing the model has a unique positive global solution. The extinction of the disease is studied through the analysis of the stability of the disease-free equilibrium state and the persistence of the model. Finally, we introduce some numerical simulations to illustrate the obtained results.

Serological investigation of vector-borne disease in dogs from rural areas of China

Objective:To evaluate the Anaplasma phagocytophilum(A.phagocytophilum),Ehrlichia canis(E.canis,Dirofilaria immitis(D.immitis)(canine heartworm),Borrelia burgdorferi(B.burgdorferi)infections in countryside dogs from Yunnan,Hainan and Anhui provinces.Methods:Serum samples were collected from 26 dogs in Yunnan.Hainan and Anhui provinces.The samples were tested using a commercial ELISA rapid diagnostic assay kit(SNAP^(?)4Dx^(?);IDEXX Laboratories,Inc.U.S.A.).Meaiiwliile,indirect immunofluorescence assay(IFA)recommended by WHO was conducted to delect IgG to A.phagocytophilum.Two methods were analyzed and compared.Results:The number of serologically positive dogs for IgG to A.phagocytophilum was only 2which was from Hainan province and none of the 26 dogs responded positive for E.canu.D.immitis(canine heartworm,and B.burgdorferi by ELISA rapid diagnostic method.The number of serologically positive dogs for IgG to A.phagocytophilum was 13(50%)by IFA method.Data of the two methods were analyzed by statistical software and the difference was statistically significant(P=0.002).Conclusions:It can be concluded that IFA method was more sensitive than ELISA rapid diagnostic method.However,we need conduct further and intensive epidemiology survey on tick-born diseases pathogens including.4.phagocytophilum,E.canis,D.immitis(canine heartworm),and B.burgdorferi which have public health significance.

Global Dynamic Analysis of a Vector-Borne Plant Disease Model with Discontinuous Treatment

This paper proposes a vector-borne plant disease model with discontinuous treatment strategies. Constructing Lyapunov function and applying non-smooth theory to analyze discontinuous differential equations, the basic reproductive number R0 is proved, which determines whether the plant disease will be extinct or not. If R0 R0 > 1 , there exists a unique endemic equilibrium which is globally stable. The numerical simulations are provided to verify our theoretical results, which indicate that after infective individuals reach some level, strengthening treatment measures is proved to be beneficial in controlling disease transmission.

Vector-borne diseases: Mosquito holobiont and novel methods for vector control

Female mosquitoes of several species require blood from warmblooded animals,including humans for the purpose of reproduction.In this process,several microbes residing in the salivary gland and midgut of mosquitoes also get transferred from one human individual to the other–a traditional model by which many vector-borne diseases(VBDs)get transmitted in the population through mosquitoes belonging to Anopheles,Aedes,Culex and other genera.

Regional selection of insecticides and fungal biopesticides to control aphids and thrips and improve the forage quality of alfalfa crops

The efficacies of biological and conventional chemical insecticides against two major insect pests of alfalfa(aphids and thrips)were compared in three sites across China’s alfalfa belt.In addition,the persistence of the residues of chemical insecticides in alfalfa and their influence on the quality of alfalfa hay were examined.Efficacy varied among the different biological and chemical insecticides.The chemical insecticides were significantly more effective than biopesticides in a short time-frame.The efficacy period of biopesticides was significantly longer than that of chemical insecticides,and the corrected mortality rate of aphids in all regions was above 50%at 14 days after application.The analysis of pesticide residues showed that the residual doses of all the pesticides were within the allowed ranges after the safe period.The acid detergent fiber and neutral detergent fiber contents in alfalfa hay were higher and the protein content was lower in chemical insecticide treatments than in biopesticide treatments in Hebei.The relative feeding value of alfalfa hay treated with Metarhizium anisopliae IPP330189 was the highest among the treatments.Compared with chemical insecticides,the yield of alfalfa hay was higher in the biopesticides treatments.Biopesticides show a stronger control effect on insect populations and also a better improvement in the quality of alfalfa hay than chemical insecticides.This study provides a basis for exploring and developing a comprehensive control regime for alfalfa insect pests in the different alfalfa-growing regions in China,and for reducing chemical insecticide usage and improving forage quality.

MRUNet:A two-stage segmentation model for small insect targets in complex environments

Online automated identification of farmland pests is an important auxiliary means of pest control.In practical applications,the online insect identification system is often unable to locate and identify the target pest accurately due to factors such as small target size,high similarity between species and complex backgrounds.To facilitate the identification of insect larvae,a two-stage segmentation method,MRUNet was proposed in this study.Structurally,MRUNet borrows the practice of object detection before semantic segmentation from Mask R-CNN and then uses an improved lightweight UNet to perform the semantic segmentation.To reliably evaluate the segmentation results of the models,statistical methods were introduced to measure the stability of the performance of the models among samples in addition to the evaluation indicators commonly used for semantic segmentation.The experimental results showed that this two-stage image segmentation strategy is effective in dealing with small targets in complex backgrounds.Compared with existing state-of-the-art semantic segmentation methods,MRUNet shows better stability and detail processing ability under the same conditions.This study provides a reliable reference for the automated identification of insect larvae.

Effective Control Strategies on the Transmission Dynamics of a Vector-Borne Disease

In this paper, we have rigorously analyzed a model to find the effective control strategies on the transmission dynamics of a vector-borne disease. It is proved that the global dynamics of the disease are completely determined by the basic reproduction number. The numerical simulations (using MatLab and Maple) of the model reveal that the precautionary measures at the aquatic and adult stage decrease the number of new cases of dengue virus. Numerical simulation indicates that if we take the precautionary measures seriously then it would be more effective than even giving the treatment to the infected individuals.

An Agent-Based Model for Studying the Impact of Herd Mobility on the Spread of Vector-Borne Diseases: The Case of Rift Valley Fever (Ferlo Senegal)

Vector-borne diseases are highly sensitive to environment and to environmental changes. Rift Valley Fever (RFV) is a mosquito-borne zootic virus associated with severe diseases in human beings and economic consequences to livestock sector. Animal and human movements have a fundamental impact on RVF transmission. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the use of mathematics and agent based models to represent and analyze the dynamic of RFV transmission. However, no previous study has taken into consideration animal herds’ mobility and precipitation factors to understand the disease spread. This limitation underlines the necessity to use computational model approach based on multi-agent system in the study of vector-borne diseases transmission and diffusion. In this paper, a multi-agent system combining conceptual model expressiveness is used to study animal herds’ mobility and the precipitation parameter impact on the Rift Valley Fever outbreak in Ferlo Barkedji in Northern Senegal. Simulation scenarios with various parameters, including rain quality, hosts, vectors, camp dispersal around ponds, etc., are unrolled. The different results we have obtained show that the evolution of the number of infected hosts and infected vectors depend on the degree of animal herds’ mobility and on precipitations. Our model provides a framework that permits predicting the spread of the disease associated with the mobility of animal herds.

CRISPR-based genetic control strategies for insect pests

Genetic control strategies such as the sterile insect technique have successfully fought insect pests worldwide. The CRISPR(clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) technology, together with high-quality genomic resources obtained in more and more species, greatly facilitates the development of novel genetic control insect strains that can be used in area-wide and species-specific pest control programs. Here, we review the research progress towards state-of-art CRISPR-based genetic control strategies, including gene drive, sex ratio distortion, CRISPRengineered genetic sexing strains, and precision-guided sterile insect technique. These strategies’ working mechanisms,potential resistance development mechanisms, and regulations are illustrated and discussed. In addition, recent developments such as stacked and conditional systems are introduced. We envision that the advances in genetic technology will continue to be one of the driving forces for developing the next generation of pest control strategies.

Defensive Role of Plant Latex on Insect Pests’ Suppression: A Critical Review

Over 350 million years have passed since the documentation of the first interaction between plants and insects. Numerous plant defense qualities and associated counter-adaptive features have developed as a result of these interactions between insects and plants. These characteristics might be either morphological or biological in nature. One of the most significant and useful biochemical characteristics in plants is latex. Latex has a sticky property due to presence of secondary metabolites in it, which aids in entangling or sealing the mouthparts of small insects. These metabolites also chemically interact with the insects interfering with crucial bodily processes. Plant latex has amazing properties that help protect plants from insects and inhibit them in general. It may be possible to control insect pests in a natural, secure, and long-lasting manner by correctly identifying plant latex with strong insecticidal properties and developing formulations of plant latex.

Efficacy of Beneficial Fungi Isolates in Solanum lycopersicum L. Protection against Lepidopteran Insects through a Leaf Inoculation Technique

Helicoverpa armigera is a key insect pest of tomatoes reducing drastically yields. The effect of the endophytic colonization of tomato plants by Beauveria bassiana using leaf spray as an inoculation method on damage and survival of H. armigera was assessed in a screen house. Two B. bassiana isolates (Bb 115 and Bb 11) and two tomato varieties (a local variety Tounvi and an improved variety Padma) were included in the study. The adaxial and abaxial leaf surfaces were sprayed at a concentration of 107 conidia/ml and 109 conidia/ml for each isolate and each of the two tomato varieties. Thirty days after inoculation, five discs of tomato leaf and tomato root were cut for each isolate, each concentration per isolate and for each variety. The samples were incubated at room temperature (28°C ± 2°C) and periodically checked for fungal growth. Larval survival was checked and a damage assessment was done on tomato flowers and the leaves. The results show that the lowest Mean Survival Times (MSTs) were recorded on larvae feeding on plants inoculated with Bb 11 (4.2 ± 0.8 days against 11.5 ± 0.2 days for control). Compared to the other treatments, low damage rates of the flowers of the improved variety inoculated with Bb 11 at 109 conidia/ml were recorded from the 6th Day After Inoculation (DAI). This rate remains low until the end of treatment. Overall flower damage was lower than leaf damage. The results showed large differences in pathogenicity, with most endophytic isolate belonging to Bb 11 when inoculated at 109 conidia/ml using the leaf spraying technique. Data were discussed with regard to the use of endophytism B. bassiana in an integrated tomato pest control approach.

Diversity of Insect Flower Visitors on Macadamia within a Monoculture Orchard in Murang’a County, Central Kenya

Macadamia is cultivated for its nutritious edible kernel. In Kenya, the crop is predominantly grown by smallholder farmers mainly for export markets. Macadamia trees also enhance agro-forestry conservation, in the East African farmlands, by providing habitat and floral resources to beneficial arthropods such as insect pollinators. Allogamy of macadamia flowers is largely dependent on insects that pollinate and consequently influence the nut set, retention and yield. However, there is limited information on macadamia insect flower visitors in Kenya. This article assessed the diversity of insects that forage flowers of macadamia crop, and further evaluated their temporal distribution, in Murang’a county, central Kenya. Insect flower visitors were sampled weekly using a butterfly net for twelve consecutive months, from January 2021 to December 2021. Sixty-one insect species were recorded foraging macadamia flowers in Murang’a county, central Kenya. There was a statistical difference in the Simpson diversity index among weather seasons, dry, long rain, cold and short rain (p Apis mellifera), a key pollinator species, being the most abundant flower visitor. This study provides strong baseline information, to scientists and farmers, on probable macadamia pollinator species, in central Kenya. .

Growth performance and scale insect infestation of Shorea leprosula in a common garden experimental plot

Many tree planting programmes have long been initiated to increase forest cover to mitigate the effects of global climate change.Successful planting requires careful planning at the project level,including using suitable species with favourable traits.However,there is a paucity of improvement data for tropical tree species.An experimental common garden of Shorea leprosula was established to study traits related to growth performance which are key factors in planting success.Seedlings of S.leprosula were collected from nine geographical forest reserves.To study the effects of genetic variation,seedlings were planted in a common environment following a randomized complete block design.From performance data collected 2017‒2019,one population showed the highest coefficient for relative height growth,significantly higher than most of the other populations.Interestingly,this population from Beserah also exhibited the lowest coefficient for scale insect infestation.This study provides preliminary results on growth performance and susceptibility to scale insect infestation in S.leprosula and the first common garden experiment site conducted on dipterocarp species.It lays a foundation for future genome-wide studies.

Modified Metaheuristics with Transfer Learning Based Insect Pest Classification for Agricultural Crops

Crop insect detection becomes a tedious process for agronomists because a substantial part of the crops is damaged,and due to the pest attacks,the quality is degraded.They are the major reason behind crop quality degradation and diminished crop productivity.Hence,accurate pest detection is essential to guarantee safety and crop quality.Conventional identification of insects necessitates highly trained taxonomists to detect insects precisely based on morphological features.Lately,some progress has been made in agriculture by employing machine learning(ML)to classify and detect pests.This study introduces a Modified Metaheuristics with Transfer Learning based Insect Pest Classification for Agricultural Crops(MMTL-IPCAC)technique.The presented MMTL-IPCAC technique applies contrast limited adaptive histogram equalization(CLAHE)approach for image enhancement.The neural architectural search network(NASNet)model is applied for feature extraction,and a modified grey wolf optimization(MGWO)algorithm is employed for the hyperparameter tuning process,showing the novelty of the work.At last,the extreme gradient boosting(XGBoost)model is utilized to carry out the insect classification procedure.The simulation analysis stated the enhanced performance of the MMTL-IPCAC technique in the insect classification process with maximum accuracy of 98.73%.

Current status and prospects of insect industrialization in China

Insects are a valuable biological resource on Earth,known for their high biodiversity,ease of cultivation,and large populations.In China,the utilization of insects has a long history and has produced significant economic and social benefits.Insect products such as silkworms,silk,and bees are already familiar to the public and have continuously promoted the global economy.Recently,in some ethnic minority areas of China,insect industries have become the main source of fiscal revenue and an essential industrial support for rural revitalization.This has laid a strong foundation for research and development in the insect industry throughout China.It is urgent to utilize national resources to focus on strategic issues related to the high effective development of the insect industry.By gathering related resources for insect research,breakthroughs are expected in the discovery and development of innovative materials,drugs,and proteins based on insect resources.Such advancements will create significant value for human society.

Historical and current climates affect the spatial distribution of herbivorous tree insects in China

Historical and current climate impacts reshape the evolutionary trajectory and ecological dynamics of entire vegetative communities,which can drive insect species distribution.Understanding the spatial distribution of insects can enhance forest management effectiveness.The effects of historical and current climates in the spatial distribution of herbivorous tree insects in China were explored.A species distribution model simulated insect spatial distribution based on 596 species and the distribution probability and richness of these species were assessed in forest ecoregions.The explanatory power of the historical climate was stronger than that of the current climate,particularly historical annual precipitation and annual mean temperatures,for the distribution of herbivorous insects.Under both historical and current climatic conditions,herbivorous tree insects were and are mainly distributed in the North China Plain and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River Plain,namely in the Huang He Plain mixed forests,Changjiang Plain evergreen forests,and Sichuan Basin evergreen broadleaf forests.The Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and northeast China are regions with large impact differences between historical and current climates.The findings of this study provide valuable insights into herbivorous insect responses to sustained climate change and may contribute to long-term biodiversity conservation activities.

Risk of control failure to insecticides malathion,profenophos+cypermethrin mixture,and fipronil in boll weevil(Coleoptera:Curculionidae)populations from Bahia,Brazil

Background To control the boll weevil Anthonomus grandis grandis(Coleoptera:Curculionidae),a key pest of cotton in the Americas,insecticides have been intensively used to manage their populations,increasing selection pressure for resistant populations.Thus,this study aimed to detect insecticide resistance and assess insecticide control failure likelihood of boll weevil populations exposed to malathion,profenophos+cypermethrin,and fipronil insecticides.Results Twelve populations of the boll weevil were collected from commercial cotton fileds of the state of Bahia,northeastern Brazil.These populations were exposed to malathion,profenophos+cypermethrin mixture,and fipronil,at their respective maximum label dose for field applications.Three replicates of 10 adult beetles were exposed to the insecticides and mortality was recorded after 24 h treatment.The control failure likelihood was determined after 48 h.Highest median lethal times(LT_(50))were observed for malathion and the profenophos+cypermethrin mixture.Resistance to at least one insecticide was detected in 11 populations;three populations were resistant to malathion and profenophos+cypermethrin;seven were resistant to all insecticides tested.The resistance levels were low(<10-fold)for the three insecticides.Among 12 populations tested,58%of them exhibited significant risk of control failure for the insecticides malathion and profenophos+cypermethrin.The insecticide fipronil was efficient for the control of the boll weevil in 83%of the populations.Conclusions The results confirm the significant risk of insecticide control failure in the boll weevil populations to the main compounds used in the region.Thus,proper insecticide resistance management plans are necessary for the boll weevil in the region,particularly for malathion and profenophos+cypermethrin insecticides.

Identification and Evaluation of Insect and Disease Resistance in Transgenic Cry1Ab13-1 and NPR1 Maize

PCR detection,quantitative real-time PCR(q-RTPCR),outdoor insect resistance,and disease resistance identification were carried out for the detection of genetic stability and disease resistance through generations(T2,T3,and T4)in transgenic maize germplasms(S3002 and 349)containing the bivalent genes(insect resistance gene Cry1Ab13-1 and disease resistance gene NPR1)and their corresponding wild type.Results indicated that the target genes Cry1Ab13-1 and NPR1 were successfully transferred into both germplasms through tested generations;q-PCR confirmed the expression of Cry1Ab13-1 and NPR1 genes in roots,stems,and leaves of tested maize plants.In addition,S3002 and 349 bivalent gene-transformed lines exhibited resistance to large leaf spots and corn borer in the field evaluation compared to the wild type.Our study confirmed that Cry1Ab13-1 and NPR1 bivalent genes enhanced the resistance against maize borer and large leaf spot disease and can stably inherit.These findings could be exploited for improving other cultivated maize varieties.