Extreme weather events are increasing in frequency and intensity, posing a threat to forest ecosystems eliciting forest-pest outbreaks. In the southern Italian Alps, dramatic windthrow called Vaia occurred October 2018, shifting populations of European spruce bark beetle (Ips typographus) from an endemic epidemic phase. Remote-sensing methods often employed detect areas affected by disturbances...

The distributions of the tick vector, Ixodes scapularis, and of the etiologic agent of Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb), have continued expanding in Illinois over the past 20 years, but the extent of their spread is not well known. The role of multiple habitats in the establishment and maintenance of I. scapularis and Bb at local scales is not well understood, and the use of integrated a...

A seven-state survey showed that the recently detected invasive Asian banded elm bark beetle, Scolytus schevyrewi Semenov, was abundant in areas of Colorado and Wyoming, whereas the long-established European elm bark beetle, S. multistriatus (Marsham), was not as abundant. In one of a series of studies to evaluate whether S. schevyrewi is competitively displacing S. multistriatus in their North...

BACKGROUND The whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), is one of the most widely distributed agricultural pests. In recent years, B. tabaci Q has invaded China, and Q has displaced B in many areas now. In a number of regions of the world, invasion by B and/or Q has been followed by outbreaks of tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV). Our previous study showed TYLCV directly and indire...

Current bed bug, Cimex lectularius L., control usually involves insecticide applications that pose a high risk of insecticide exposure to residents and applicators. To minimize these risks and the amount of insecticides used, we designed and evaluated a dust band treatment technique. The laboratory assay showed that 1% cyfluthrin dust treated bands are highly effective in killing bed bugs. We f...

soil and water salinity are amongst the severe and progressive problems worldwide which affects most cropland areas of iran. using endophytic microorganisms (which are amongst the most important soil microorganisms) to alleviate the detrimental effect of environmental stresses such as salinity is recently globally considered. in order to test the effects of azospirillum strains and fungus pirif...

background: pediculosis (head lice) is considered as one of the most common health problems of the students in primary schools. the purpose of this study was to survey the prevalence rate of the infesta­tion in the schools of gonabad city (south of khorasan-e-razavi province) to prevent its out­break by on-time planning. methods: in this retrospective-descriptive study, data were collected from...

The effects of commercial vermicomposts, produced from food waste, on infestations and damage by aphids, mealy bugs and cabbage white caterpillars were studied in the greenhouse. Vermicomposts were used at substitution rates into a soil-less plant growth medium, MetroMix 360 (MM360), at rates of 100% MM360 and 0% vermicompost, 80% MM360 and 20% vermicompost, and 60% MM360 and 40% vermicompost t...

A crude antigenic preparation of Babesia bigemina was used to develop an ELISA for the detection of IgM antibodies. Optimal dilutions of the antigen, using positive and negative reference sera, were determined by checkerboard titrations. Negative sera from cattle imported from tick-free areas, serum samples collected from infected B. bigemina cattle were used to validate the test. The specifici...