ENTOMOLOGY: Science about Insects. Volume II, Would You Kill a Firefly?

ENTOMOLOGY: Science about Insects, Volume II 

Would You Kill a Firefly?

Living with Nature Center

  Dr Abe V Rotor

Entomologist and Professor UST, DLSU-D, SPUQC, UPHSD

                                           [avrotor.blogspot.com]

Boreal firefly (Photuris lucicrescens).

Part 9  - Would you kill a firefly?

Part 10 - The Mysterious World of the Pagoda Bagworm  

Part 11 - 14 Practical Ways to Control Pests

Part 12 -  Get rid of Mosquitoes  with Poeciliids 

Part 13 - The Mosquito –  World’s Deadliest Creature

Part 14 - Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

               Practical Pest Control at Home and on the Field 

Part 15 - Rice Hull (ipa) ash protects mungbeans from bean weevil

Part 16 - Control coconut beetle by broadcasting sand into the leaf axils. 

Part 17 -  Cranefly or Daddy-long-legs

Part 18 - I love insects for twelve reasons

Part 19 - Let's control the fruit fly (Dacus): cosmopolitan pest of fruits

               and vegetables  

Part 20 - Putakti! (Paper Wasp) 

Part 21 - The cockroach has the most powerful stomach; 

                it eats on anything - almost.

Part  9 - Would you kill a firefly?

Yes, man is insect buster, self righteous, self-proclaimed - 

but would he dare to kill a firefly just the same?

Dr Abe V Rotor

Boreal firefly (Photuris lucicrescens). Right, lower photo: A firefly on a leaf. 

Fireflies might be both pollinators and predators*

 Firefly Tour Animation**

Field study of insects in Amadeo Cavite led by the author (3rd from 

right) as professor, Graduate School University of Santo Tomas .

Man is the insect buster; self proclaimed, strong and bold;

He conquers his greatest enemy, wasting no time.

He has read enough books, and turned away from the old.

He’s Pied Piper now in new adventure in his prime.

To the rescue, he rid the world of aliens and all their kin;

"I am Gulliver," he said to the imagined Lilliputians,

With gloves and boots, armed with tools of the modern kind,

He saw himself riding to the West against the Indians.

Make way for this nemesis, the bugs run for your lives;

They dropped dead, crushed, unbearable was the pain.

Their shelter stormed, their nests torn, so with their hives.

It’s reminiscent of Pompeii where the ruins reign.

The air is stilled, there’s no more music in the night;

The pond is clear, but where have the fishes gone?

Plants still bloom, but their flowers are no longer bright.

Where are the bees and butterflies that meet the sun?

Frogs no longer croak, silent are the fields and the trees;

Where’s the cicada shrilling with joy, the cricket at night?

The melodious songs and calls of birds that never cease.

The mayfly’s visit, or the moth’s over a candlelight?

Suddenly the world became still. Didn't Rachel Carson

Tell in Silent Spring the birds didn't arrive one spring?

Or in biblical times, didn't a cloud of death over a zone

Kill creatures one by one, the survivors migrating?

Where have all the sweetest sugar and flowing silk gone?

Their makers, the busy bee and the naïve worms?

They too, have been stilled forever by the same poison

That killed the evil ones and their ugly forms.

Didn't Alexander the Great die on the Euphrates

Of malaria? Or the Pharaoh Menes of bee venom?

Thousands died building the Panama Canal and Suez,

And more death blamed to insects still unknown.

Who would like the fly around? But without it the dead

Would litter the ground, more so without the Scarabid.

Who would eat remnants of an enemy, diseases they spread?

For certain man doesn't like to die first? God forbid.

His joy to conquer lies in his genes, even against his kind,

Much less the lowly crawlers, for revenge or just game;

Yes, man is insect buster, self righteous, self-proclaimed -

But would he dare to kill a firefly just the same? ~

Acknowledgement: *beneficialbugs.org**Firefly Tour Animation 

Guiddoo World Travels Pvt Ltd. www.guiddoo.com1276

*Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally by EARTHDAY.ORG including 1 billion people in more than 193 countries. The official theme for 2023 is Invest In Our Planet. Wikipedia

Part 10 - 

          The Mysterious World of the Pagoda Bagworm                                       (Cryptothelea heckmeyeri )

Dr Abe V Rotor

 

Pagoda bagworm, Crypothelea hekmeyeri Heyl., in pseudo colony on 

duhat leaf; right, enlarged side view of the pagoda-shaped insect. 

Sheepishly she peeps from under a pagoda she built;

Like the turtle she hides, creeps ‘til finally ceases to eat.

A Venus de Milo she emerges, sans wings she must wait,

Love scent in the air she urges a winged groom her mate.

She lays her eggs in the tent, broods them ‘til they hatch,

With heart’s content; leaves and dies after the dispatch.

To the Great Maker, life’s full of sacrifice and obligation;

Mother keeps young and home, the species’ bastion.

- AV Rotor, Bagworm

Light in the Woods, 1995

My pastime reading under a spreading duhat tree standing at the backyard of our old house was disturbed one summer. This favorite shady spot almost disappeared as the tree my father planted before I was born completely shed its leaves. Our yard turned into a litter of leaves. Our tree appeared lifeless.

Summer is when this tree is a deep green canopy, loaded with flowers and luscious, sweet fruits, and laughing children, their tongues and hands bearing the stain of its black berries.

The culprit cannot be the drought spurred by El Nino, I thought. Duhat is highly tolerant to prolonged dry spell, because its tap roots can reach deep seated ground water.

Even before I discovered the culprit - a shy insect protected by a pagoda-like bag - my children had already set up a field laboratory in their a tent, complete with basic research tools, and books of Karganilla, Doyle and Attenborough. For days our backyard became a workshop with the touch of Scotland Yard, Mt Makiling and Jules Verne.

My children called the insect living pagoda because of the semblance of its house with the Chinese temple, and because of its turtle-like habit of retreating into its bag. Leo, our youngest fondly called it Ipi, contracted from “insect na parang pagong at pagodang intsik”.

Ipi belongs to the least known family of insects, Psychidae, which in French means mysterious. Yet its relatives, the moth and the butterfly, are perhaps the most popular and expressive members of the insect world.

Curious about the unique bag and how it was built by such a lowly insect, Matt and Chris Ann worked as research partners. They entered their data in a field notebook as follows:

1. Base diameter - 2 cm

2. Height of bag - 2 cm

3. No. of shingles on the bag - 20

4. Size ratio of shingles from base to tip – 10:1

5. Basic design – Overlap-spiral

We examined the specimen in detail with a hand lens and found that the bag has several outstanding features. My children continued their data entry, as follows:

1. Water-resistant (shingle roof principle)

2. Stress-resistant (pyramid principle)

3. Good ventilation (radiator principle)

4. Light yet strong (fibrous structure)

5. Camouflage efficient (mimicry and color blending)

6. Structural foundation - None

The pagoda bag has no structural foundation, I explained. It is carried from place to place by a sturdy insect which is a caterpillar, larva of a moth. Beneath its pagoda tent, it gnaws the leaf on the fleshy portion, prying off the epidermal layer to become circular shingles. Using its saliva, it cements the new shingles to enlarge its bag, then moves to a fresh leaf and repeats the whole operation. As the larva grows, the shingle it cuts gets bigger,

 

Talisay (Terminalia catappa) favorite host of bagworms.

This is a very rare case where construction starts at the tip and culminates at the base, noted my wife. Remember that the structure is supposed to be upside down because Ipi feeds from the underside of the leaf, I said. “An upside pagoda,” our children chorused.

As Ipi grows, the shingles progressively increase in size and number, thus the bag assumes the shape of a storied pagoda. Thus there are small pagodas and larger ones, and varied intermediate sizes, depending on the age of the caterpillar which continuously feeds for almost the whole summer during which it molts five times.

If there are no longer new shingles added to the bag it is presumed that the insect had stopped growing. It then prepares to pupate and permanently attaches its bag on a branch or twig, and there inside it goes into slumber. The attached bag appears like thorn as if it were a part of the tree, and indeed a clever camouflage on the part of the insect. Here suddenly is a parasite becoming a symbiont, arming the host tree with false thorns!

My children's curiosity seemed endless. I explained that like all living things, bagworms have self-preserving mechanisms. They must move away from the food leaf before it falls off. They must secure themselves properly as they tide up with their pupal stage. After a week later they metamorphose into adults. Here on the twigs and branches they escape potential predators. Here too, the next generation of newly hatched larvae will wait for new shoots on which they feed.

Matt picked one bag after another to find out what stage the insect is undergoing. I recalled my research on Cryptothelea fuscescens Heyl, a relative of C. heckmeyeri, the pagoda species. Chris Ann took down notes

1. Specimen 1 - Bag is less than 1 cm in diameter, caterpillar in third instar (molting), voracious feeder.

2. Specimen 2 - Bag large, construction complete, insect in fifth or sixth instar, morphological parts highly distinct, head and thorax thick, three pairs of powerful legs.

3. Specimen 3 - Insect in pupal stage, expected to emerge in one week, chrysalis (skin) full, dark and shiny. Feeding had completely stopped.

4. Specimen 4 - Bag empty, opening clear, chrysalis empty.

5. Specimen 5 - Bag contains eggs laid on cottony mass, chrysalis empty.

The last specimen is intriguing. Where is the insect? Why did it abandon its lifelong home? A puzzle was painted on the face of our young Leo. So I explained.

Let us trace the life history of Ipi and its kind. Both male and female bagworms mature into moths. The winged male upon emerging from his bag is soon attracted by love scent emitted by a waiting female moth still ensconced in her bag. The scent is an attractant scientists call pheromone.

Then in the stillness of summer night, her Romeo comes knocking. Without leaving her bag she receives him at an opening at the tip of the pagoda bag. A long honeymoon follows, but signaling an ephemeral life of the couple.

The fertilized female lay her eggs inside the bag, seals it with her silty saliva, then wiggles free to the outside world but only to fall to the ground - and die, because Nature did not provide her wings!

“Poor little thing,” muttered Cecille apparently in defense of the female species. “Nature did it for a reason,” I countered, “otherwise we would not have bagworms today.” The wingless condition of the female bagworm is the key to the survival of the species.

The sun had set, the litter of leaves had been cleaned up. And the silhouette of our leafless duhat tree against the reddening sky painted gloom on our subject. As dusk set in, I noticed nocturnal insects circling the veranda lamp. A moth paused, then passed over our heads and disappeared into a tree. “Bye, bye,", cried Leo Carlo.

Summer was short, the rains came early and our duhat tree developed robust foliage. Cicadas chirped at the upper branches and an early May beetle hang peacefully gnawing on young a leaf. I was reading Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring when a gust of wind brought down a dozen tiny bagworms hanging on their own invisible spinnerets. My children were aroused from their reading of The Living Planet.

We had unveiled the mystery of the pagoda bagworm, but above anything else, we found love and appreciation on the wonders of Nature and the unity of life itself. ~~

 

Another species of bagworm (Crypthothela fuscescens Heylerts),  Family Psychidae. Photos taken at Angels' Hills, Tagaytay. The larva builds a bag of dried twig of the same diameter and length and attaches on the host plant until it reaches maturity.  The spent bag simply remains hanging. Other photo shows an exposed larva purposely for study.~

Part 11 -  14 Practical Ways to Control Pests

Dr Abe V Rotor

 1. Scarecrow – friend and foe.

Love that scarecrow (banbanti Ilk.).  It is folk art on the farm. In the middle of the field it feigns scary to birds, what with those outstretched arms and that mysterious face hidden beneath a wide brim hat. There it stands tall amid maturing grains, keeping finches or maya birds (Lonchura Malacca jagori and L. m. formosana) at bay.   Finches are widely distributed in Asia and the Pacific feeding on rice grains, and alternately on weed seeds, but now and then they also steal from the haystack (mandala) and poultry houses. They are recognized for their chestnut colored compact bodies, and sturdy triangular beak designed for grain picking and husking. The scarecrow also guards against the house sparrow, mayan costa (billit China Ilk.), including the loveable turtle dove or bato-bato (Streptopelia bitorquata dursummieri), all grain feeders. 

A scarecrow is usually made of rice hay shaped like a human body wrapped around a T-frame. It is simply dressed up with old shirt and hat.  The idea is to make it look like the farmer that the birds fear.  There is one problem though.  Birds, like the experimental dog of Pavlov (principle of conditional learning), soon  discover the hoax and before the farmer knows it a whole flock of maya is feasting on his ready-to-harvest ricefield.  It is not uncommon to see maya birds bantering around – and even roasting on the scarecrow itself! 

Today the scarecrow is an endangered art.  In its place farmers hang plastic bags, or tie old cassette and video tape along dikes and across the fields.  These create rustling or hissing sound as the wind blows, scaring the birds.  Others use firecrackers and pellet guns. At one time I saw a lone scarecrow in the middle of a field. On examining it closely, I found out that it was made of a mannequin dressed the way the fashion world does. It reminded me of the boy who discovered the statue of Venus de Milo in a remote pasture in Greece. On another occasion I saw balloons and styropore balls hanging in poultry and piggery houses, bearing the faces of Jollibee, Power Puff Girls, Batman, Popeye, Mr. Bean and a host of movie and cartoon characters. Interestingly I noticed that the birds were nowhere to be found.

When I told my friend, an entomologist, that these new versions of the scarecrow seem to be effective, he wryly replied, “Maybe there are no more birds left.”  Suddenly I remembered Silent Spring, a prize winning book by Rachel Carson. The birds that herald spring had died of pesticide poisoning.

  

2. Old folks use garlic as insecticide. 

Garlic is useful as an insecticide by planting beside crops you intend to protect, and by making a spray solution from its cloves. The simple method is to soak crushed garlic cloves in water and then spray or sprinkle the solution on plants attacked by aphids, mites, caterpillars, and other pests.  

This is another method. Soak approximately 100 grams of chopped garlic cloves in about 50 ml of mineral oil (turpentine or kerosene) or cooking oil for 24 hours.  This is then slowly mixed with 500 ml of water in which 20 grams of powdered natural soap (Perla or Ivory) has been dissolved. Soap serves an emulsion, that is, to make oil and water miscible.  Stir well and strain with an old undershirt or nylon stocking, then store the filtrate in earthen or glass container.  This serves as mother stock, ready for use, diluting it one part to twenty parts of water, or down to one part per hundred. It is reputed to be effective insecticide against most common garden pests.

   

3. Control common insect pests with red pepper (siling labuyo).

These are the ways old folks make use of red pepper or siling labuyo (Capsicum annuum) in controlling destructive insects.

·       To protect mungbeans from bean weevil (Callosobruchus maculatus), thoroughly dry some 8 to 10 ripe labuyo and place them in a tea bag.  Place the bag inside the glass jar or plastic container in which mungbean is stored.  Cover hermetically. Effective protection against the pest is from three to six months.  Just be sure the mungbean is well dried (14 percent moisture) before storage.     

·        When spraying garden plants, crush 5 to 10 pieces of ripe labuyo in one gallon of water (5 liters), and apply the solution with sprinkler like watering the plants.  Repeat every week until there are no signs of insects and other pests in your garden. You may add a pinch of powder soap, preferably natural soap (Perla) Note: Don’t apply on tomato, eggplant, potato, tobacco and pepper itself.  These belong to the same family – Solanaceae – and may be affected by the mosaic virus the labuyo may be carrying.  Use it instead on other plants.

4. Ants on the move means that a strong rain, if not a typhoon, is coming. Cockroaches come out of their abode and seek for shelter outside.

The biological clock of these creatures responds to invisible signals, which comprise decreased atmospheric pressure, high relative humidity and air temperature. Their sensitive antennae and tactile hairs covering their body pick these up these changes of the environment. Thus we find ants in exodus, they move as a colony carrying their eggs and young indoors. Cockroaches become unusually active, flying about in frenzy, in search for a new place. There is a common message, that is, to escape to safer ground, an archetype ingrained in their genes passed on to them by their ancestors through evolution.

5. Light trapping of insects.

At the onset of the rainy season old folks trap winged termites (gamugamu or simutsimot) with a torch or a Coleman lamp placed at the center of a basin of water. The swarm may come early or late at night.  In the morning the trapped insects are harvested and cooked into a delicacy. Fowls, house lizards, frogs and  toads have their fill during the swarming period. The main species of termites that compose local swarms are Macrotermes gilvus and Heterotermes philippinensis, which build anthills (punso) in the field. The dry wood termites are smaller and darker in color. 

 

Importance of light trapping techniques under the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program against insects attacking the rice plant: 

·        Army worms (Spodoptera mauritia, S. litura) and cutworm (Mythimna separata) moths, both are highly attracted to light traps, especially during a new moon. 

·        Rice gall midge adults (Orseolia oryzae) are also attracted to light traps, but their numbers are highest during the full moon. So with plant hoppers (Delphacidae) and leafhoppers (Cicadellidae and Meenoplidae).

·        Other insect pests attracted by light are the adult moth of the green hairy caterpillar (Rivula atimeta), green semilooper moth (Naranga aenescens), rice caseworm (Nymphula depunctalis), and rice bug (Leptocorisa acuta). 

·        Mole cricket (Gryllotalpha orientalis), June beetle (Leucopholis irrorata), both are also delicacies in many parts of Asia and Africa are also attracted by light.

The idea of light trapping is to capture the adult insects, especially the gravid female about to lay hundreds of eggs that hatch and cause widespread infestation. It eliminates the hazards of using pesticides so that the edible insects may serve to augment nutrition in the countryside.  

6. Try these old folks’ ways of dealing with insect pests.

·        Lantana (Lantana camara) is planted along field borders and fences to repel insects from destroying field crops.

·        Makabuhay is chopped and scattered in the rice field to control golden kuhol and insect pest.

·        Ground seed cotyledon of botong (Barringtona asiatica) is used as fish poison.  It is applied in fishponds to rid remaining fish before it is stock anew with fingerlings. 

·        The sap of tubang bakod (Jatropha curcas) is used to control Schistozomiasis snail (Oncomelana quadrasi)

·        Eucalyptus trees around the house keep off flies and mosquitoes.  The menthol smell of Eucalyptus adds freshness of the air.

·        Garlic and onions inter planted with garden crops reduces incidence of  pests.  

·        Black pepper in teabags is safer than naphthalene balls in protecting clothes and books, including piano felt linings.

·        In capping (sealing) earthen jars, use clay from anthill (punso). Because the material is actually the excrement of termites, this will discourage them from attacking the cap and content of the jar.

7. Try also these old folks’ ways of dealing with destructive animals.

·        To prevent goats from biting the trunk of trees, make a slurry of white latex paint mixed with goats’ urine and feces, and paint it all around the trunk around one and one-half meters high.  

·        Goats are often left stray in the village. To be sure they don’t get through the fences of neighbors, they are restrained by a triangular hame made of bamboo worn around the neck, which can be conveniently attached or removed. The whereabouts of the animals is monitored because the hame may get entangled with wire or get stuck in the fence itself.  

 

·        Construct an incline piece of wood (2” x 2”) over an empty barrel. Hang at the end bait like a fishing line. The bait attracts rats so that they fall into the barrel. Gather and dispose the trapped rats by first killing them with boiling water.

·        Monitor lizards (bayawak) are caught by an ingenious devise made of bamboo.  A sturdy and flexible bamboo is forcibly bent across the path of the animal. When it comes, attracted by the bait, which is a live chick, the trigger mechanism releases the bamboo sending its full force to break the back of the lizard. 

·        Wild fowls are trapped by woven baskets with one side tilted by a post. On entering, the post collapses trapping the fowls inside the basket. This is also used when catching domestic fowls. NOTE: This technique may not work after sometime since the fowls may soon learn to evade the trap. (Pavlov’s conditioning)  

  

8. Tubang Bakod (Jatropha curcas) is an effective mollusicide

Farmers chopped the fresh leaves and shoots and apply it directly in ricefields to control golden snail (Pomacea caniculata), a major pest of rice and other crops.

When I was assigned to supervise a reclamation project in Sab-A Basin in Leyte, a schistozomiasis infested swamp, I found out that J. curcas is effective in controlling Oncomelana quadrasi, the snail vector of the parasite.  One disadvantage though is that it is also poisonous to fish. The application is more effective in the presence of water because the active ingredients among which is saponin, is readily dissolved and spread in the paddy or waterway. 

Tubang bakod is a small tree that grows along hedges and fences for which it got its name.  It belongs to Family Euphorbiaceae to which cassava and castor bean belong. The fruits are in cluster, and each fruit is made of three seeds arranged for dehiscence when matured and dried. The seed is rich in curcas oil which has drastic purgative effect when taken in, for which reason children are warned from eating them.     

                                         

9. Poultice made of ground termite is effective in treating wounds and sores.

After digging out an anthill or termite mound, the soldier termites (large headed) are carefully gathered, and ground into a paste which is then directly applied on the wound or skin sore. In some parts of Africa, the United Nations for successfully treating thousands of residents in remote desert communities using the same ethnic remedy hailed a village healer (equivalent to our herbolario). Laboratory tests revealed that termite poultice contains antibiotics more potent than commercial antibiotics.

    

10. Lighted candles drive flies away.

Houseflies (Musca domestica) are the most popular uninvited guests during a party, especially if it is one held outdoor. Before they build into a swarm, light some candles and place them strategically where they are most attracted.   Candle smoke drives away houseflies and blue bottle flies (bangaw), keeping them at bay until the party is over. For aesthetic reason, make the setup attractive by using decorative candles and holders, especially one that can withstand a sudden gust of wind. Otherwise, just plant a large candle or two, at the middle of the serving table. If your guests ask what is this all about, blow the candle out momentarily and they will understand.

11. Hang a fresh branch of a tree or shrub near lighted bulb or lamp to keep midges (gamu-gamu) away from food and guests. 

Have you ever been pestered by tiny insects that are attracted by light during an outdoor dinner?  These insects make a complex population of leafhoppers, mayflies, and other species of midges. Winged termites and ants often join the swarm. They are most prevalent at the onset of the rainy season in May or June and may last until the rice crop is harvested. In the province this is what you can do to control them and save the dinner party.

Cut a fresh branch or two, complete with leaves that do not easily fall off. The finer the leaves are, the better -  sampaloc, madre de cacao, kamias, - or simply any source that is available, including shrubs and vines (kamote, mungo, corn, etc.) Hang the branch securely at the dim part above or close to the fluorescent bulb or Coleman lamp. Be sure not to obstruct the light. Keep away from the food and guests. Observe how the insects settle on the branch and stop flying around.

Insects are attracted by light, especially when there are only a few in the area.  An outdoor dinner is ideal for them, attracting those even in distant fields. On arriving at the scene they become disoriented, for which reason they keep flying and flying around the light. With a foothold nearby for them to roost, the insects would gladly cease from their aimless search.  Since the Coleman lamp was invented, more so when Thomas Edison came up with a brilliant idea that led to the manufacture of the incandescent light that soon “lighted the world,” nocturnal insects - from midge to moth – have been disturbed of their natural sense of bearing on celestial lights as they travel in darkness.  Rizal romantically attributed the death of a moth - lost in its path and singed into the lamp - a heroic act.     

    

12. Incense rids chicken of lice.  It also calms them down. 

I learned this practice from my father when I was a farmhand. We raised native chickens on the range.  In the evening, we would occasionally smoke the fouls in their roasts under the house. “That would rid them of lice (gayamo’ Ilk),” my father assured me. “And pick a cull for tomorrow’s dinner,” he would add. 

I would sprinkle powdered incense into live charcoal and you could see the column of smoke rising and filling the roasting area.  You could hear the fowls cockle feebly, slowly loosen their feathers and pry their wings as if to allow the cloud of smoke to bathe them. Soon they are lulled to sleep or go into a kind of trance; you could pick them up without any sign of resistance. Without this calming power of incense, the slightest move you make on a roasting chicken would send it squawking in the night.

This fumigation technique was reportedly used in Europe during the Middle Ages to ward off the carrier of bubonic plague (black death), the flea Psynopsella cheopis that resides in mice and people’s dwellings. Incense candle are still used in temples and churches today.

But does incense also have the same calming effect on humans? Imagine the faithful in deep prayer as the priest trains the ciborium (incense vessel) on them. My theory is that incense smoke, or any smoke for that matter, slows down breathing, and some people find breathing difficult. Smoke also carries carbon dioxide and burning itself consumes oxygen in the immediate surroundings for which prolonged exposure is inadvisable.   

Try incense fumigation in areas where vermin is prevalent like storage room and rest room, and try it too, in poultry house just what I did many years ago.    

  

13. Bagging is effective way to control fruit flies.  

Mango fruit flies (Dacus dorsalis) and ampalaya fruit flies (Dacus cucurbitae) are a scourge on the farm, and these insects are cosmopolitan – they attack oranges, apples, jackfruit, cucumber, upo (Lagenaria leucantha), patola (Luffa acutangula, L. cylindrical), watermelon, melon, and a host of other crops in the tropic and temperate regions.

Fruit flies are different from the popular “fruit flies” – the Drosophila flies hovering around over ripe fruits and vinegar fermentation.  Nonetheless they both belong to Order Diptera.  The female fruit fly lays eggs with a sharp ovipositor into the fruits usually at their early and juvenile stages.  Soon the eggs will hatch into maggots that tunnel and ruin the developing fruits.  So massive can infestation become, that whole farms and orchards are deprived of harvest during the fruiting the season – and even in the next.

To save the crops, farmers use the most powerful chemical pesticides - the chlorinated hydrocarbons and phosphatic compounds, many of them are classified systemic.  It means that the chemical is absorbed by the plant and is carried into its system, rendering its sap in all parts – root, stem, leaves and fruits - poisonous to any insect, biting and sucking - and particularly those ensconced in the plant itself. It is like introducing drugs into our blood which distributes them to all parts of our body.  The big difference though is that systemic poisons in plants stay for a long time, protecting the fruits even after it is mature and ready to harvest.  Thus the residue of the poison is passed on to humans and animals that eat them. 

Continuous use of strong poison particularly on tough insects like the fruit flies, favors mutation, that is the development of resistant strains.  To overcome this, stronger dosage and more potent brands are resorted to, and the battle rages on. To date, fruits flies, and many insect pests for that matter, have acquired resistance to many commercial pesticides. And it is our health and that of the environment that are at risk, while the pesticide industry is a happy lot. 

This is where folk wisdom comes in. Traditional farmers use old newspapers and notebooks to wrap developing fruits before they are attacked by fruit flies. Plastic is discouraged because it is hot under the sun and trapped moisture favors fungal and bacterial infection. All you need is to lower the trellis, or avail of a ladder for fruit trees, and patiently wrap the fruits individually.  Premium mango fruits are produced this way – they are not only free from fruit flies; they are unblemished and bright yellow.  Ampalaya fruits are straight and full and less bitter, their color pale green which is preferred by many housewives. Patola are likewise protected by wrapping.  So with upo. Watermelon is difficult to wrap so that farmers resort to covering the growing fruit with rice hay (dayami), often digging a hole under the fruit to keep it cool under the summer sun. Combat fruits flies as your mango tree blooms and your cucurbits flower simply with old newspaper and a stapler at hand, and you will save lives and help the environment her Nature restore its balance.    

  

14. Rice hull ash protects mungbeans from bean weevil.

Burnt rice hull (ipa) contains silica crystals that are microscopic glass shards capable of penetrating into the conjunctiva of the bean weevil, Callosobruchus maculatus (PHOTO).  Once lodged, the crystal causes more damage as the insect moves and struggles, resulting in infection and desiccation, and ultimately death.

This is the finding of Ethel Niña Catahan in her masteral thesis in biology at the University of Santo Tomas. Catahan tested two types of rice hull ash,  One is partly carbonized (black ash) and the other oven-burned (white ash).  Both were applied independently in very small amount as either mixed with the beans or as protectant placed at the mouth of the container. In both preparations and methods, mungbeans – and other beans and cereals, for that matter – can be stored for as long as six months without being destroyed by this Coleopterous insect. 

The bean weevil is a cosmopolitan insect whose grub lives inside the bean, eating the whole content and leaving only the seed cover at the end of its life cycle.  When it is about to emerge the female lays eggs for the next generation. Whole stocks of beans may be rendered unfit not only for human consumption, but for animal feeds as well.  It is because the insect leaves a characteristic odor that comes from the insect’s droppings and due to fungal growth that accompanies infestation. ~     

                     

      Psylla lice in colonies wiped out ipil-ipil in the country in the seventies. 

Photos by the author 

                    

       Nest of green tree ants; members of the colony subdue a wasp.  

                                     Photos by the author

Part 12 - The Mosquito –  World’s Deadliest Creature

Re-written and updated to address the extreme importance to be vigilant against the present outbreak of Dengue in the country. This article includes news about the deadly Zia virus, which threatens many parts of the world. 

Dr Abe V Rotor

Dengue  mosquito (Aedes) after feeding. (Internet)

Virtually no one escapes this cosmopolitan uncanny vampire, that hardly a day passes without sustaining a surreptitious bite from it.

The mosquito follows wherever man goes, and oftentimes is even ahead in the frontiers. Its is there in the polar regions of Siberia, marshes of tropical America and Asia, at the Dead Sea basin, 1,300 feet below sea level, and on the Andes and Himalayas.

They come in armies or swarms but are not true colonies like those of the bees and ants. Swarming is just an accident of enormous population buildup concentrated in a local breeding area.

The mosquito changed the course of history. When irrigation canals built by the Babylonians joined the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, a vast swamp developed and became infested with malaria. It was here Alexander the Great and his powerful army lost - to malaria.

The mosquito has successfully defended the wildlife bastions such as the Amazon, the jungles of India and Africa, and the forest islands of the Pacific. The development of the tropics - the mosquito belt - was retarded for centuries, and mosquitoes almost prevented the building of the Panama and Suez Canals.

The mosquito occupies a vital link in the food chain, being a major food source for fish and amphibians. Fishes feed upon its larvae, the wrigglers, while the adults are frog's favorite. Man's dependence on fish, - which are dependent on mosquitoes in turn - places him at the apex of the food pyramid. There is only one guarantee that man continues to occupy this position - if he is willing to shed blood for it. Without blood, mosquito eggs fail to hatch and without a sip once in every 25 generations, its particular generation dies out, thus breaking the food chain and toppling the food pyramid.

In today's modern living, with technological breakthroughs in pests and disease control, human encounters with the once dreaded mosquito have been reduced mainly to physical annoyance and "pesky" problems. This is not however, entirely true as we shall see later.

Here are some questions commonly raised about the mosquito, and their scientific answers to update our acquaintance with our old enemy and friend.

Q. Do mosquitoes bite only warm-blooded animals?

A. In general yes, but there are also species of mosquitoes that bite turtles and snakes.

Q. Do all mosquitoes bite?

A. Only the female mosquito does. The regular food of adult, male mosquitoes is plant sap and nectar.

Q. How are mosquitoes able to locate their suitable hosts?

A. They have chemoreceptors - a combination of smell and touch - located at the plumose antennae and hairy legs. These are sensitive to heat waves and odor emitted by the hosts.

Q. Do mosquitoes invade places far from their breeding grounds?

A. Yes, although they seldom travel farther than 1000 feet from their birthplace. Mass raids have been monitored to as far as 50 to 75 miles away, the swarm usually riding on air currents.

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The British named their bombers and reconnaissance planes in World War II, Mosquito, so with the Italians for their anti-tank rockets – a tribute to the superb agility of this pesky minutia.

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Q. What is the needle of the mosquito made of?

A. Actually it is a sheath bundle of modified mouthparts, the equivalent of teeth, lips and whiskers elongated to form a drill, siphon, probe and guide and rolled into a needle or proboscis.

Q. How can this tiny needle penetrate tough skin and clothing?

A. It works on the principle of jackhammer with high frequency.

Q. What prevents blood from clotting in the body of the mosquito?

A. The blood, before it is sucked, is first thinned by the mosquito's saliva, which contains an anti-coagulant substance. It has also an anesthesia effect on the host.

Q. Is this the reason why we do not feel a mosquito bite at once?

A. Yes, and probably the location of the bite is away from a nerve.

Q. Why do mosquitoes make their presence known by buzzing near the ear?

A. This is not true. They simply whine and emit short wave buzzing which is picked up when passing near the ear. (Wing beat is 600 per second, and the cymbal sound-producing membrane vibrates nearly 7000 cycles per second.).

Q. How do you recognize disease-carrying species from one another?

A. Anopheles, the malaria carrier has its head, body, and proboscis in straight line to each other but at an angle to the resting surface. It has spotted colorings on the wings. Its wrigglers lie parallel to the water surface.

Culex, the carrier of viral encephalitis and filariasis holds its body parallel to the resting surface. Its scaly proboscis is bent and uniform in color. Its wrigglers are slender and long with breathing tubes covered with hair tufts.

Aedes, the carrier of yellow fever, dengue and encephalitis, holds body parallel to the resting surface with proboscis bent down, thorax silvery with white markings. Its wrigglers are short and stout with breathing tubes containing a pair of tufts. They hang from the water surface at 45 degrees angle.

When you see a mosquito resting, or wrigglers hanging down from the surface of a pond, use the above reference.

Q. How serious is Dengue fever? How can it be controlled?

A. The disease threatens two billion people in 100 countries. In 1998 alone, 514 died of Dengue in the Philippines with one death for every 100 patients who were mostly children. Metro Manila had the highest incidence with more than six thousand cases. Since the disease is specifically transmitted by Aedes egpypti, the key to the control of the disease is the extermination of the breeding places of the mosquito vector.

Q. Do mosquitoes follow certain feeding hours?

A. Yes. For example, the Anopholes or malarial mosquito bites chiefly in the evening and early morning, while the Aedes bites during the day.

Q. How fast do mosquitoes multiply?

A. In a year's time there may be from 15 to 20 generations produced. At the normal rate of 100 eggs laid per generation, a common mosquito could spawn 31 billion descendants in six generations.

Q. What attracts mosquitoes?

A. They are attracted by the regular breathing, color and texture of clothing, and odor. Dr. A. Brown of the University of Ontario reported that the rate of breathing is the principal factor in attracting mosquitoes. He also found that only one-tenth landed on white clothing than on dark or black material. The texture most avoided is luminescent satin. A person who has not taken a bath gets more mosquito bites. Try it.

Q. What is the best insecticide to make our homes "mosquito- proof?"

A. When DDT was not yet banned, 200 milligrams of the powder could give effective proofing from 6 to 12 months. Dieldrin at 50 milligrams gives a three-month proofing. Carbamates, like Sevin, are preferred. Even if they have shorter residual effect, they are safer to health and the environment. Eucalyptus trees in the surroundings repel mosquitoes. Now and then smudge the area by burning dried leaves of Eucalyptus specially in the afternoon.

Q. Do mosquitoes develop resistance to chemicals?

A. Yes, through biological specialization, survivors from previous sprayings tend to carry on a certain degree of resistance, which could be passed on to the next generation. Chemical control should be judiciously practiced to cushion this phenomenon. Return to plant derivative insecticide like pyrethrum, rotenone, nicotine and derris is highly recommended.

Q. How does a film of oil on water kill mosquito wrigglers?

A. When they stick their tails out of the water to breath, the oil slick clogs the breathing tube, thus resulting to asphyxiation.

Q. If it is impractical to drain the breeding ground of mosquitoes, how do we get rid of wrigglers and pupae?

A. Keep the water free from organic matter and scum which are food of wrigglers. Better still, put some fish, like kataba (Poecilia) and Gambusia, to feed on them.

Q. Do mosquitoes fight each other?

A. They seldom engage in combat, but there are species, which have preying habits. These are Toxorphynchites nornatus, T. splendens, and T. brevipalpis which were introduced into Hawaii, Fiji, Australia and Southeast Asia to control pest mosquitoes. Their wrigglers are larger and larvivorous, feeding on the smaller wrigglers of other mosquito species.

Next time a mosquito comes buzzing around your ears, take the message seriously because it is the world’s deadliest creature. More people have died because of its bite than all who perished in all wars combined. ~

What is the Zika virus? 

Everything you need to know about the outbreak.  ZIKA virus could spread to Europe this summer, world health leaders have warned. But what is it and what threats does it pose?
By Becky Fletcher and Alice Foster (Internet)

In its first assessment of the threat Zika poses to Europe, the WHO’s European office classified the overall risk as small to moderate. WHO declared a global health emergency over the Zika virus and the outbreak has now spread to more than 50 countries. What is the Zika virus? The virus - a once rare disease confined to the depths of subtropical Africa - was first identified in Uganda in 1947. It is an “arbovirus” - spread by mosquitoes and belongs to the same family as dengue fever and the chikungunya virus. 

Mosquito virus is linked to baby brain damage. Babies born with the birth defect have a below-average head size often caused by failure of brain to grow at a healthy and normal rate. There is a link between birth defects and the Zika virus The severity can vary, but some babies are left with brains so underdeveloped they might experience walking, sight, hearing and learning difficulties. The severity of microcephaly varies, but it can be deadly if the brain is so underdeveloped that it cannot regulate the functions vital to life. Children that do survive face intellectual disability and development delays. It can be caused by infections such as rubella, substance abuse during pregnancy or genetic abnormalities.

The virus is spread by a certain type of mosquito that transmits the disease when it bites someone infected with Zika, and then goes on to bite another person. 

In some cases, Zika virus is transmitted through sex.

There is currently no vaccine for Zika virus. People should avoid getting bitten by using insect repellents, covering up with long-sleeved clothes and keep doors and windows closed.  Pregnant women should not travel to affected areas. Male travelers should wear condoms to prevent the transmission of Zika virus through sex.

       Part 13 - Get rid of Mosquitoes  with Poeciliids

Raising poeciliids in your backyard can help eradicate

dengue- and malaria- carrying mosquitoes.

(In memory of the late Dr. Grace M. Cruz, Bulacan State University professor, who worked for her PhD dissertation the importance of biological control of mosquitoes using local species of Poeciliids, University of Santo Tomas, 1998. The author served as her adviser.) 

Dr Abe V Rotor

The Poeciliidae are a family of freshwater fish of the Order Cyprinodontiformes, the tooth-carps, and include well-known live-bearing aquarium fish, such as the guppy, molly, platy, and swordtail. 

Kataba or bubuntis 

The original distribution of the family was the southeastern United States to north of Rio de la Plata, Argentina. 

However, due to release of aquarium specimens and the widespread use of species of the genera Poecilia and Gambusia for mosquito control, poeciliids can today be found in all tropical and subtropical areas of the world. Wikipedia

You can build a mini-pond in your backyard. Then you can fill the mini-pond with tilapia, catfish (hito), even carp and pangasius. The fishes are good predators of mosquito wrigglers. But there is another highly recommended fish, the kataba or poeciliid, a large family of small fishes known for being predatory as well as omnivorous.

Residents along esteros can live without window and door screens and mosquito nets due to the presence of this biological friend and nemesis of the kiti-kiti or mosquito wrigglers.

The importance of insectivorous fish cannot be underestimated. In China the government mandated the raising of mosquito-eating fishes during the dengue outbreak in 1981. The Chinese raised fishes like the poeciliids , tilapia and catfish in canals, ponds, fields, and even household water containers. Indeed, the community project prospered and in no time the epidemic was contained.

Characteristics of the Kataba

This kataba fish is around three centimeters, from snout to tail tip. It is laterally compressed but stocky and fat-belied, hence its name bubuntis or kataba which means fat. Although brown or black in color, it exudes a dainty prism on its belly and sides- earning for it the name “rainbow fish”.

They are found almost everywhere as long as there is water- in fields, irrigation and drainage canals. For this reason, they are also called canal fish. If you see bubbling ripples in Manila’s esteros, you know the katabas are around - the fish can adapt to a wide range of environments, from canals to estuaries.

Imagine schools of poeciliids inhabiting the esteros, the tributaries of the Pasig River. They live around the bends, in coves, rock pools and in mudflats. When it rains, they go up stream. Poeciliids are found in Laguna Bay down Pasig River, reaching as far as the estuarine area.

Biological Control

If there is a single program that warrants full attention, it is the control of malaria and dengue, the most dreaded pandemic diseases which have killed countless people all over the world.

Deep concern has been demonstrated by governments. For example, in South Korea, a local fish Aphyocypris chinensis was found very effective in controlling mosquito vectors. Papua New Guinea and French Polynesia used Gambusia affinis and Aphanaus affinis in mosquito control. It was in Florida, Mississippi, Central America and Mexico where where Gambusia became popular, and soon this fish found its way to many countries.

But it is the poeciliids which has adapted in this country, along with other insect-eating fish species which include liwalo, spotted gourami, tilapia, mudfish (dalag) and hito.

Poeciliids are also prey to many bigger fishes. Surprisingly, because of their number and rapid rate of reproduction, poeciliids have managed to maintain stable populations even in open waters. Besides, the poeciliid prefers shallow areas and the edges of water where it is relatively safer.

Poeciliids swallow their food whole like a boa, except that their mouths are wide open. We call this luxury feeding.

Poeciliids peak during the rainy season in June, then decline in the cool months and toward summer. In January, only one out of two poeciliids are positive of insect prey, which means that they rely on plankton, like algae which are abundant in rivers and lakes at this time of the year. These facts were observed by the late Dr. Grace M. Cruz of the University of Santo Tomas in her 1998 dissertation.~

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There are persons who are a favorite of mosquitoes. 

Here are their qualifications.  Please check if you belong to the group. 

House mosquito (Culex) 

• They don’t take a bath regularly.  
• They wear dark clothes, especially black.  
• Their body temperature is relatively higher. 
• Their rate of breathing is faster. 
• Their skin is relatively thin and tender.
• They love to stay in corners and poorly lighted places.
• And they are not protected by clothing, screen or off lotion. Of all these, it is the first that is most crucial.

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Part 14 - Integrated Pest Management (IPM) 

Practical Pest Control at Home and on the Field

Dr Abe V Rotor

Here are pest control techniques you can adopt at home.

1. To control furniture weevil and moths which destroy the felt and piano wood, place a teabag of well-dried and uncrushed black pepper in the piano chamber near the pedals. Paminta is a good repellant and has a pleasant smell.

Lantana camara or bangbangsit (Ilk) is effective as insect
repellant. It is also an ornamental plant. It attracts
butterflies. Grow a hill or two in your garden.

2. Coconut trees whose shoots are destroyed by rhinoceros beetle (Oryctis rhinoceros) can be saved with ordinary sand. If the trees are low, sprinkle sand onto the leaf axils (angle between the leaf and axis from which it arises). Sand contains silica that penetrates the beetle’s conjunctiva, the soft part of the body where hard chitinous plates (hard outer membrane) are joined.

3. To control bean weevil (Callosobruchus maculatus) PHOTO, an insect that destroys stored beans, especially mungo), mix a little ash of rice hull (ipa’) and spread it in a way that sand kills the rhinoceros beetle.

4. To get rid of nematodes (microscopic elongated, cylindrical worms) in the soil, incorporate chopped or ground exoskeleton (skin) of shrimps into the soil, preferably mixing it with compost. Chitinase is formed which dissolves the cover of the egg and the body of the nematode. Use poultry dropping to reduce nematode population in farms and gardens.

5. To control the cucurbit (plants of the gourd family) fruit fly (Dacus cucurbitae), wrap the newly formed fruits of ampalaya and cucumber with paper bag. Bagging is also practiced on mango fruits. For ampalaya use newspaper (1/8 of the broadsheet) or used paper, bond size. Roll the paper into two inches in diameter and insert the young fruit, folding the top then stapling. Bagged fruits are clean, smooth and light green. Export quality mangoes are individually bagged on the tree.

6. To keep termites away from mud-plastered walls, incorporate termite soil (anthill or punso). To discourage goats from nibbling the trunk of trees, paint the base and trunk with manure slurry, preferably their own, mixed with carburo paint (white paint). 

7. Raise ducks to eat snail pest (golden kuhol) on the farm. Chicken and birds are natural insect predators.

8. An extra large size mosquito net can be made into a mini greenhouse. Underneath, you can raise vegetables without spraying. You can conduct your own experiments such as studying the life cycle of butterflies.

Caterpillars of Papilio butterfly. Insects constitute
a major food of birds, reptiles, bats and other animals.

9. Plants with repellant properties can be planted around the garden. Examples of these are lantana (Lantana camara), chrysanthemum, neem tree, eucalyptus, madre de cacao (Gliricida sepium), garlic, onions, and kinchai (Allium tuberosum).

10. To scare birds that compete for feeds in poultry houses, recycle old balls, plastic containers, styro and the like, by painting them with two large scary eyes (like those of owls). This is the reason why butterfly wings have “eyes” on them to scare away would-be predators. 

Scarecrows on a ricefield

Hang these modern scarecrows in areas frequented by birds. To scare off birds in the field, dress up used mannequins. In some cases, the mannequin may be more effective than the T-scarecrow. Discarded cassette tape ribbon tied along the field borders scares maya and possibly other pests. 

11. Prevent ants from invading dining table, kitchen sink, cupboard, by wiping with dilute natural vinegar, after final cleaning. (2 part water and 1 part natural vinegar). Vinegar is also a deodorizer of fungus and fish odor. Natural vinegar is a disinfectant  too.

12. Plant around the house eucalyptus, weeping willow trees.  They are repellents to many pest.  Use the dried leaves as smudge like "katol."  Smudging also induces fruiting of mango and other fruit trees, flowering os ornamental plants as well. Try it, it's also aroma therapeutic.

13. Never kill the spiders around. So with the wasps and preying mantis. They are nature's biological agents.  Just sweep the old cobwebs and let them rebuild new webs. Fogging and spraying is their number one enemy. Spraying and fogging are the last resort. Cover eyes and nose when spraying. Don't follow the advertisements. PESTICIDE IS HIGHLY DANGEROUS.  PESTICIDE POISONING IS CUMULATIVE. Scented sprays is deceiving because more poisons get into the body.

14. One practical means of insect control is by harvesting insects for food. This practice is not only confined among primitive societies but is still one of the most practical means of controlling insects. Anyone who has tasted kamaro’ (sautéed mole cricket – Gryllotalpa africana) would tell you it is as tasty as shrimps, lobsters or other crustaceans. After all, insects and shrimps belong to the same phylum – Arthropoda. Their body composition is the same, so with the nutrition we get - shrimp, crabs, locusts, cockroaches, spiders, scorpions, lobster, kuratsa, ipis dagat - all these are served in different recipes - to the gustatory delight of customers.  

15. Locusts may destroy crops but, in a way, bring food to its victims. During a swarm, locust is harvested by the sacks and sold for food and animal feeds. The same goes with gamu-gamu (winged termites – Macrotermes) at the onset of the rainy season, or the salagubang (Leucopolis irrorata), another insect delicacy. Other food insects are the grubs of kapok beetle locally called u-ok, eggs and larvae of hantik (green tree ant), larvae of honeybee and cheese maggots. Recently my family on vacation ordered hantik eggs in a restaurant in Vigan. Its price? P250 per order. Since then, we became vigilant of the presence of nests of this green tree ant in the trees around the house. 

The consequence is that, without the hantik, you will have more problems.  They are gleaners around the house, consuming morsels of pets which they carry to their tree nest to feed their young. They guard our orchard from intruders. No one would dare to climb a hantik-guarded tree. You can wait from the fruits to ripen in the tree. By the way, hantik ants seldom bite the residents of the house.  They seem to recognize their master.  There is some kind of pheromone affinity developed by association, and mutual understanding, I guess.  

Hantik are predators of insects, among them the dreaded hairy caterpillar - higad!  No wonder swarming of higad follows the harvesting of the green tree ants' nests.  

When is an insect a pest?

When we see an insect, instinct tells us to kill it. We should not. A caterpillar is a plant eater, but the beautiful butterfly that emerges from it is harmless, efficient pollinator. Hantik ants make harvesting of fruits inconvenient because of their painful bite, but they guard the trees from destructive insects. Houseflies carry germs, but without them the earth would be littered with dead, undecomposed organisms. They are nature’s chief decomposers working hand in hand with bacteria and fungi. Termites may cause a house to fall apart, but without them the forest would be a heap of fallen trees.

Garlic controls most garden pests. Just add some crushed cloves to a pail of water before watering the plants.

It is natural to see leafhoppers on rice plants, aphids on corn, bugs in the soil, grasshopper on the meadow, borers on twigs, fruit flies on ripening fruits. These organisms live with us under one biosphere. If we can think we can dominate them, we have to think again. They have been dominating the earth for millions of years, even before prototype humans appeared. Just one proof: the total weight of ants inhabiting the earth far outweighs seven billion human inhabitants.

There is no way to escape pesky creatures. Conflict arises only when their populations increase rapidly to overrun our crops, spoil our stored products, and threaten our health and welfare.

                                        Skipper with false eyes to scare   predators. 

We have set certain thresholds of our co-existence with insects. As long as they do not cross that line, we can cohabit this planet peacefully with them. By so doing, we can ponder at the beauty of their wings, the mystery of the fire they carry, the music they make, the sweetest syrup they make, the finest silk they weave, the magnitude of their numbers, their playful manners, their virtually indestructible built, or marvel at the mystery of their presence.~ 
  

 

Trapping nocturnal insects as research. Entomology is the study of insects. UST Graduate School students at Amadeo, Cavite, with author as their professor (3rd from right).

Lesson, former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid with Ms Melly C Tenorio
738 DZRB AM, 8 to 9 evening class Monday to Friday

Part 15 - Rice Hull (ipa) ash protects mungbeans 

from bean weevil

Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature School on Blog 

Upper photos, mungbean (Vigna radiata L.) showing the extent of infestation by the bean weevil. Closeup of the weevil, and stages of its life cycle. Mungbean is one of the most important edible legume crops, grown on more than 6 million hectares worldwide and consumed by most households in Asia. Its nutritional value is very high, not only as staple food, but ingredients of a wide variety of food preparations, its health benefits notwithstanding.*

Burnt rice hull (ipa) contains silica crystals that are microscopic glass shards capable of penetrating into the conjunctiva of the bean weevil (Callosobruchus maculatus).  Once lodged, the crystal causes more damage as the insect moves and struggles, resulting in infection and desiccation, and ultimately death.

This is the finding of Ethel Niña Catahan in her masteral thesis in biology at the University of Santo Tomas.  Catahan tested two types of rice hull.  One is partly carbonized (black ash) and the other oven-burned (white ash).

Both are applied independently in very small amount as either mixed with the beans or as protectant placed at the mouth of the container.  In both preparations and methods, mungbeans - and other beans and also, cereals, for that matter - can be stored for as long as six months without being destroyed by this Coleopterous insect.

The bean weevil is a cosmopolitan insect whose grub lives inside the bean, eating the whole content and leaving only the seed cover at the end of its life cycle.  When it is about to emerge the female lays eggs for the next generation.  Whole stocks of beans may be rendered unfit not only for human consumption, but for animal feeds as well.  It is because the insect leaves a characteristic odor that come from the insect's droppings (frass) and due to fungal growth that accompanies infestation. ~

--------------------------

*Mungbean Nutrition facts
Sources include: USDA
Mung beans, raw
347 Calories - 100 grams

Nutrient Amount(g) DV(%)

Total Fat 1.2 g 1%

Cholesterol 0 mg 0%

Sodium 15 mg 0%

Potassium 1,246 mg 35%

Total Carbohydrate 63 g 21%

Protein 24 g 48%

Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs. 

Acknowledgement with thanks: Internet photos

Reference: Living with Folk Wisdom, AV Rotor (UST Publishing House 2008

Part 16 - Control coconut beetle by broadcasting sand into the leaf axils. 

Silica penetrates into the delicate tissues of the insect. As a result its injury leads to dehydration and infection, and consequently death.

Dr Abe V Rotor

Rhinocerus beetle (Oryctes rhinocerus) is a scourge of coconut, drastically reducing production, if not killing the tree at any stage. Right, a healthy tree can produce up to 50 nuts every two month.   

Mode of attack by both the larva (grub) and the adult characterized by boring into the very heart of the crown destroying the unopened bud leaves.  Right, damage bud after emergence. Heavy infestation results in the decapitation of the standing tree.  

Noticed that coconut trees growing along or close to sandy shores are seldom attacked by coconut beetle - Oryctes rhinoceros, a scourge of coconut whose larva and adult burrow into the bud and destroy the whole top or crown of the tree.

Farmers broadcast sand into the leaf axils of coconut trees in their early development stage until they have grown too tall to be reached.The scientific explanation to this practice is that sand (or silica, the raw material in making glass) is very sharp. Under the microscope each particle is a glass shard which can penetrate without difficulty the soft joints (conjunctiva) of the insect's armor. This is the insect's "Achilles heel," so to speak.

As the insect moves, the silica penetrates into the delicate tissues of the insect. As a result its injury leads to dehydration and infection, and consequently death.

If you have young coconuts growing at home and you find signs of the pest, scoop some sand and sprinkle it in between the leaf stalks - or axils. This is safer than using chemical insecticide. And you practically spend nothing, except work and patience.~

Palm Sunday is a nemesis to the coconut trees, and to the coconut industry, the mainstay of the Philippine economy in coconut-based areas. Thousands of trees are sacrificed for their young leaves made into paslaspas during Palm Sunday (Holy Week). Young trees are killed for the bud leaves as well as for the the core or ubod which is made into fresh lumpia, a popular delicacy.

Coconut tree stripped of their young leaves for palaspas are easy target of the coconut beetle. The inflicted wound attracts the fecund female rhinoceros beetle to lay eggs, and the wound serves as entry for the newly hatch grubs which ultimately will bore and destroy the tree. Adult beetles are likewise lured to attack wounded trees.  Analogous to this is that, after a typhoon, infestation rises sharply.  Weakened condition of wounded trees exacerbate the damage which leads to premature death.  Coconut trees are known to live productively for fifty years,and even longer.  

Today there's a serious pest of coconut - Scale Insects (Aspidiotus destructor). Several provinces particularly in Region 4 have been placed under emergency. Harvesting young leaves of coconut for handicraft, culinary, palaspas, and the like, further predisposes infested coconut trees to succumb.  The young leaves are the ultimate defence when the older leaves are heavily infested with the scale insect. 

Part 17 -  Cranefly or Daddy-long-legs

If you can detect a cranefly, you must have a third eye.

Dr Abe V Rotor 

This is a rare specimen I caught at home. It is a very curious one, although it is quite familiar; it is a relative of the mosquito. It is also rare because its size is much bigger than the ordinary cranefly we often called daddy-long-legs.* 

Crane Fly (Tipula sp), 

Family Tipulidae, Order Diptera

The cranefly undergoes four stages - egg, larva called maggot, pupa and adult. The maggot feeds on crops and pasture grass but it inflicts little damage. The adults emerge and swarm in the evening. They have queer body structure and movement. 

Craneflies are clumsy fliers, mainly because they have only one pair of wings for flying. That is why they are classified Diptera - two wings. The pair of hindwings are reduced into halteres or balancers which look like stubs or knobs.

When at rest, craneflies shake continuously in all directions that they become virtually invisible to their enemies. This unique mechanism has not been fully studied.

Among the Arachnids, members of the Pholcidae family are also called daddy-long-legs spiders. Their presence is known to be worldwide. Here are two species of harvestman spiders. The one at the right appears hazy and blurred as seen when it is in continuous shaking motion. (Acknowledgement with thanks: Internet, Wikipedia) 

 

  

Part 18 - I love insects for twelve reasons

Dr Abe V Rotor

Cottony moth

 

Coconut or rhinoceros beetle; enigmatic firefly

1. I love insects for their honey, the sweetest sugar in the world, elixir, energy-packed, aphrodisiac, therapeutic, the culinary and confectionery arts it makes;

2. I love insects for their silk no human fabric can equal - cool in summer, warm in winter, velvety to the touch, flowing and free, friendly to the wind and sun, lovely in the night, royal on the throne, smooth to the skin, hypoallergenic, dynamic to fashion and casual wear;

3. I love insects for their shellac, the best varnish that lasts for years, unequaled by synthetic substitutes; their wax, the best lubricant and natural polish that makes the dancing floor alive and schoolrooms happy.

 

A pair of golden moth; green beetle

4. I love insects for the resin they produce with certain plants which is used in worships, to bring the faithful to their knees, similarly to calm down fowls on their roost, drive vermin or keep them at bay, pacify and make peace with the unseen spirits.

5. I love insects for the amber, transparent rock originally from resin, which forever entrapped fossils of insects and other organisms, complete with their genes and attendant evidences of natural history, enabling us to read the past, turning back the hands of time in visual imagery;

6. I love insects for their crimson dye produced by certain scale insects that made the robes of kings and emperors, and only they were privileged to wear; likewise for their phosphorescence like the wing scales of butterflies that make the most beautiful and expensive paint for cars today;

7. I love insects for their medicinal substances they produce - antibiotics from fly maggot and soldier ants, cantharidin from blister beetle, formic acid for weak heart, bee sting for rheumatism;

 

Field cricket, green cricket - nature's violinists

8. I love insects as food, high in protein and minerals, elixir and stimulant, not only in times of famine but as exotic food in class restaurants, and on occasions that bring closer bonding among members of communities and cultures;

9. I love insects for all the fruits and vegetables, the multiplication of plants, geographically and seasonally, through their being the world's greatest pollinators; and in effect make the ecosystems wholesome, complete and alive;

10. I love insects for disposing garbage, of bringing back to nature organic compounds into elemental forms ready to be used again by the succeeding generations of living things.

                               
                  Leaf insects resemble the leaves of their host plant

11. I love insects for play, and for lessons in life - how they jump and fly, carry tremendous load which I wish I could, how they practice frugality, patience, fraternity, and how they circle a candle one lonely night and singed into its flame that inspires heroism and martyrdom;

12. I love insects for whatever nature designed them to be, their role in health and sickness, , sorrow and joy, ugliness and beauty, deprivation and abundance, even in life and death, for I have learned that without insects, we humans - so with many other organisms - would not be here on earth.~

Part 19 - Let's control the fruit fly (Dacus spp): cosmopolitan pest of fruits and vegetables

                                                            Dr Abe V Rotor

Fruit fly (Dacus dorsalis (Family Tephritidae, Order Diptera) on banana and mabolo. Note the nature of damage, and size of the mature insect.

Old folks used to tell us kids in our time that the first rain in summer brings in the dangaw (Ilk) or fruit fly rendering native fruits, like duhat, macopa and guava, unfit to eat. True enough the first bite reveals tiny punctures, and when fully ripe. tunnels with tiny maggots squirming and catapulting to our disgust. We would throw away the whole fruit, and spit what we had hastily eaten.

But in those days the fruit fly had few hosts, until new varieties were developed and introduced. These became readily vulnerable, triggering the buildup and spread of the pest. New frontiers were opened, more kinds of crops cultivated, more varied agricultural practices developed breaking away from the natural cycle of the environment. Today the fruit fly has become a cosmopolitan pest of orchard, garden and field crops.

What a havoc the fruit fly can create on a mango tree laden with fruits. Or macopa in season. Guava. Caimito and the like. Orchards and plantations are ruined by this pest, a direct relative of the housefly.

And that's just part of a larger ruin. Trellises of ampalaya, squash, cucumber, and fields of pepper, tomato, eggplant, and other vegetables virtually go to waste.

Unless heavy doses of insecticide are applied - poison that coats whole fruits to repel the gravid female from laying eggs, poison to cover whole fields so that no place is left to harbor the pest for a second round of attack. And poison that can penetrate the ensconced maggots before it could do further damage. This is the most potent pesticide ever formulated. It is systemic poison because it circulated through the plant sap, like blood, and any insect that attacks from the inside or outside is certain to die.

It is a fact that poisons in food, air and many items cause cancer. Pesticides are culprits to many cases of cancer. So with kidney and liver problems, fatal or lifelong liability. Pesticides being mainly nerve poisons affect the brain and the senses, and therefore behavior and quality of life in general.

We relate the issue of pest to global warming which has disturbed our climatic pattern and modified geography. Rainfall has become erratic, Seasons unsuspectingly come early or late. Sometimes there is summer. Force majeure is more often and severe. Thus the need of new agricultural strategies.

Now we have greenhouses of tomato, melon, bell pepper, but greenhouse products are more expensive than those produced on open fields. Geneticists came up with Genetically Modified crops - like FlavrSavr tomato. Genetically modified organisms or GMOs are dangerous to health and human development, particularly among children. That is why GMOs are branded Frankenfoods (from Frankenstein, the man-made monster in Mary Shelley's novel of the same title.)

The fruit fly is not merely a pest. It is an element that has sown destruction to agriculture, and therefore to the economy. It is changing the way we live. Let's control it before it does more harm.

Let's control the fruit fly (not to be mistaken for the Drosphilla melanogaster), that has evolved into several species under the genera Bactrocera, Dacus and Ceratitis. They have become major pest worldwide of orchards, farms and garden, on avocado, banana, citrus, cacao, coffee, cucumber, guava, papaya, pepper, eggplant, tomato, melon, cucumber, and a host of other plants - not to mention the most important host, the mango.

Let's control the fruit fly by cutting off its life cycle, before it lays eggs on fruits - young and ripe - that ultimately causes them to fall or rot on the tree; and in its feeding introduces bacteria and fungi that exacerbate damage to the tree and plantation, not to mention the harmful effect it has to humans. That by keeping strict sanitation, collecting damaged fruits as possible breeding material, and eliminating alternate hosts to bridge the next season, its population can be kept on a safe level.

Let's control the fruit fly by bagging the fruits early with paper bag, cut newspaper, and other suitable materials, before the gravid female oviposits on the fruits, popular a practice on mango, nangka, cucumber, ampalaya, and other crops that are convenient to protect in this laborious means. Bagging also protects fruits from other pest, injury, excessive sunlight, and reduces blemishes and deformities.

Let's control the fruit fly by prudent use of chemical pesticide, applying it only as a last resort after all safer means are exhausted, and applying only at a threshold level determined collectively by growers in the area. Overuse of chemicals have spawned mutants in the pest population leading to increased resistance among survivors which they pass on to the next generation. Thus higher dosage or more potent chemicals are required in succeeding seasons.

Let's control the fruit fly through cooperative farming, following specific schedules of planting, cultivation, and harvesting, among other cultural practices, like crop diversification, use of resistant varieties, roughing affected plants and residues and burning them. Quarantine control is easier to implement, so with other government rules, and specifications of products for the local and foreign markets.

Let's control the fruit fly to bring down the price of fruits and vegetables at affordable level, assure quality products and reduce crop loss, increase income of producers and processors, and reduce dependence on imported fruits and vegetables. And encourage backyard self-sufficiency, promote proper nutrition and good health.

Let's control fruit flies with the same resolve in suppressing global scourges of crops (tungro of rice, blight of cereals, borers of corn), and livestock (foot-and-mouth disease, mad cow disease), epidemics affecting human populations (HIV-AIDS, Ebola, Avian Flu), through personal initiative and or in support to national and international organizations. And through research and extension, through the academe and R and D institutions.~

Cucurbit fruit fly (Dacus cucurbitae), representation of a typical fruit fly (Dacus sp); baiting fruit flies with diluted vinegar in plastic bottle with punched holes to let attracted fruit flies to enter and get trapped), bagging of green mango fruits. Acknowledgment: Internet www infonet-biovision.org

Part 20 - Putakti!

(Paper Wasp)

Don't allow anger to overcome reason, and don't do anything, how courageous you may think, if it is motivated by revenge. They call this bravado - not courage.

                                                             Dr Abe V Rotor

Paper wasp nests, Museum of Natural History, UPLB Laguna

This happened to me when I was six - perhaps younger. Up to now I don’t know why I "attacked" a colony of putakti or alimpipinig (Ilk). It is called bravado when you put on courage on something without weighing the consequences, much less in knowing the reason behind.

I was sweeping the yard near a chico tree when I suddenly felt pain above my eye. No one had ever warned me of paper wasps, and I hadn’t been stung before. There, hanging on a branch just above my head was a neat clump of paper-like nest the size of a fist. On guard were a dozen or two of this kind of bees, which is a local version of the hornet bees in other countries. Bees belong Order Hymenoptera, the most advanced order of insects owing to their highly developed social behavior.

I retreated, instinctively got hold of a bikal bamboo and attacked the papery nest, but every time I got close to it I got stung. I don’t know how many times I attacked the enemy, each time with more fury, and more stings I received, until dad saw me. I struggled under his strong arms sobbing with anger and pain.

I was lucky. Kids my size wouldn't be able to take many stings. Fortunately I was not allergic to bee poison. There are cases when the poison paralyzes the heart.

I learned a valuable lesson: Don't allow anger to overcome reason, and don't do anything, how courageous you may think, if it is motivated by revenge. They call this bravado - not courage. ~

Part 21 - The cockroach has the most powerful stomach;

it eats on anything - almost.

"Old Archie, this living fossil is called, older than the dinosaur; 

for whatever reasons it's still around, is beyond man's favor." 

 Dr Abe V Rotor

 

Closeup of the American cockroach (Periplaneta americana) most common species in every home, on garbage, drainage canals, and practically in all places where there is filth. Yellow band on the prothorax, reddish brown all over the body characterize the American cockroach. They are gregarious in nature but do not form colonies in the true sense like bees and ants and termites.

 Other species include the Oriental cockroach (Blatta orientalis) which is dark and bigger. It is also nocturnal like all its kin, except the German cockroach (Blatella germanica) which is active and visible during the day, and much smaller, except the brown headed species. Cockroaches have incomplete life cycle (hemimetabola) - egg, nymph and adult. The nymphs undergo four or five moltings before becoming adults. Photos credit: Wikipedia

Cockroaches eat on  anything -.almost.

Being omnivorous, cockroaches voraciously consume all kinds of materials that are rich in carbohydrates, proteins, fats and oils.  But when these are not available they turn to unlikely food source like soap, photographic film, clothes, wood and drugs.  In fact they even turn into predators, devouring other insects, and sometimes biting people in their sleep. Their bite often gets swollen and infected. Cockroaches are found in all places where humans live and conduct his trade, commerce and industry. Only rats can be compared with the tenacity of the cockroach.    

The cockroach has very powerful digestive enzymes:  proteases digest protein, invertase breaks complex sugar, and amylase breaks starches.  Its saliva contains powerful enzymes coming from the gastric caeca, while the Malpighian tubules secrete an enzyme that is equally disgusting.  It is no wonder that just a single frass (feces) can spoil a whole pot of rice by its obnoxious smell. By the way there are three most common species that we encounter in the home and public places. 

These are the American cockroach or Periplaneta americana (large, rust red with a yellow band across its thorax), the German cockroach or Blatella germanica (pale yellow, only one-third the size of the American species) PHOTO and the oriental cockroach or Blatta orientalis (dark brown to black, the biggest and filthiest of all cockroaches.)

Meticulous sanitation is the best way to get rid of cockroaches. To keep their population down, sprinkle carbamate (Sevin) on the kitchen floor, pathways and possible hideout of the pest, preferably before retiring at night.  Keep doors and screens properly closed to prevent entry of the insect. ~