Vorratsschutz im Ökologischen Landbau: Entscheidungshilfe durch das Computerprogramm VOEL 1.0

VOEL 1.0 is a decision-support software for the protection of organic stored-products that was developed for store-keepers, farmers and pest control specialists in Ger-many. Most of the information given applies to all Central European countries, except for some legislative aspects concerning registration, which are specific for Germany. The program contains a decision-support module for monitoring and control of stored product pest, an encyclopedia on pests and beneficial organisms, a key for the deter-mination of these organisms, information on registered products for stored product protection in Germany, a data bank where literature concerning associations of pests and beneficials can be retrieved, a list of references on stored product protection in general and several original papers on stored-product protection

Field trials with the diatomaceous earth SilicoSec® for treatment of empty rooms and bulk grain

Diatomaceous earths (DE) are fossil diatoms (phytoplankton) that contain silicon dioxide (SiO2), the particles absorb the waterproof lipids from the arthropod cuticle resulting in death through desiccation. The DE SilicoSec® is registered in Germany. The field trials presented here were performed in order to determine (1) the efficacy of SilicoSec® under temperate Central European climatic conditions, (2) the distribution in empty rooms and (3) the possible effect of different surface materials. For empty room treatment, a 41 m² storage room was treated with 20 g/m², the total surface treated including walls was 145 m². At 19 sampling points the amount of DE on the floor was determined. Distinctly less DE attached to the walls compared to the floor, and an uneven distribution on the floor ranging from 2.6 to 49.5 g/m² with a mean±SD of 15.4±14 g/m² per sampling point was measured. Additionally, test pieces with 5 different surface types were placed in the treatment room prior to the treatment. Adult Tribolium confusum and Cryptolestes ferrugineus were placed on all surfaces at 15 to 19°C and 65-81% r.h.. Mean corrected mortality after 14 d in T. confusum and C. ferrugineus was 94% and 65%, respectively. No significantly different mortality was recorded for T. confusum depending on surface type, but in C. ferrugineus significantly less beetles (20%) died on concrete flagstone compared to natural flagstone, glazed ceramic flagging, plywood and porcelain stoneware. For bulk grain, 10 t of wheat were treated with either 0.7 kg/t or 2 kg/t DE. Sitophilus granarius, Oryzaephilus surinamensis and C. ferrugineus adults were placed in vials with treated wheat together with data loggers and placed deep within the bulk for 19 d. Corrected mortality was around 90% for all treatments except for S. granarius at the lower dose where 60% mortality was achieved only. Keywords: Diatomaceous earth, Efficiency, Cryptolestes ferrugineus, Sitophilus granarius, Oryzaephilus surinamensi

Efficacy of propionic acid against the granary weevil Sitophilus granarius (L.)

Propionic acid is used to preserve feed grain, especially against fungal attack, and is known to affect stored product insects as well. In the study presented here, the effect of wheat treated with different amounts of pure propionic acid on both adult Sitophilus granarius and its progeny was investigated. Propionic acid (99.5% purity) was added to samples of 150 g of wheat at the doses of 0.5, 0.7 and 1% by weight. Subsequently, 100 adult S. granarius were released into each vial with treated wheat. Each trial was repeated three times. The untreated controls received water instead of propionic acid. Dead weevils were counted after 7 and 14 days. Insects surviving 7 days were placed back into the vials, all adults were removed after 14 days. During the period of 8 and 11 weeks after start of the experiment, the number of progeny was counted weekly. In the trials with 0.5%, 0.7% and 1% by weight, after 14 days 73.7, 37.3 and 3.7% of the adults were alive, respectively. While the mean number of progeny was 1549 in the untreated control, 1.3 and 0.3 progeny on average emerged from the grain treated with 0.5% and 0.7% propionic acid, respectively. No progeny survived in the treatment with 1% by weight. Even though complete control of adult S. granarius could not be achieved with the tested conditions, under practical situations of storage of feed grain, the described application of propionic acid will effectively suppress the mass-development of S. granarius. Keywords: Granary weevil, Sitophilus granarius, Propionic acid, Control, Feed storag

Vocal Behavior in Spotted Seals (Phoca largha) and Implications for Passive Acoustic Monitoring

Passive acoustic methods enable remote monitoring of marine species and habitats. These methods can be applied to investigate distribution and abundance of populations, to evaluate behavioral and physiological states of individuals, and to inform management efforts for animals that live in hard-to-reach places. Spotted seals (Phoca largha) inhabit high-latitude, light-limited sub-Arctic and Arctic waters and move seasonally with unstable sea ice. They are high trophic level predators vulnerable to changing conditions associated with environmental warming. At present, an incomplete characterization of the spotted seal vocal repertoire limits our ability to monitor this species acoustically. Captive studies can inform passive acoustic efforts by describing fundamental features of species-typical vocalizations emitted by known individuals. These features include acoustic parameters as well as developmental, seasonal, and sex-specific patterns in vocal behavior. Here, we studied several male spotted seals in captivity from age 6 months through adulthood (10 years). Vocal behavior was scored daily and opportunistically recorded. The production of underwater calls emerged during sexual maturation, at age 4. To evaluate vocal repertoire and fine-scale temporal patterns of sound production in adult seals, an underwater acoustic recorder was continuously deployed with two seals at age 7 years. The spotted seals produced at least eight distinctive underwater call types with dominant energy below 1 kHz. The amplitude of the most common vocalization was ∼140 dB re 1 μPa (sound pressure level at 1 m). There was a marked peak in vocal activity in springtime, prior to onset of the annual molt. This period coincided with increased aggressive behavior, presence of a notable musky odor, and urogenital swelling indicative of heightened reproductive status. These results from developing male spotted seals reared in human care confirm the production of recognizable, stereotypic underwater calls associated with the breeding season. Description of vocal behavior improves knowledge of this species’ biology, and informs the potential use of autonomous acoustic recorders to track the presence and movements of free-ranging spotted seals in remote habitats

Vocal tract dynamics shape the formant structure of conditioned vocalizations in a harbor seal

Formants, or resonance frequencies of the upper vocal tract, are an essential part of acoustic communication. Articulatory gestures—such as jaw, tongue, lip, and soft palate movements—shape formant structure in human vocalizations, but little is known about how nonhuman mammals use those gestures to modify formant frequencies. Here, we report a case study with an adult male harbor seal trained to produce an arbitrary vocalization composed of multiple repetitions of the sound wa. We analyzed jaw movements frame-by-frame and matched them to the tracked formant modulation in the corresponding vocalizations. We found that the jaw opening angle was strongly correlated with the first (F1) and, to a lesser degree, with the second formant (F2). F2 variation was better explained by the jaw angle opening when the seal was lying on his back rather than on the belly, which might derive from soft tissue displacement due to gravity. These results show that harbor seals share some common articulatory traits with humans, where the F1 depends more on the jaw position than F2. We propose further in vivo investigations of seals to further test the role of the tongue on formant modulation in mammalian sound production

Label-free Detection of Influenza Viruses using a Reduced Graphene Oxide-based Electrochemical Immunosensor Integrated with a Microfluidic Platform

Reduced graphene oxide (RGO) has recently gained considerable attention for use in electrochemical biosensing applications due to its outstanding conducting properties and large surface area. This report presents a novel microfluidic chip integrated with an RGO-based electrochemical immunosensor for label-free detection of an influenza virus, H1N1. Three microelectrodes were fabricated on a glass substrate using the photolithographic technique, and the working electrode was functionalized using RGO and monoclonal antibodies specific to the virus. These chips were integrated with polydimethylsiloxane microchannels. Structural and morphological characterizations were performed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Electrochemical studies revealed good selectivity and an enhanced detection limit of 0.5 PFU mL(-1), where the chronoamperometric current increased linearly with H1N1 virus concentration within the range of 1 to 104 PFU mL(-1) (R-2 = 0.99). This microfluidic immunosensor can provide a promising platform for effective detection of biomolecules using minute samples.ope

Vocal tract dynamics shape the formant structure of conditioned vocalizations in a harbor seal

Formants, or resonance frequencies of the upper vocal tract, are an essential part of acoustic communication. Articulatory gestures—such as jaw, tongue, lip, and soft palate movements—shape formant structure in human vocalizations, but little is known about how nonhuman mammals use those gestures to modify formant frequencies. Here, we report a case study with an adult male harbor seal trained to produce an arbitrary vocalization composed of multiple repetitions of the sound wa. We analyzed jaw movements frame-by-frame and matched them to the tracked formant modulation in the corresponding vocalizations. We found that the jaw opening angle was strongly correlated with the first (F1) and, to a lesser degree, with the second formant (F2). F2 variation was better explained by the jaw angle opening when the seal was lying on his back rather than on the belly, which might derive from soft tissue displacement due to gravity. These results show that harbor seals share some common articulatory traits with humans, where the F1 depends more on the jaw position than F2. We propose further in vivo investigations of seals to further test the role of the tongue on formant modulation in mammalian sound production