Biological control of indianmeal moth and rice weevil by parasitoids with reference to the intraspecific competition pattern.

Biological control of rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae (L.), and Indianmeal moth, Plodia interpunctella (Hübner), by their parasitoids Anisopteromalus calandrae (Howard) and Bracon hebetor Say was examined while considering the intraspecific competition pattern of the pests. In both experimental and simulation studies, A. calandrae was shown to suppress the rice weevil population, a contest type competitor, regardless of the parasitoid/weevil ratios tested. In contrast, B. hebetor only significantly suppressed the Indianmeal moth, a scramble type competitor, when the parasitoid/moth ratio was >0.05. At ratios lower than 0.05, the role of B. hebetor was negligible, and the correlation coefficients between the number of moths that had emerged and the parasitoid/moth ratio was estimated to be 0.07. The control efficiency of the two parasitoids with respect to the parasitoid/host ratio was estimated using a ratio-response model. To suppress the weevil density to a level that was only 10% of the current density, the ratio was estimated to be 0.02, whereas this value was 0.14 for the Indianmeal moth. However, for the continuous suppression of the Indianmeal moth, periodic and iterative introduction of B. hebetor was required.

Effects of biological control of rice weevil by Anisopteromalus calandrae with a population of two Aspergillus spp.

In this study, we assessed the interaction occurring between the rice weevil and two storage molds (Aspergillus candidus Link and Aspergillus niger Van Tiegem) that prefer different moisture regimens under rice storage conditions. Rice weevil induced rapid population growth in both of the storage molds. The colony forming units (CFUs) of A. candidus and A. niger peaked at 10(9.00 +/- 0.02) and 10(7.72 +/- 0.03)/g, respectively. All of the rice grains were infested with the molds and eventually deteriorated; in the jars infested with A. candidus, no living weevils were found after 135 d. Suppression of the rice weevil by its larval parasitoid, Anisopteromalus calandrae (Howard), significantly retarded the growth of A. candidus but completely halted the growth of A. niger, which was replaced by xerophyllic molds including Aspergillus penicilloides Spegazzini and Wallemia sebi (Fries). Regression analyses showed that the total number of weevils was a significant factor explaining grain moisture content, which was in turn a significant factor in the growth of both mold species. The growth of A. niger was dependent on the grain moisture content (r2 = 0.52), thereby suggesting that the growth of A. niger was caused primarily by activity of the rice weevil and the resulting increased grain moisture content. However, 27% of the growth of A. candidus was explained by grain moisture contents, suggesting that a factor other than the grain moisture content may also affect its growth. Suppression of rice weevil by A. calandrae could induce an A. candidus-dominant molds community, which would be a factor for consideration in biological control program.

Life-history trade-offs of Paronychiurus kimi (Lee) (Collembola: Onychiuridae) populations exposed to paraquat.

The demography of Paronychiurus kimi, a dominant collembolan in paddy fields of Korea, was quantified for four treatments of the herbicide paraquat (0, 1.6, 16, 160 and 1600 microg/cm(2)) in a controlled environment using plaster-of-Paris as the test substrate. The survival rate of adults and the reproductive fitness of P. kimi were not affected by paraquat except at the highest dosage (1600 microg/cm(2)), when fed baker's yeast and reared on plaster-charcoal substrate. However, results of life-history experiments suggest that fitness was maintained by a tradeoff between fecundity and reproductive period. It is suggested that these are potential life-history tradeoffs of Collembola that were exposed to the manufacturer's recommended concentration of paraquat (16 microg/cm(2)).

Populations of fungi and bacteria associated with samples of stored rice in Korea.

Stored rice was collected from rice processing complexes of National Agricultural Cooperative Federation of 11 regions in Korea to evaluate the occurrence of fungi and bacteria and to identify the predominant fungi and bacteria to the genus levels. Most rice samples generally produced the higher levels of fungi and bacteria than white rice. The occurrence of fungi and bacteria varied in various locations of Korea. Among fungi observed, Aspergillus spp. and Penicillium spp. were dominant in the samples and Aspergillus spp. were observed more frequently than Penicillium spp. Predominant bacteria from rice and white rice samples tentatively belonged to the Genus Bacillus, Pectobacterium, Pantoea, and Microbacterium according to BIOLOG and FAME analyses. The results of this study showed that rice in Korea was contaminated in a relatively high level by two dominant storage fungi such as Aspergillus spp. and Penicillium spp. In addition, occurrence of mycotoxins in rice by the fungi could be possible and thus it is necessary to control the storage fungi.