Giant African snail (Achatina fulica Bowdich).

The occurrence of great African snail, Achatina fulica, in Nagpur (India) in recent times and its eco-biology, pestiferous nature, uses and control methods are described in this paper.

Food poisoning and house gecko: myth or reality?

The reason behind the food-poisoning due to felling of house geckos in eatables is described in this paper. House geckos are known to carry various types of pathogens in their bodies which cause food-poisoning after consuming the contaminated foods. Since these geckos are non-poisonous, the food poisoning due to their presence in food is not possible.

Avifauna in the Panipat Region, Haryana (India).

Avifaunal study was carried out in the Panipat region, Haryana (India) at 56 locations. 91 birds species were observed during the study, of which, 39 species were aquatic. House sparrow was found to be dominant followed by bank myna, house crow and Indian myna. Among the aquatic birds, cattle egret was dominant followed by common pochard, pintail and blackwinged stilt. Encounter rates of the birds were related to the dominant indices of each species. Species diversity index was found to be 10.25 which showed the richness of avifauna in the region. Majority of birds were insectivorous followed by piscivorous. The study reveals the occurrence of more birds, especially aquatic ones, after the commissioning of the refinery.

Diversity of birds at Panipat refinery, Haryana (India).

Avifaunal study was carried out in Panipat refinery area before and after commissioning. A total of 63 birds were observed during the study, of which 39 and 49 birds were present during 1992 and 2001 respectively. Of these, 25 birds were common during both the study period. Blue rock pigeon was most dominant during 1992 whereas house sparrow was dominant during 2001. Species diversity index was found to be 5.26 and 6.64 in respective years. Jaccard's and Sorenson similarity indices were 0.40 and 0.57 respectively. Majority of birds were insectivorous in habits followed by granivorous birds in 1992 and piscivorous birds in 2001. The study reveals that less diversity was observed in 1992 when Panipat refinery was commissioned, but more birds especially aquatic ones were observed after the commissioning of the refinery. This has been attributed to increase in birds habitats due to developments of wetlands in and outside refinery, development of green belt around refinery and increase in green cover of area due to boosting of agroforestry and social forestry.

Impact of some chlorinated pesticides on the haematology of the fish Cyprinus carpio and Puntius ticto.

The effects of pesticides on blood characteristics and histological changes in erythrocytes of the fish species Cyprinus carpio and Puntius ticto were studied. The fishes were exposed to sub lethal concentrations of different chlorinated pesticides namely aldrin, dieldrin, DDT, BHC and chlordane for 10, 20 and 30 d in continuous flow-through test. The LC50 values were calculated based on acute toxicity tests and the sublethal doses were arrived at for chronic bioassay studies. Results showed an increase in haemoglobin content of both Cyprinus carpio and Puntius ticto in case of aldrin and dieldrin. Haemoglobin content reduced from an initial 13 g/100 ml to 8.07 and 10.15 g/100 ml in case of Cyprinus at the end of ten days exposure to aldrin and dieldrin respectively, and gradually increased to 8.7 g/100 ml and 10.15 g/100 ml after 20 d of exposure. The haemoglobin content after 30 d exposure to aldrin and dieldrin was 10.15 g/100 ml and 11.6 g/100 ml respectively. In case of Puntius ticto, the haemoglobin content in control fishes recorded was 12.8 g/100 ml while in case of fish exposed to aldrin, the haemoglobin content reduced initially on ten days exposure to 10.15 g/100 ml and increased to 11.6 g/100 ml and 13.0 g/100 ml during twenty days and thirty days exposure respectively. This trend was also observed with dieldrin in both the fishes studied. Red blood cells were also counted in case of all the pesticides and exposure periods with respect to Cyprinus carpio and Puntius ticto. Irrespective of the species and pesticide, the RBC counts uniformly showed decreasing trend with the increase in exposure period, while packed cell volume, PCV(%) showed increasing trend with respect to increase in exposure period in case of aldrin and dieldrin in both the fishes. But DDT, BHC and chlordane showed decreasing trend in PCV(%) values with increasing periods of exposure.