Fatal Food: Silver-Coated Grain Particles Display Larvicidal Activity in Culex quinquefasciatus.

Mosquitoes pose a significant risk to millions of people worldwide since they can transmit pathogens. Current methods to control mosquito populations include the use of synthetic pesticides. Nanotechnology may be a solution to develop new mosquito control. However, one barrier to expanding the impact of nanomaterials is the ability to mass-produce the particles. Here, we report a novel hybrid particle synthesis combining micro- and nanoparticles using the coprecipitation technique with the potential for mass production. These particles may have applications as a mosquito larvacide. The particles reported here were designed using a microparticle zein polymer as the core and a nanoparticle silver as the active ingredient. The hybrid NPs reported here targeted a late-stage mosquito larvae and that resulted in a high larval mortality concentration (1.0 ppm, LC90) and suppression of pupal emergence at 0.1 ppm. This research demonstrates the efficacy of a plant-based core with a metal-based AI coating (AgNPs) against larval mosquitoes.

Spatial distribution of Aphis glycines (Hemiptera: Aphididae): a summary of the suction trap network.

The soybean aphid, Aphis glycines Matsumura (Hemiptera: Aphididae), is an economically important pest of soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merrill, in the United States. Phenological information of A. glycines is limited; specifically, little is known about factors guiding migrating aphids and potential impacts of long distance flights on local population dynamics. Increasing our understanding of A. glycines population dynamics may improve predictions of A. glycines outbreaks and improve management efforts. In 2005 a suction trap network was established in seven Midwest states to monitor the occurrence of alates. By 2006, this network expanded to 10 states and consisted of 42 traps. The goal of the STN was to monitor movement of A. glycines from their overwintering host Rhamnus spp. to soybean in spring, movement among soybean fields during summer, and emigration from soybean to Rhamnus in fall. The objective of this study was to infer movement patterns of A. glycines on a regional scale based on trap captures, and determine the suitability of certain statistical methods for future analyses. Overall, alates were not commonly collected in suction traps until June. The most alates were collected during a 3-wk period in the summer (late July to mid-August), followed by the fall, with a peak capture period during the last 2 wk of September. Alate captures were positively correlated with latitude, a pattern consistent with the distribution of Rhamnus in the United States, suggesting that more southern regions are infested by immigrants from the north.