Dynamics of the natural enemy community of Hyphantria cunea (Lepidoptera: Erebidae) in Dandong, China.

This study aims to explore the composition of natural enemy species in the fall webworm, Hyphantria cunea (Drury) population and the dynamics of its natural enemy community in Dandong, Liaoning Province, China, where it was first reported. We collected the natural enemy of eggs, larvae, and pupae of H. cunea on host trees at 12 survey sites from June 2019 to October 2020. The results showed that the community consists of 34 species: 20 predatory species, including 15 spiders and 5 insects, and 14 parasitic species, including 10 parasitic wasps and 4 parasitic flies. The top 3 dominant species based on the importance value index for both parasitic and predatory species were Pediobius pupariae > Chouioia cunea > Cotesia gregalis in the natural enemy community of H. cunea. Analysis of all 3 principal components by principal component analysis showed that Clubionidae sp. 1, Parena cavipennis, or other predators were the main factors affecting the natural enemy community. Analysis of the community structure parameters of the H. cunea natural enemy community in different developmental stages across generations revealed the following: (i) Compared with the degree of complexity of the egg and pupal stages, the larval stage was the highest. (ii) The complexity was determined by means of comprehensive evaluation: first-generation larvae in 2020 > first-generation larvae in 2019 > second-generation larvae in 2020 > second-generation larvae in 2019. These results clarify the dynamics of natural enemy species, coevolution with the host in the invaded habitat of H. cunea and development of biological control technologies.

Diapause Induction, Color Changes, and Supercooling Point of Diapause Larvae of Tetrastichus septentrionalis Yang (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae).

The chalcid wasp Tetrastichus septentrionalis Yang (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) is one of the dominant pupal parasitoids of Hyphantria cunea (Drury) (Lepidoptera: Erebidae). In this study, the photoperiod's effect on diapause induction in T. septentrionalis using the alternative host Tenebrio molitor was measured, revealing that T. septentrionalis is of the long-day type. The critical photoperiods for diapause induction in T. septentrionalis were estimated to be between photoperiods of 13:11 and 14:10 (L:D) h at 18 °C, and between photoperiods of 12:12 and 13:11 (L:D) h at 21 °C and 24 °C. We also found that T. septentrionalis diapausing larvae were grey-brown, while normally developed (non-diapausing) individuals were light yellow. The diapause-sensitive insect state was the larval stage, and the short light exposure treatment had a significant cumulative effect on diapause induction. The least squares method was used to calculate a lower developmental threshold of 13.34 ± 0.50 °C and an effective cumulative temperature of 184.46 ± 11.46 d·°C for post-diapause development. The average supercooling point of diapausing mature larvae was significantly lower than that of non-diapausing ones. Our research on T. septentrionalis provides a reference for the biological control of H. cunea and other leaf-eating pests.

The Drug H+ Antiporter FgQdr2 Is Essential for Multiple Drug Resistance, Ion Homeostasis, and Pathogenicity in Fusarium graminearum.

Increased emergence of drug resistance and DON pollution pose a severe problem in Fusarium head blight (FHB) control. While the H+ antiporter (DHA) family plays crucial roles in drug resistance, the characterization of DHA transporters has not been systematically studied in pathogenetic fungi. In this study, a systematic gene deletion analysis of all putative DHA transporter genes was carried out in Fusarium graminearum, and one DHA1 transporter FgQdr2 was found to be involved in multiple drug resistance, ion homeostasis, and virulence. Further exploration showed that FgQdr2 is mainly localized in the cell membrane; its expression under normal growth conditions is comparatively low, but sufficient for the regulation of drug efflux. Additionally, investigation of its physiological substrates demonstrated that FgQdr2 is essential for the transport of K+, Na+, Cu2+, and the regulation of the membrane proton gradient. For its roles in the FHB disease cycle, FgQdr2 is associated with fungal infection via regulating the biosynthesis of virulence factor deoxynivalenol (DON), the scavenging of the phytoalexin, as well as both asexual and sexual reproduction in F. graminearum. Overall, the results of this study reveal the crucial roles of FgQdr2 in multiple drug resistance, ion homeostasis, and pathogenicity, which advance the understanding of the DHA transporters in pathogenetic fungi.

Theoretical analysis of superadiabatic combustion for non-stationary filtration combustion by excess enthalpy function.

The superadiabatic combustion for non-stationary filtration combustion is analytically studied. The non-dimensional excess enthalpy function (H) equation is theoretically derived based on a one-dimensional, two-temperature model. In contrast to the H equation for the stationary filtration combustion, a new term, which takes into account the effect of non-dimensional combustion wave speed, is included in the H equation for transient filtration combustion. The governing equations with boundary conditions are solved by commercial software Fluent. The predictions show that the maximum non-dimensional gas and solid temperatures in the flame zone are greater than 3 for equivalence ratio of 0.15. An examination of the four source terms in the H equation indicates that the thermal conductivity ratio ( Γ s ) between the solid and gas phases is the dominant one among the four terms and basically determines H distribution. For lean premixed combustion in porous media, the superadiabatic combustion effect is more pronounced for the lower Γ s .

Pore-Level Study of Syngas Production From Fuel-Rich Partial Oxidation in a Simplified Two-Layer Burner.

We performed pore-level simulation of fuel-rich partial oxidation of a CO2/CH4 mixture in a two-dimensional porous burner with staggered arrangement of discrete particles. The chemistry was treated with detailed chemical kinetics GRI-Mech 1.2, and surface-to-surface radiation was taken into account by the discrete ordinates (DO) model. The predicted results were validated against the available experimental data and results by the volume-averaged method. The predicted main syngas products (CO, H2, and CO2) agreed well with the experimental data for the whole investigation range; it indicated that the pore-level simulation could precisely predict syngas productions from fuel-rich partial oxidation in a two-layer burner with the simplified arrangement of porous media. Variations of species, temperature, and velocity within the pores were presented and discussed. The predicted molar fractions of CO, H2, CO2, H2O, etc. over the pores between particles were highly two-dimensional; the flame thickness was on the order of the particle diameter (2.5 mm) and smaller than the particle diameter. The predicted area-weighted average temperatures were greater than the experiments due to the ignorance of the heat loss to the surroundings through burner walls. The effect of CO2 adding on syngas production is examined.

Experimental and numerical studies on combustion characteristics of N2-diluted CH4 and O2 diffusion combustion in a packed bed.

Experimental and numerical studies were conducted to determine the combustion characteristics of gas diffusion combustion in a porous combustor packed with 2.5 mm or 3.5 mm alumina pellets, special attention being focused on the effect of packed bed height (h) on combustion, NO and CO emissions. The pollutant emission of diffusion filtration combustion is studied with different packed bed lengths in the range of 40 mm ≤ h ≤ 240 mm, fixed excess air ratio of 1.88 and fixed gas inlet velocity of 0.06 m s-1. Results show that both immersed and surface flames coexist in the combustor. Although porous media enhance the mixing and diffusion processes, the diffusion flame shape is still observed from the side and top views of the combustor, and the diffusion filtration retains properties of diffusion combustion. The immersed flame is always observed with increase in h, whereas the height of surface flame decreases. The NO emission decreases sharply when h is increased from 40 mm to 120 mm. However, the NO emission decreases slightly when h > 120 mm. In the investigated range of h, it is shown that h has a significant influence on the CO emission, an increase in h leading to a constant increase in CO for the combustors packed with 2.5 mm or 3.5 mm pellets. The maximum CO emission is 662 ppm and the minimum value is 67 ppm. In the scope of this study, the temperature on the external wall of the combustor reaches 434-513°C.

Influence of Chemical Kinetics on Predictions of Performance of Syngas Production From Fuel-Rich Combustion of CO2/CH4 Mixture in a Two-Layer Burner.

Numerical investigations on partial oxidation combustion of CO2/CH4 mixture were executed for a two-layer burner using a two-dimensional two-temperature model with different detailed chemical reaction mechanisms that are DRM 19, GRI-Mech 1. 2, and GRI-Mech 3.0. Attention was focused on the influence of these mechanisms on predictions of the temperature distributions in the burner, chemical structure as well as syngas production. The equivalence ratio was a fixed value of 1.5, while the volumetric ratio of CO2 to CH4 was changed from 0 to 1. The predicted results were compared with the available experimental data. It was revealed that the chemical reaction mechanisms have little effect on the temperature distribution in the burner except for the exothermic zone. It indicted that the smaller kinetic DRM 19 can precisely predict the temperature distributions in the burner, using DRM 19 was recommended to save computational time when the detailed components of the syngas was not taken into consideration. In addition, all the three mechanisms predicted the same trend of molar fraction of CO, H2, and CO2 with experimental results. Good agreement between the experiment and predictions of major species was obtained by GRI-Mech 1.2 and GRI-Mech 3.0, the two mechanisms had the same accuracy in predicting CO, H2, and CO2 production. However, computations with DRM 19 under-predicted the molar fraction of CO and H2. Furthermore, it was shown that the thermal conductivity of porous media has significant effect on the syngas production. In general, the temperature was increased as the thermal conductivity of the porous media was reduced and the H2 production was increased.

An experimental study on coflow diffusion combustion in a pellet-packed bed with different bed lengths.

In experimental investigations on axial symmetry, over-ventilated CH4/air diffusion combustion in a packed bed is executed to study the height, shape and stability of the flame. The combustor is a quartz tube packed with alumina pellets in which a cylindrical fuel stream is surrounded by a coflow air nozzle. The results show that the bed length and pellet diameter have a significant influence on the flame properties. In general, the flame above the pellet surface has axial symmetry, and its shape and colour are similar to those of a conventional diffusion flame when the bed length is smaller. The colour of the flame front varies with the bed length. The changed colour indicates an increased flame front temperature and that the combustion regime above the bed surface may change from non-premixed combustion to partially premixed combustion or even premixed combustion owing to the mix and dispersion effect in the packed bed. In addition, multiple flame behaviours, such as an inclined flame front, isolated reaction zone and oscillatory motion followed by a pulsating sound with a few hertz in a packed bed, are observed experimentally. The possible reasons for these phenomena are discussed.