Articles

Quantitatively, this study aimed to determine the abundance and diversity of the insect fauna that visits the staminate and pistillate flowers of <i>Cocos</i><i> nucifera.</i> The study was conducted at an experimental plantation belonging to the Coconut Research Programme (CRP) of the Oil Palm Research Institute (OPRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), to provide diagnostic support for the Cape St. Paul Wilt Disease (CSPWD) at Asebu in the Central Region of Ghana. The populations of coconut palms represented the dwarf type with few tall ecotypes. Five Insects were randomly chosen with newly opened inflorescences. Observations and collections of insect visitors to coconut flowers were made once a week on 30 newly opened inflorescences, five from each batch within the plantation. Specimens of the data were deposited in the official insect collection and processed at the laboratory of the Entomology Museum of the Department of Conservation Biology and Entomology, University of Cape Coast, Ghana. The study indicated that 9 different species of insects were identified to be the true fauna that visited the staminate and pistillate flowers of <i>C. </i><i>nucifera</i><i> </i><i>Ethiosciapus</i><i> sp., </i><i>Sarcophaga</i><i> sp., </i><i>Scolia</i><i> </i><i>dubia</i><i>, </i><i>Lucilia</i><i> sp., </i><i>Ornidia</i><i> sp., </i><i>Apis</i><i> </i><i>melifera</i><i>, </i><i>Dactylurina</i><i> </i><i>standingeri</i><i>,</i> Red Ant and Black Ant. These insects were observed in all the six batches considered and were available at all times of the day. Most of the insects were observed in the early morning from 6 am - 9 am followed by the evening 4 pm –7 pm. The abundance of insect visitors was low during the mid-day (11 a.m. to 3 p.m.) in all six batches during high temperatures. The results of this study revealed that there were abundances of <i>Ethioscipus</i><i> sp. </i>was the least abundant in all the batches followed by <i>Scolia</i><i> </i><i>dubia</i><i> </i>then <i>Sarcophaga</i><i> sp.</i> Red Ants had the highest abundance in most of the Batches thus becoming the most abundant insect that forage the coconut inflorescence at the Asebu plantation. The bees, <i>Apis</i><i> </i><i>melifera</i><i> </i>and<i> </i><i>Dactylurina</i><i> </i><i>standingeri</i><i> </i>were the most abundant species after the Red Ants. All these groups of insects were not considered in the study and it is recommended that further studies consider such visitors to observe which insects are doing what on the inflorescence. The range for the ‘time of day for’ of the study was mostly diurnal (morning 6 am-9 am, afternoon 11 am-2 pm and evening 4 pm7 pm). There was no observation made of the pollination system or activities of these insect visitors nocturnally. There may be high pollination activities of these insects during the late evenings. It is recommended that future work should incorporate the late evening period to observe an abundance of diurnal insect visitors of the coconut inflorescences.<b>Keywords: </b>Insect, Fauna, Staminate, Pistillate Flowers, <i>Cocos</i><i> nucifera</i>

The tick <em>Rhipicephalus microplus</em> (Canestrini 1888) (Acari: Ixodidae) is responsible for considerable economic losses in Brazil. The Chrysopidae family comprises a large number of species, one of the most important being the species <em>Chrysoperla externa</em> (Hagen) (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae). The aim of this study is to describe the incidence of C. externa in <em>R. microplus </em>in Goiás, Brazil. Engorged females of <em>R. microplus</em> collected from naturally infested cattle were taken to the laboratory. For obtaining nymphs and other insects. From November 2013 to October 2014, 151 engorged females belonging to the species <em>R. microplus</em> were collected, from which one specimen of the species<em> C. externa </em>emerged. The percentage of predation was 0.6%.