Meliponine bees are speculated to use a variety of communication mechanisms to effectively recrui... more Meliponine bees are speculated to use a variety of communication mechanisms to effectively recruit workers of a colony to collect sufficient amounts of food to nourish the entire nest population. Mechanisms used to convey such information include thoracic vibrations and trophallaxis within the nest; footprint secretions and pheromone marks deposited in the field, or a combination of these signals and cues. There have been numerous discrepancies about the origin of trail pheromone production from the head, thorax, abdomen and leg regions of meliponine bees. Because the glandular origin of pheromone marks deposited by African meliponine bee’s species has not yet been investigated, we first confirmed if these species actually carry out scent marking and recruitment behaviour at visited food sources. Secondly, we tested if either nasonov or tarsal gland secretions elicited trail-following behaviour in newly recruited bees by means of chemical and electro-physiological analyses as well a...
Journal of Applied Sciences and Environmental Management, 2022
Eucalyptus is one of the exotic tree species used for fuel wood and utility pole purposes in Nort... more Eucalyptus is one of the exotic tree species used for fuel wood and utility pole purposes in Northern Nigeria. The early stages of its plantation establishment face the challenges of insect attack, especially the subterranean termites. The pest status of termites on Eucalyptus tree species is a prerequisite for effective management strategies. This study assessed the pest status of termites on four Eucalyptus tree species: Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Eucalyptus citriodora, Eucalyptus cloeziana and Eucalyptus tereticornis in Afaka, Kaduna State, Nigeria. The four Eucalyptus species were planted in the field in a Randomized Complete Block Design and replicated three times. Seedling mortality counts were taken at 1, 2, 3, 6 and 12 months after transplanting. Mortality data were subjected ANOVA and significant means were separated using Tukey’s HSD (p = 0.05). The results showed that lower significant seedling mortality (9.66 ± 5.3%) was observed in E. camaldulensis at 1 month after trans...
Journal of Research in Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, 2018
Termites are one of the key pests attacking Eucalyptus species and also play important roles in e... more Termites are one of the key pests attacking Eucalyptus species and also play important roles in ecological processes. A better understanding of the roles of termites in ecosystem processes requires information on termite diversity and could also provide useful information to identify noxious species. There is inadequate information on the termite diversity associated with Eucalyptus plantations in Nigeria. Therefore, occurrence and diversity of termite species in four Eucalyptus species plantations in Afaka, Nigeria was investigated. Termite samples were collected from E. camaldulensis , E. cloeziana , E. citriodora and E. tereticornis plantations in five micro-habitats: epigeal mound, leaf litters, wood litters, soil and under stem bark. The results showed that seven termite species, Macrotermes bellicosus , Macrotermes subhyalinus , Odontotermes obesus , Nasutitermes germinatus , Amitermes evuncifer , Microtermes sp., and Ancistrotermes sp., were identified from the four Eucalyptu...
The grain-sucking bug, Stenocoris elegans Blöte (Hemiptera: Alydidae), is an important rice pest ... more The grain-sucking bug, Stenocoris elegans Blöte (Hemiptera: Alydidae), is an important rice pest in West Africa. Investigation on its developmental biology is important to provide the base and possibility to bring forth further research for the improvement of the pest management strategy. The developmental biology of S. elegans was investigated on upland rice variety IDSA 10 in the laboratory in Ibadan, Nigeria. The results showed that pre-oviposition and post-oviposition periods were 9.9 ± 0.49 and 6.1 ± 1.17 days, respectively, under ambient temperature and relative humidity. A mated female of S. elegans laid an average of 135.1 eggs during an oviposition period of 33.5 days. The average egg incubation period was 7.9 ± 0.3 days. There were five nymphal instars, and the total developmental period (first instar to adult) averaged 18.0 days. An over-all mean growth ratio of 1.29 was recorded for this species. A regular relationship existed between measurements of nymphal vertex and t...
Insects visit flowers for several reasons, the predominant reason being for food. Jatropha curcas... more Insects visit flowers for several reasons, the predominant reason being for food. Jatropha curcas is a flowering plant that attracts different insect visitors for pollination. Three insect pollinators, Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae), Chrysomya chloropyga (Diptera: Calliphoridae) and Eristalis tenax (Diptera: Syrphidae) were observed on J. curcas in Samaru – Zaria, Northwestern Nigeria. It was observed that the population of C. chloropyga was higher than A. mellifera and E. tenax. The foraging number of the three species reached the peak in the third week of observation, a period coinciding with the floral boom of J. curcas in the locality. The foraging number of A. mellifera (3.09±1.3) was high in the morning hours, C. chloropyga (13.66±3.95) in the afternoon while E. tenax was active in the morning (1.23±0.56) and afternoon (1.83±0.7). A. mellifera spent less time (10.9±0.60 s) on Jatropha inflorescence than C. chloropyga (10.2±0.69 s) and E. tenax (6.9±0.69 s). Jatropha farm...
Forest Insect Museum Ibadan (FIMI) is both institutional and public research museum holding about... more Forest Insect Museum Ibadan (FIMI) is both institutional and public research museum holding about 40,123 forest insect specimens consisting of 1,512 species, 97 families and 10 orders from all parts of Nigeria and beyond. FIMI is run by the Entomology section, Department of Forest Conservation and Protection, Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria. The insect collections in the museum came from routine forest explorations by research scientists, donations, fauna projects and field survey. Subsequently, more collections have been added to the museum by research students from universities and private collections. The volume of insect specimens in FIMI continues to grow regularly. The aim of FIMI is to identify, preserve, and monitor the distribution and status of forest insect in Nigeria and other parts of Africa through insect collection and proper documentation of various taxa with inventories, fauna projects and research work. The dataset presently holds 503 records of Lepidoptera ...
Forest Insect Museum Ibadan (FIMI) is both institutional and public research museum holding about... more Forest Insect Museum Ibadan (FIMI) is both institutional and public research museum holding about 40,123 forest insect specimens consisting of 1,512 species, 97 families and 10 orders from all parts of Nigeria and beyond. FIMI is run by the Entomology section, Department of Forest Conservation and Protection, Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria. The insect collections in the museum came from routine forest explorations by research scientists, donations, fauna projects and field survey. Subsequently, more collections have been added to the museum by research students from universities and private collections. The volume of insect specimens in FIMI continues to grow regularly. The aim of FIMI is to identify, preserve, and monitor the distribution and status of forest insect in Nigeria and other parts of Africa through insect collection and proper documentation of various taxa with inventories, fauna projects and research work. The dataset presently holds 503 records of Lepidoptera ...
The study was conducted in Afaka, Northern Guinea Savanna of Nigeria to determine the spatial dis... more The study was conducted in Afaka, Northern Guinea Savanna of Nigeria to determine the spatial distribution patterns of the populations of Ancistrotermes sp. and Microtermes sp. in Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh, Eucalyptus citriodora Hook, Eucalyptus cloeziana F. and Eucalyptus tereticornis Muell plantations. Spatial distributions patterns of the two termite species populations were determined using indices such as ratios of population variance to mean, Lloyd’s index, Green coefficient, Taylor power and Iwao’s regression models. The values of variance to mean ratios, Lloyd’s index and Green coefficient showed that the populations of both termite species had aggregated distribution pattern in all the Eucalyptus species plantations. The distribution patterns of Ancistrotermes and Microtermes differed using Taylor’s and Iwao regression models. The values of R 2 in Taylor’s model ranged from 0.02 to 0.99 for Ancistrotermes sp. and 0.29 to 0.99 for Microtermes sp., while in Iwao’s model,...
Meliponine bees are speculated to use a variety of communication mechanisms to effectively recrui... more Meliponine bees are speculated to use a variety of communication mechanisms to effectively recruit workers of a colony to collect sufficient amounts of food to nourish the entire nest population. Mechanisms used to convey such information include thoracic vibrations and trophallaxis within the nest; footprint secretions and pheromone marks deposited in the field, or a combination of these signals and cues. There have been numerous discrepancies about the origin of trail pheromone production from the head, thorax, abdomen and leg regions of meliponine bees. Because the glandular origin of pheromone marks deposited by African meliponine bee’s species has not yet been investigated, we first confirmed if these species actually carry out scent marking and recruitment behaviour at visited food sources. Secondly, we tested if either nasonov or tarsal gland secretions elicited trail-following behaviour in newly recruited bees by means of chemical and electro-physiological analyses as well a...
Journal of Applied Sciences and Environmental Management, 2022
Eucalyptus is one of the exotic tree species used for fuel wood and utility pole purposes in Nort... more Eucalyptus is one of the exotic tree species used for fuel wood and utility pole purposes in Northern Nigeria. The early stages of its plantation establishment face the challenges of insect attack, especially the subterranean termites. The pest status of termites on Eucalyptus tree species is a prerequisite for effective management strategies. This study assessed the pest status of termites on four Eucalyptus tree species: Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Eucalyptus citriodora, Eucalyptus cloeziana and Eucalyptus tereticornis in Afaka, Kaduna State, Nigeria. The four Eucalyptus species were planted in the field in a Randomized Complete Block Design and replicated three times. Seedling mortality counts were taken at 1, 2, 3, 6 and 12 months after transplanting. Mortality data were subjected ANOVA and significant means were separated using Tukey’s HSD (p = 0.05). The results showed that lower significant seedling mortality (9.66 ± 5.3%) was observed in E. camaldulensis at 1 month after trans...
Journal of Research in Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, 2018
Termites are one of the key pests attacking Eucalyptus species and also play important roles in e... more Termites are one of the key pests attacking Eucalyptus species and also play important roles in ecological processes. A better understanding of the roles of termites in ecosystem processes requires information on termite diversity and could also provide useful information to identify noxious species. There is inadequate information on the termite diversity associated with Eucalyptus plantations in Nigeria. Therefore, occurrence and diversity of termite species in four Eucalyptus species plantations in Afaka, Nigeria was investigated. Termite samples were collected from E. camaldulensis , E. cloeziana , E. citriodora and E. tereticornis plantations in five micro-habitats: epigeal mound, leaf litters, wood litters, soil and under stem bark. The results showed that seven termite species, Macrotermes bellicosus , Macrotermes subhyalinus , Odontotermes obesus , Nasutitermes germinatus , Amitermes evuncifer , Microtermes sp., and Ancistrotermes sp., were identified from the four Eucalyptu...
The grain-sucking bug, Stenocoris elegans Blöte (Hemiptera: Alydidae), is an important rice pest ... more The grain-sucking bug, Stenocoris elegans Blöte (Hemiptera: Alydidae), is an important rice pest in West Africa. Investigation on its developmental biology is important to provide the base and possibility to bring forth further research for the improvement of the pest management strategy. The developmental biology of S. elegans was investigated on upland rice variety IDSA 10 in the laboratory in Ibadan, Nigeria. The results showed that pre-oviposition and post-oviposition periods were 9.9 ± 0.49 and 6.1 ± 1.17 days, respectively, under ambient temperature and relative humidity. A mated female of S. elegans laid an average of 135.1 eggs during an oviposition period of 33.5 days. The average egg incubation period was 7.9 ± 0.3 days. There were five nymphal instars, and the total developmental period (first instar to adult) averaged 18.0 days. An over-all mean growth ratio of 1.29 was recorded for this species. A regular relationship existed between measurements of nymphal vertex and t...
Insects visit flowers for several reasons, the predominant reason being for food. Jatropha curcas... more Insects visit flowers for several reasons, the predominant reason being for food. Jatropha curcas is a flowering plant that attracts different insect visitors for pollination. Three insect pollinators, Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae), Chrysomya chloropyga (Diptera: Calliphoridae) and Eristalis tenax (Diptera: Syrphidae) were observed on J. curcas in Samaru – Zaria, Northwestern Nigeria. It was observed that the population of C. chloropyga was higher than A. mellifera and E. tenax. The foraging number of the three species reached the peak in the third week of observation, a period coinciding with the floral boom of J. curcas in the locality. The foraging number of A. mellifera (3.09±1.3) was high in the morning hours, C. chloropyga (13.66±3.95) in the afternoon while E. tenax was active in the morning (1.23±0.56) and afternoon (1.83±0.7). A. mellifera spent less time (10.9±0.60 s) on Jatropha inflorescence than C. chloropyga (10.2±0.69 s) and E. tenax (6.9±0.69 s). Jatropha farm...
Forest Insect Museum Ibadan (FIMI) is both institutional and public research museum holding about... more Forest Insect Museum Ibadan (FIMI) is both institutional and public research museum holding about 40,123 forest insect specimens consisting of 1,512 species, 97 families and 10 orders from all parts of Nigeria and beyond. FIMI is run by the Entomology section, Department of Forest Conservation and Protection, Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria. The insect collections in the museum came from routine forest explorations by research scientists, donations, fauna projects and field survey. Subsequently, more collections have been added to the museum by research students from universities and private collections. The volume of insect specimens in FIMI continues to grow regularly. The aim of FIMI is to identify, preserve, and monitor the distribution and status of forest insect in Nigeria and other parts of Africa through insect collection and proper documentation of various taxa with inventories, fauna projects and research work. The dataset presently holds 503 records of Lepidoptera ...
Forest Insect Museum Ibadan (FIMI) is both institutional and public research museum holding about... more Forest Insect Museum Ibadan (FIMI) is both institutional and public research museum holding about 40,123 forest insect specimens consisting of 1,512 species, 97 families and 10 orders from all parts of Nigeria and beyond. FIMI is run by the Entomology section, Department of Forest Conservation and Protection, Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria. The insect collections in the museum came from routine forest explorations by research scientists, donations, fauna projects and field survey. Subsequently, more collections have been added to the museum by research students from universities and private collections. The volume of insect specimens in FIMI continues to grow regularly. The aim of FIMI is to identify, preserve, and monitor the distribution and status of forest insect in Nigeria and other parts of Africa through insect collection and proper documentation of various taxa with inventories, fauna projects and research work. The dataset presently holds 503 records of Lepidoptera ...
The study was conducted in Afaka, Northern Guinea Savanna of Nigeria to determine the spatial dis... more The study was conducted in Afaka, Northern Guinea Savanna of Nigeria to determine the spatial distribution patterns of the populations of Ancistrotermes sp. and Microtermes sp. in Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh, Eucalyptus citriodora Hook, Eucalyptus cloeziana F. and Eucalyptus tereticornis Muell plantations. Spatial distributions patterns of the two termite species populations were determined using indices such as ratios of population variance to mean, Lloyd’s index, Green coefficient, Taylor power and Iwao’s regression models. The values of variance to mean ratios, Lloyd’s index and Green coefficient showed that the populations of both termite species had aggregated distribution pattern in all the Eucalyptus species plantations. The distribution patterns of Ancistrotermes and Microtermes differed using Taylor’s and Iwao regression models. The values of R 2 in Taylor’s model ranged from 0.02 to 0.99 for Ancistrotermes sp. and 0.29 to 0.99 for Microtermes sp., while in Iwao’s model,...
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