Gustatory responses of the cockroach, house fly, and gerbils to methyl glycosides

Insecticidal Potential of Two Sugar Alcohols to Musca domestica (Diptera: Muscidae)

Pest management plans for house flies, Musca domestica L. (Diptera: Muscidae), often include insecticides. Because of resistance and environmental concerns with traditional insecticides, safe new pesticides and pesticide formulations are needed. The insecticidal potential of two sugar alcohols, xylitol and erythritol, against adult house flies was assessed. Flies consumed both xylitol and erythritol. The proportion of flies that exhibited the proboscis extension reflex, which is associated with feeding, did not differ significantly between the sugar alcohols and sucrose in an experiment with 20% solutions and older flies, but was less for the sugar alcohols in an experiment with 2M solutions and younger flies. When presented alone or mixed with sucrose, both sugar alcohols significantly decreased fly survival relative to just sucrose. There was a strong negative relationship with concentration and mean days survived for xylitol, but no significant relationship for erythritol or sucrose. Relative to sucrose alone, a temporary exposure to xylitol, but not to erythritol, decreased survival when sucrose was subsequently available. Although xylitol and erythritol can both decrease survival of house flies and would meet the criteria for organic farming, deaths were often not very immediate. However, continued investigation of a variety of sweeteners as feeding-stimulant alternatives to sucrose is still useful, to minimize the risk of house flies evolving resistance to the sugar in baits. Our analysis of already published data on house flies that had been repeatedly exposed to a sucrose-based bait is consistent with the evolution of sucrose-feeding avoidance.

The complete mitochondrial genome of Meriones libycus (Rodentia: Cricetidae) and its phylogenetic analysis

Meriones libycus belongs to the genus Meriones in Gerbillinae, its complete mitochondrial genome is 16,341 bp in length. The heavy strand contains 32.8% A, 13.1% G, 25.3% C, 28.8% T, protein-coding genes approximately accounting for 69.54%. Results of phylogenetic analysis showed that M. libycus and Meriones unguiculatus were clustered together, and it was consistent with that of primary morphological taxonomy. This study verifies the evolutionary status of M. libycus in Meriones at the molecular level. The mitochondrial genome would be a significant supplement for the gene pool of Rodentia and the conclusion of phylogenetic analysis could be an important molecular evidence for the classification of Gerbillinae.