Soil is defined in a number of ways (Muller, 1960). It is regarded as the biochemically weathered portion of the regolith (Lyon et al., 1952:3) and as possessing, among other properties, certain "biological characteristics" (Joffe, 1936:37; Handley, 1954:1). From a zoological point of view Drift's (1951:6) definition of soil is adequate. [...]

<p> Molecular gut-content analysis is an established and increasingly important approach for tracking arthropod predation in the field. Previously, it is difficult to know what hemipteran generalist predators consume because there are no pieces of prey in their gut that could be identified following dissection. However, DNA of the prey item is present in a predator's gut for a certain amount of time. In order to relate the proportion of predator individuals found to contain pest DNA to the number of pests eaten over a given time period, it is necessary to determine how long pest DNA can be detected after predation has occurred. Studies were done to explore consumption of <i>Geocoris </i> and <i>Nabis</i> with green peach aphids and Colorado potato beetles.</p>

Abstract Not Available.

The Ephemeroidea or burrowing mayflies are a superfamily of the Ephemeroptera (mayflies) with a worldwide distribution. Recent decades have seen a sharp decline in their abundance globally. Literature reviews of the past 20 years have shown this superfamily to be well represented on the Mooi River, KwaZulu-Natal- five species (Eatonica schoutedeni, Ephemera mooiana, Afromera natalensis, Afroplocia sampsoni and Ephoron savignyi) were recorded during the 20th century. However recent fieldwork failed to confirm this professed diversity, recording only two species (Afromera natalensis and Ephoron savignyi). This work critically re-examined all of the literature relating to the Ephemeroidea of Africa (in the context of the five species recorded from KwaZuluNatal) published in Africa and Europe (as well as many publications from the rest of the world) during the 19th and 20th century. It was found that a number of oversights were made in much of this literature that have become assimilated into the understanding of the taxonomy and ecology of this group. Amongst these, it was found that the synonymisation of three species of Ephoron ( = Polymitarcys-Polymitarcys savignyi, P. capensis and P. temerata) in the 1920s was weakly justified. To clarify problems in the published record relating to the five species recorded from KwaZulu-Natal, some of the most important museum holdings in Europe and South Africa were re-examined. Two previously unknown collections of Ephemera sp. were found in European museums. One of these collections was made in West Africa, undermining theories that Ephemera sp. are only found in cold waters. This research confirmed that the records for Eatonica schoutedeni in KwaZulu-Natal are probably spurious, the result of misidentification. This work presents a review of the publications relating to each of the species of the Ephemeroidea recorded from KwaZulu-Natal. Lists of synonyms are provided. Descriptions from literature and museum specimens are given. The known distribution and biology of each is presented. The current status of the Ephemeroidea of KwaZulu-Natal are discussed and a new key to the species of Kwazulu-Natal is presented. In order to assess the purported diversity of Ephemeroidea in the rivers of the KwaZulu-Natal midlands, extensive fieldwork was carried out the Mooi River and on other tributaries of the Tugela and Mgeni rivers from 1998 to 2000. This investigation failed to reveal four of the five species indicated in the literature. The sole species that was found, Ephoron savignyi was abundant in some areas of the Mooi and Karkloof Rivers. This apparent drop in diversity may be because the sampling effort carried out from 1998 to 2000 was too limited in time and space to gather specimens of all the species resident in the river, or because environmental changes in the region in the last 50 years have resulted in the extirpation of any or all of the remaining four species. It is concluded that the records of Eatonica schoutedeni from KwaZulu-Natal are spurious; Ephemera mooiana is either not the only species in the genus Ephemera on the continent of Africa, or has a substantially wider distribution than previously thought; Afromera natalensis and Afroplocia sampsoni may be present on the rivers of KwaZulu-Natal but have not been found during this research; Ephoron spp. are abundant in KwaZulu-Natal, but further research is required to confirm that the species in South Africa are the same as those originally recorded from the type locality, Egypt. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu- Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - Carleton University, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 88-121). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-07, Section: B, page: 4244. Adviser: Bettina M. Francis. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 57-63) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Biology, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Jul 27, 2009). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-11, Section: B, page: 6633. Adviser: Curtis M. Lively.

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Master of Science / Department of Biological & Agricultural Engineering / Daniel Flippo / This document presents two distinct designs for tools with potential to improve the efficacy of using multirotor aerial systems in agricultural research. I show design methods and results for constructing electrical, mechanical, and software subsystems capable of working in concert to achieve functional results in each design case. The first presented design is a device capable of remotely collecting pest samples directly from a multirotor to improve the speed and efficiency with which researchers and observe and respond to insect infestations. Design concepts, potential improvements, and construction methods are discussed culminating in the presentation of a prototype. The second design presented here is a printed circuit board for integration of a GNSS receiver with Real Time Kinematic correction capability, an IMU for orientation estimation, and a microcontroller with firmware to support, condition, and log data outputs. The purpose of this design is to provide precise logs of position and orientation of an aircraft and attached camera while collecting images of cropland. This reference data allows precise and accurate geolocation of the images and permits them to be stitched together into a composite map of cropland without requirements for overlap in the content of each individual image. Reduction in required image overlap allows composite aerial images of cropland to be constructed with far less flight time and research expenditure. The development and basic functionality of the device is discussed here. Deeper analysis of performance and applications of this technology is reserved for future publications.

Forensic entomology is an emergjng field in South Africa. Little is known about South African blowflies and factors that affect their use in a forensic context. This work provides a review and synthesis of previous work in South Africa and supplements some of the background and basic knowledge required for forensic entomology in South Africa. The seasonal occurrence of eight forensicaIIy important blowfly species was quantified by fortnightly trapping in Grahamstown, South Africa. The spatial distribution of each species was related to seasonal occurrence and habitat preference. Seasonal distributions of blowflies in carcasses in South Africa were obtained from the literature and compared to the seasonal trapping. By mapping South African locality records of forensicaIIy important blowflies and analyzing these records in a modified Principal Components Analysis of climatic data, the potential geographic distributions of each fly species was modeIIed. Most species were widespread, but Calliphora croceipalpis, Jaennicke, 1867, was found in cold places. This information is important for determining where certain species are likely to occur in forensic investigations. Nocturnal oviposition was examined in both field and laboratory experiments. Lucilia species could oviposit nocturnaIIy in the field, while Lucilia species, Chrysomya chloropyga, (Weidemann, 1818) and C. putoria (Weidemann, 1830) could oviposit nocturnaIIy in the laboratory. These findings are important factors in affecting the precision of estimates of a post mortem interval (PM!) by up to 12 hours. The thermophysiological ranges of four species of adult blowflies were determined by measuring onset temperatures of four significant behaviours: onset of neural activity; onset of coordinated movement; shade-seeking and death. There was a sexual size dimorphism in Lucilia species, Chrysomya chloropyga and Calliphora croceipalpis with females being larger than males. Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius, 1794) had an unexpectedly high death threshold, while Calliphora croceipalpis had the lowest death threshold of the flies tested. These points were related to the seasonal and geographic occurrence of each species, to nocturnal activity and placed in a forensic context.