Comparison of Different Glycerol and Egg Yolk Concentrations Added to Tris‐based Extender for the Collared Peccaries (Tayassu tajacu) Semen Freezing

This study aimed to evaluate various concentrations of egg yolk (5, 10, or 20%) in combination with different concentrations of glycerol (3% or 6%) added to a Tris‐based extender on the post‐thaw characteristics of sperm obtained from Tayassu tajacu. For this purpose, semen from 10 sexually male mature collared peccaries was collected by electroejaculation and evaluated for sperm motility, vigour, viability, morphology and functional membrane integrity. The ejaculates were initially extended in Tris‐fructose plus egg yolk (5%, 10% or 20%). After cooling, the semen was added to Tris‐egg yolk plus glycerol (6% or 12%), resulting in a final concentration of 3% or 6% glycerol of the extender. Straws were frozen using liquid nitrogen and thawed in a water bath at 37°C for 30 s. The frozen–thawed semen was evaluated as reported for fresh semen. After thawing, a significant decrease was verified for sperm motility and vigour, for all the samples in comparison with fresh semen. However, no differences were evidenced among treatments for any sperm characteristics evaluated (p > 0.05), except for the combination between 10% egg yolk and 6% glycerol, which provided the worst preservation of functional membrane integrity (p < 0.05). The interactions between higher concentrations of egg yolk (20%) and glycerol (6%) and also between lower concentrations of the same substances (5% egg yolk and 3% glycerol) added to the Tris‐based extender negatively affected the preservation of the normal sperm morphology after thawing (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the use of Tris‐based extender added to 10% or 20% egg yolk plus 3% glycerol is recommended for effective sperm cryopreservation in collared peccaries.     

Integrated pest management in western flower thrips: past,present and future

Western flower thrips (WFT) is one of the most economically important pest insects of many crops worldwide. Recent EU legislation has caused a dramatic shift in pest management strategies, pushing for tactics that are less reliable on chemicals. The development of alternative strategies is therefore an issue of increasing urgency. This paper reviews the main control tactics in integrated pest management (IPM) of WFT, with the focus on biological control and host plant resistance as areas of major progress. Knowledge gaps are identified and innovative approaches emphasised, highlighting the advances in ‘omics’ technologies. Successful programmes are most likely generated when preventive and therapeutic strategies with mutually beneficial, cost‐effective and environmentally sound foundations are incorporated. © 2017 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.     

The Dean Nestbox Study, 1942-1964

Regular observations began in 1948 in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire,England, on an area of 60 acres carrying eventually c. 275 nestboxes.The area, planted to Quercus robur in 1814, has the appearanceof a Quercetum petraeae. Three-quarters, not grazed since 1947,has a varied shrub layer and a field layer distinguished bybrambles and bracken; the grazed area has a bracken/bluebellfield layer. Invertebrate life has been studied mainly in relationto the food of titmice Parus spp. The breeding bird communityincludes most of the species of British oak woodland. The mainoccupants of the nestboxes are two summer visitors, the PiedFlycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca and Redstart Phoenicurus phoenicurus,and two residents, the Great and Blue Tits, Parus major andP. caeruleus. There is some evidence of interspecific competitionfor nestboxes, but blocking of the entrances to exclude theresidents and favour the summer visitors gave inconclusive results.The populations of both seem to fluctuate independently (Fig.2). All the species were able to tolerate each other as neighbours.The effect of hard weather on the residents is demonstratedgraphically, but is only one factor in a complex situation.No evidence has emerged from the study that small insectivorousbirds can contain a major larval infestation.     

The clinico-pathology of a malignant catarrhal fever syndrome in the Indonesian swamp buffalo (Bubalus bubalis)

Between September 1979 and May 1982, 50 of 177 swamp buffaloes became sick and died S3 to 719 days (mean 271) after being transferred to a research facility and housed in quarters adjacent to where sheep and goats were kept. The major clinical signs were anorexia, fever, conjunctivitis, scleral hyperaemia, ocular discharge, hyperaemia of skin, enlargement of lymph nodes and depression. Postmortem and histopathological lesions were observed in most of the tissues and organs of the body. A vasculitis with adventitial mononuclear cell infiltration and lymphoreticular reactions suggested a relationship to malignant catarrhal fever. The occurrence of serofibrinous epicarditis and myocarditis, which was seen in buffaloes in all cases, has not been a common finding in ruminants with malignant catarrhal fever.     

Mechanical interference with lower jaw movement as a complication of skull fractures

Two cases are described with abnormal jaw movement due to callus formation following skull fracture. Both cases were successfully treated by resection of the zygomatic arch.