Response ofMatsucoccus thunbergianae males to synthetic sex pheromone and its utilization for monitoring the spread of infestation
Attraction of (2E,4E,6R,10R)-4,6,10,12-tetramethyl-2,4-tridecadien-7-one [1; (6R,10R)-matsuone] and its antipode [2; (6S,10S)-matsuone] toMatsucoccus thunbergianae males was studied in the laboratory and in the field. They showed stronger response to1. In laboratory bioassays, the threshold concentrations for male attraction with1 and2 were 16 fg and 150 pg, respectively. In the field, during the first two days after traps were set, traps baited with 50 µg of1 on rubber septa or filter paper rolls caught more males than control traps. Between the sixth day and the tenth day after traps were set, in a daily trap catch experiment, the traps with 50 µg of1 on filter paper rolls caught more males than control traps on one day only, whereas those on rubber septa were always effective. The shape of the traps did not affect male catches. Males were caught on pheromone traps in locations where no scales were found by the customary detecting procedures.
Temperature and host availability affect the distribution of Matsucoccus matsumurae (Kuwana) (Homoptera: Margarodidae) in Asia and North America.
The pine bast scale, Matsucoccus matsumurae (Kuwana) native to Japan, attacks seven related Pinus species (all members of the subsection Sylvestres) in Asia and North America. In Japan the scale occurs on two native pines which extend from the northern edge of Honshu (41°30′N) to Yaku Shima (30°15′N). In the United States, the exotic scale M. resinosae Bean and Godwin (= M. matsumurae?) is a destructive pest of P. resinosa, the only native member of the Sylvestres group. High overwintering mortality north of 41°15′N latitude and the absence of suitable hosts south of 40°N latitude have inhibited the northern and southern spread, respectively, of this scale in North America. In China, M. matsumurae is a serious introduced pest of two native pines, P. tabulaeformis and P. massoniana, whose latitudinal ranges extend well beyond the current northern (41°15′N) and southern (30°15′N) limits of scale distribution. The scale is held within these latitudinal limits by high winter (>96%) and summer (70–90%) mortality to the north and south, respectively. M. matsumurae is adapted to the specific climatic regimes of its natural range in southern Japan, the latitudinal limits of which match perfectly its exotic ranges in China and the United States. With only a brief evolutionary history (40 years) in these two countries, the scale is still very much on an island, confined by its inability to exploit available hosts in areas with more extreme winter and summer temperatures than its native island habitat.
Immunization with Brucella melitensis Rev 1 against Brucella ovis infection of rams.
The efficacy of Brucella Melitensis Rev 1 vaccine (Rev 1) for the prophylaxis of Brucella ovis ram epididymitis was evaluated. Twenty-nine 3-month-old rams were vaccinated with 2 X 10(9) Rev 1 and 14 were revaccinated with 5 X 10(8) at 14 months of age. Six rams remained unvaccinated as a control group. All rams were challenged with 5 X 10(8) B. ovis at 21 months of age. Before being slaughtered 8 weeks later, only one vaccinated ram developed epididymitis while four of the six control rams developed testicular alterations. Genital and selected extragenital organs and lymph nodes were removed at slaughter and inoculated on selective media. B. ovis was isolated from 26.6% of the vaccinated rams, 21.4% of the revaccinated rams and 100% of control rams. Portions of epididymis, testes and vesicular glands were also used for pathological studies. More severe lesions were observed in control rams than in vaccinated ones. In conclusion, these results show that vaccination of young lambs, followed or not by revaccination, is a suitable method for the prophylaxis of B. ovis infection of rams.