Sudan’s semi-arid land constitutes a diversity of habitats, species, and genetic resources of high ecological and economic value. This diversity is gradually degrading due to climate change and human misuse. Biodiversity monitoring began in Sudan before independence when a considerable number of flora and fauna species were identified. Insects were among the identified fauna where many orders, families, and species were classified especially those of economic, medicinal, and veterinary importance. Bombyliidae or bee flies are considered native to African countries and confined to the semi-arid ecosystem as pollinators of higher plants. The bee fly, Eurycarenus dichopticus recorded from these ecosystems, has gained little attention, and meager data on its biology and reproduction have been published. Adults of this insect are nectar feeders, and females also feed on pollen grains while larvae are parasitoids on certain insects. This study was conducted in three Sudanese states that lie within the semi-arid ecosystem;Khartoum, Gezira, and North Kordofan. Field surveys were conducted in these states and insect fauna was obtained and identified. Bee fly specimens were collected from North Kordofan using the butterfly net method. The specimens were then preserved and sent to the Agricultural Research Corporation ARC in (2020) where they were identified as Eurycarenus dichopticus Bezzi (Diptera: Bombyliidae) which is the first report in North Kordofan. This identification may contribute to the understanding of its ecological significance and role.
Maha A. AbdelatifAbdel Gadir M. AbdellahEssra A. ElAggabAhmed I. Ahmed SafiIshtiag H. Abdalla
Classical survival analysis assumes all subjects will experience the event of interest, but in some cases, a portion of the population may never encounter the event. These survival methods further assume independent survival times, which is not valid for honey bees, which live in nests. The study introduces a semi-parametric marginal proportional hazards mixture cure (PHMC) model with exchangeable correlation structure, using generalized estimating equations for survival data analysis. The model was tested on clustered right-censored bees survival data with a cured fraction, where two bee species were subjected to different entomopathogens to test the effect of the entomopathogens on the survival of the bee species. The Expectation-Solution algorithm is used to estimate the parameters. The study notes a weak positive association between cure statuses (ρ1=0.0007) and survival times for uncured bees (ρ2=0.0890), emphasizing their importance. The odds of being uncured for A. mellifera is higher than the odds for species M. ferruginea. The bee species, A. mellifera are more susceptible to entomopathogens icipe 7, icipe 20, and icipe 69. The Cox-Snell residuals show that the proposed semiparametric PH model generally fits the data well as compared to model that assume independent correlation structure. Thus, the semi parametric marginal proportional hazards mixture cure is parsimonious model for correlated bees survival data.
Patience IsiahoDaisy SalifuSamuel MwaliliHenri E. Z. Tonnang
Vegetables are very important for human health in the era of nutritional security because they are rich in vitamins,minerals,phytochemicals,and dietary fibers.Inadequate pollination due to the decline of pollinators is a major obstacle in achieving high productivity of vegetables that adversely affects the quality and quantity of seed production of vegetables.Bee pollination influences the profitability and productivity of several horticultural crops,especially vegetables.Bee pollination significantly increases crop quality and yield,and it also has widespread nutritional and monetary advantages.Bees encounter various obstacles that might negatively impact their quality of life,such as habitat destruction,effects of agrochemicals,insect-pest and diseases,and changing weather scenarios.The inadvertent usage of agrochemicals contaminates the vegetables and the bee products that are eventually consumed by humans.To meet the pollination demand of cross-pollinated vegetables like cucurbits and cole crops,3−5 bee colonies/hectare are sufficient.Aspects like colony conditions,beehive densities,distribution,and time of placement of bee colonies must be considered to improve bee pollination.Bees are recognized as the most important pollinators because of their effectiveness and wider availability across the globe.To ensure food security,nutritional security,and to preserve biodiversity,bee pollination must be enhanced and given prime importance in vegetables.The integrated pollination technique,which recently arose but is in the infancy stage,links wild and managed bees on more bee-friendly farmlands to provide reliable and sufficient pollination.
