"The U.S. is playing roulette with biocultural diversity." Thirty years after the use of the toxic herbicide Agent Orange in the Vietnam War, the US is planning to enlist a new biological poison called "Agent Green" to fight the Drug War.
The Agrias butterfly. The American government has proposed using deadly fungi created in laboratories to kill opium poppies, coca, and cannabis plants in Southeast and Central Asia, Mexico, Central, and South America.
On May 2, the Sunshine Project, a Hamburg-based biotech watchdog group, released a report that called on the UN Biodiversity Convention to halt the US experiments and warned: "There is imminent danger that a highly infectious fungus will be deliberately released in Andean and Amazonian centers of [bio]diversity." The US has already used the fungi experimentally on US- and Central Asia-grown opium poppy and cannabis fields, noted the report.
The strains of the fungi Fusarium oxysporum and Pleospora papveracae intended to infect and kill coca, poppy and cannabis can also extinguish non-target plants.
"The USA is playing roulette with irreplaceable biological diversity," says Susana Pimiento Chamorro, a Colombian lawyer with the Sunshine Project. "In Colombia, four close relatives of coca are already listed as endangered. Agent Green might be the last step to their extinction."
"The USA is playing roulette with irreplaceable biological diversity," says Susana Pimiento Chamorro, a Colombian lawyer with the Sunshine Project. "In Colombia, four close relatives of coca are already listed as endangered. Agent Green might be the last step to their extinction."
One of the most highly-prized butterflies in the world, the Agrias, depends on coca's wild relatives in the Amazonian rainforest. Plants in the coca genus are the only place where Agrias larvae feed and mature. The Agrias lives in the Upper Putumayo River region of Colombia, precisely where the US intends to apply its heaviest doses of the coca-killing fungus. If the fungus attacks wild coca relatives, it could exterminate the Agrias.
Because Fusarium oxysporum is highly toxic to animals and humans, its use could threaten endangered birds that feed on coca seeds, and native peoples who use coca as a traditional, and legal, stimulant.
"Fusaria can produce mycotoxins that are deadly enough to be considered weapons of war and are listed as biological agents in the draft Protocol to the Biological and Toxic Weapons Convention," says Sunshine Project biologist Jan Van Aken. Once released into the environment, the deadly fungus cannot be recalled.
The fungus has been banned from use inside the US -- even though the US is the world's largest producer of illicit cannabis sativa. Last year, the director of Florida's Environmental Protection Agency halted the use of Fusaria, arguing that "it is difficult, if not impossible, to control the spread of the Fusarium species. The mutated fungi can cause disease in large numbers of crops. Fusarium species can stay resident in the soil for years."
Except for modest support from the UK, the US plan for deploying Agent Green has failed to obtain the financial backing of other governments. But this has not stopped US anti-drug warriors from pressuring Asian and South American countries. UN Drug Control Program offices have pressured Colombia to sign a field-testing contract.
Agent Green's Victims As Edward Hammond of the Sunshine Project notes, "Microbes pay no attention to passport and visa requirements. The fungus can spread without regard to political borders, potentially attacking legal crops and countries that do not agree to its use."
Applying fungal agents in southern Colombia, for example, might lead to infections spreading to Ecuador, Brazil or Peru (a legal coca producer). Using Agent Green in Afghanistan, Pakistan or Turkmenistan could lead to losses in bordering India, which currently produces approximately half the world's legal pharmaceutical opiates. In Southeast Asia, many opium poppy fields in Burma border on Laos, Thailand and China -- countries that legally produce opiates for domestic pharmaceutical use. Canadian industrial hemp growers also have expressed concern about US fungus plans.
The rights of indigenous people who cultivate the target crops for traditional, non-drug uses are also endangered. In South Asia, poppies are used in traditional medicine, and plant material is used as fodder. Throughout South America, coca has been used in traditional medicine for more than a millennium. Under the Biodiversity Convention, indigenous peoples are afforded rights to their biodiversity -- including medicinal plants.
The US says that its fungus varieties are not genetically-engineered, but it has created genetically-modified strains in the laboratory. US scientists have cloned virulent genes from Fusarium strains that attack potatoes (with the possible intent of increasing the kill-rate of anti-drug fungi through biotechnology).
Governments have a legitimate need to control narcotic crops; but doing so by using Agent Green microbes is profoundly misguided and sets an alarming precedent. How will governments protect biodiversity if microbes are developed to kill other unpopular and regulated crops, like tobacco, kava, betel nut palm, peyote, ayahuasca or hops?
What You Can Do The full report on Agent Green is available on the Sunshine Project website [www.sunshine-project.org] or upon request to Susana Pimiento [44563 Linden Ave. N., Seattle, WA, 98103, (206) 633-3718, [email protected]].
検索にはstick insect longestを使う。 Phobaeticus kirbyi Borneo 328mm 546mm Longest insect in the world, based on head plus body length. Phobaeticus serratipes Malaysia 278 mm 555mm Longest insect in the world if you include outstretched legs Palophus titan Malawi 263 mm Longest insect in Africa. まず学名調べないと。 「直翅系」昆虫は腹部が腐るので内臓を抜く手間がかかり、標本を真面目に作る人が 少ない。国内ではこれらの昆虫の学名を調べる事も出来なかった。 情けないが「ナナフシ 英名」で検索した
ハグロゼミの学名 huechys sanguineaと plant で検索したら、 http://www.earthlife.net/insects/cicadidae.html >Huechys sanguinea an unusually coloured species, it is bright black and red is commonly used by the Chinese for a variety of medicinal purposes. 薬になるとしか書いていない。 ハグロゼミの和名を入れても検索出来なかった。どんな物質だ?(ワラ
Morpho cypris Westwood, 1847 Morpho Morpho cypris Westwood, 1847; 1851? Morpho cypris ; [EBW]; [BOW]: pl. 27, f. 6; [BCR]: 244, pl. 40
Larva on Inga marginata [EOB]
Morpho polyphemus Doubleday & Hewitson, 1847 Morpho polyphemus, Butterflies of Southeastern Arizon [Bruce Walsh] Morpho polyphemus, Butterflies of the United States [USGS] Morpho polyphemus, Butterflies of Northern Mexico [USGS] Morpho polyphemus ; [EBW]; [BOW]: pl. 28, f. 4
Range: Nicaragua, Costa Rica
M. p. catarina Coea & Chacon, 1984 Morpho polyphemus catarina ; [BCR]: 243, pl. 39
http://www.sasionline.org/costarica/pages/entry12a-forest.html コスタリカ熱帯雨林のページ。ここも面白い。 He was extremely happy to catch this female Lycorea cleobeae atergatis. Since it is known to eat Asclepias curissavica like other Danainae, he can easily rear it. He was also delighted to find this Archaeoprepona or Prepona larva that he had not previously seen. As is typical of young larvae in these two genera, it is quite cryptic hanging at rest below the feeding damage.
Canopy, Campo Reserve, Cameroon Photograph by David Olson
West Africa: Primarily in Gabon
Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
73,200 square miles (189,700 square kilometers) -- about the size of Louisiana and South Carolina combined Vulnerable
· Critical to Conservation · Special Features · Did You Know? · Wild Side · Cause for Concern More Photos
Critical to Conservation
Thousands of plants that are unique to West Tropical Africa blanket the hills, plains, and mountains of the Atlantic Equatorial Coastal Forest ecoregion. Known for its tremendous richness of forest mammals, from lowland gorillas and chimpanzees to forest elephants and African buffalo, this region is very important in the conservation of large mammals in Africa. But the region is also critically important habitat for small mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and invertebrates.
Special Features
The low, undulating hills and plains of the northern part of the Atlantic Equatorial Coastal Forest ecoregion give way to mountains in the south and east. The Cristal Mountains in the south contain more than 3,000 species of plants, more than 100 of which occur only in this area. The rain forests throughout this ecoregion and the Cross-Sanaga-Bioko Coastal Forest to its north together hold about half of all the plants endemic to west tropical Africa. These rain forests are also home to an exceptional number of endemic amphibians such as the Apouh night frog and western dwarf clawed frog, as well as birds, butterflies, and reptiles. This ecoregion is within the wet tropics and therefore has high rainfall and humidity. Because of these conditions, epiphytes thrive here.
The male mandrills of this ecoregion have bright red, blue, and white coloring on their faces and posteriors. Their snouts have two patches of electric blue that accentuate their facial features. It is thought that this color may have evolved to allow male competitors to better see each other痴 warning snarls in the low-light conditions of the rain forest.
Wild Side
What could be more fun than a forest full of apes and monkeys? Chimpanzees, gorillas, black colobus monkeys, mandrills, and other primates find critical habitat in the Atlantic Equatorial Coastal Forest ecoregion. It is also a place where you can find forest elephants, small antelopes called bongos, and African buffalo. The forests are filled with a chorus of sounds from endemic birds such as Rachel痴 malimbe, Bate痴 weaver, and the gray-necked rockfowl. The goliath frog is also a resident. It is the largest frog in the world, weighing as much as a human infant! The woolly bat, which lives here, has frizzy hair and wings that look like dried leaves. This ecoregion is also home to many beautiful butterflies including the blue Charaxes acraeoides, a powerful flyer that can reach speeds of nearly 40 miles per hour (64 kph)! The green and black Papilio phorcus and Papilio lormieri are among the most graceful flyers, and they can be found drinking from puddles of water with many other beautiful butterflies. Many people say the papilios・mosaic wing patterns and colors remind them of church windows. Some endangered animals in this ecoregion include the Congo clawless otter, bay duiker (a small deer), Gabon black colobus monkey, goliath frog, African sharp-nosed crocodile, and the northern needle-clawed bushbaby.
Cause for Concern
Many of the large mammals of this ecoregion are threatened by humans from bushmeat hunting and because certain parts of some animals are believed to bring good luck or good health. Mandrills, forest elephants, and lowland gorillas are relatively easy to hunt, and their populations are slow to recover when many individuals are killed. Another threat to the region comes from extensive logging in areas of pristine rain forest. And as is the case in many areas throughout the world, once an area of forest has been logged, people quickly immigrate to the area and then convert the land to agriculture. Unfortunately, there are very few well-managed protected areas in this ecoregion.
For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.
http://www.newcrops.uq.edu.au/listing/pennisetumamericanum.htm Acrida exaltata Suresh, P. and M. C. Muralirangan (1996). Impact of host plants on development and reproduction of Acrida exaltata (Walker) (Orthoptera: Acrididae). Proceedings of the Indian National Science Academy Part B Biological Sciences 62(3): 207-212. G S Gill Res. Inst., Guru Nanak Coll., Madras 600 032, India 東南アジアの種がAcrida exaltata か。 そんな形の大きな種を見た記憶がある
Acrididae sp. CAMEROON 5 different species 25 F Acrididae sp. INDIA 12 F Acrididae sp. PAPUA-NEW-GUINEA red, yellow & black 20 F Acrididae sp. TEXAS 40 F Acrididea sp. PHILIPPINES 15 F Acridoxena sp. MALAYSIA 'dragonhead'' grasshopper 90 F Aularches miliaris THAÏLAND 25 F Chorotypus gallinaceus MALAYSIA spectacular shape 50 F Criquet PAPUA-NEW-GUINEA undeterminated species 15 F Macrolyristes corporalis THAÏLAND giant grasshopper 170 F Oncomeris flavicornis PAPUA-NEW-GUINEA 15 F Onomarchus cretaceus MALAYSIA 45 F Phylloporidae sp. N°1 PAPUA-NEW-GUINEA leaf grasshopper - large 50 F Phylloporidae sp. N°2 PAPUA-NEW-GUINEA leaf grasshopper - medium 35 F Phymateus sp. CAMEROON rare 300 F Poecilocerus pictus INDIA yellow & green 50 F Sanaa intermedia MALAYSIA 75 F Sanaa intermedia THAÏLAND 55 F Sanaa sp. MALAYSIA brown 50 F Sarthophyllia sp. INDIA 50 F Sasuma sp. THAÏLAND 90 F Siliquofera grandis PAPUA-NEW-GUINEA giant grasshopper 90 F Taeniopoda auricornis MEXICO red, yellow & black 20 F Terotoda sp. INDIA 40 F Tetigonia sp. CAMEROON different species 40 F Tetigonia sp. INDIA 50 F Tettigonia sp. THAÏLAND 10 F Tropidacris collaris FRENCH GUYANA blue wings cricket - male 25 F Tropidacris collaris FRENCH GUYANA blue wings cricket - female 30 F Tropidacris dux FRENCH GUYANA red wings cricket - male 25 F Tropidacris dux FRENCH GUYANA red wings cricket - female 30 F ここも学名参考に
Acridoxena hewiana (Dragon head) AS Malaysia 11cm 10 Grasshopper lot of 14 7-13cm 15 Grasshopper lot of 26 11-17cm 50 Grasshopper lot of 32 (green-brown) AS Malaysia 11-15cm 75 Grasshopper sp. AS PNG 20cm 5 Grasshopper sp. (Large dark) AS Malaysia 14cm 6 Loptocris strandi 18cm w 10 Macrolyrestes corporalis AS Malaysia 22cm 10 Maphyteus leprosus AF South Africa 7,5 Onormarcheus cretaceus AS Malaysia 20cm 10 Phymateus madagascarensis AF Madagascar 4,5 Sasima sp. AS PNG 5 Tettigonidae sp. 21-25cm 20 Tropidacris dux SA 6 Zonocerus elegans AF South Africa Winged 3 Zonocerus elegans AF South Africa No wings 2
http://www.museociencias.com/english/tesoro.html Sasima areolata Bolívar This spectacular indo-australian grasshopper has a wingspan of nearly 18 centimetres. It belongs to one of the largest sized orthopteran species, 18cm。まともに写真がある中では大きい。 indo-australian だが、具体的にどの辺とは書いていない
>Tettigoniidae is the largest superfamily >亜科だった・・・キリギリス亜科なのか 上科。「super」family
http://www.earthlife.net/insects/orthopta.html largest is the South American Tropidacris latreillei. they include the Australian King Crickets (Australostoma sp.) and the New Zealand Giant Wetas (Deinacrida sp.) これも興味ある
http://ladywildlife.com/animal/grasshopper.html >One of the world’s largest grasshoppers, Costa Rica’s Tropidacris cristatus, was once mistaken for a bird and shot by an ornithologist, who was collecting skins for a natural history museum.
http://home.freeuk.com/stvincenttour/html/agriculture.html カリブの島国セントビンセント及びグレナディーン諸島の農業事情紹介ページに、 アフリカからトノサマバッタ類が飛んできたのに関連付けて「形の似たTropidacris duxと交雑するのでは」It is possible that they may have crossbred with the indigenous Giant Brown Cricket Tropidacris dux, which it closely resembles in form. The African desert locust is salmon coloured with turquoise eyes, easily distinguishable from the former. とある
There are some 18 weevil species attacking bamboo shoots. Both adults and larvae of these weevils feed on shoots, although larvae, which bore holes on bamboo shoots, are responsible for most of the damage. The damage caused by weevils usually results in the death of very young shoots, or deformed and stunted growth of new culms with very closely formed nodes at the feeding site. The larger species are the most common and destructive on sympodial bamboos.
Cyrtotrachelus buqueti Guer
C. longimanus Fabricius
C. dux Boheman
DISTRIBUTION
Bangladesh, China, India, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.
HOSTS
Lingnania chungii, Bambusa textilis, B. pervariabilis, Sinocalamus oldhami, Dendrocalamus strictus, D. hamiltonii, Melocanna baccifera and some other bamboos.
Adults are 18-38 mm long and vary in colour from light brown to dark reddish-brown. The legless larvae are cream-white in colour, but turn light brown when they are fully fed. The three species have very similar life cycle and damaging habits (Chen 1928; Liu Yongzheng 1978; Wu Shixiong 1979). There is only one generation per year, overwintering as adult in cocoons in the soil. Adults and larvae can be found on bamboo shoots from May to early October. The overwintering adults emerge from the soil during spring and summer months when bamboo shoots are available. They feed by sucking sap from the upper part of shoots. Eggs are laid individually in large feeding holes and only 1-3 eggs are deposited on each shoot. The egg-laying site can be identified by a group of fibre sticking out of the shoot surface. The larvae feed and bore inside the bamboo shoots, forming vertical tunnels. They pass through five instars in 12-15 days. Fully fed larvae drop to the ground, burrow into the soil and pupate 2-3 weeks later in cocoons made with soil at 10-30 cm depth. Adults emerge within 15 days after pupation.
Although they often occur together, C. buqueti is usually found on bamboo species with culms smaller than 2 cm in diameter, while C. longimanus prefers those with larger culms.
Fig. 37: Adult of Cyrtotrachelus buqueti
Fig. 38: Adult of Cyrtotrachelus longimanus
DAMAGE CAUSED
These weevils are important borers of young sprouting culms. Damage is characterized by a long larval tunnel, starting beneath or near the culm sheath, passing internally through several internodes with perforation of nodes and ending in a hollowed and dead terminal shoot. These tunnels are filled with wooden dust and excreta. Wind, rain, feeding by woodpeckers, etc. can cause the affected culms to readily break. A single larva is capable of destroying a culm and inducing development of multiple shoots of little commercial value.
Digging and removal of damaged culms and shoots have been recommended to control the weevils (Dayun and Shen 1987). Keeping a low culm density is another method suggested since damage is less in well-thinned areas (Singh and Bhandari 1988). Beeson (1941) recommended capture and destruction of the beetles at the beginning of the monsoon. Liu Nanxing et al. (1988, 1989) reported the use of nematodes to control the larger bamboo shoot weevils.
Otidognathus davidis Fabricius
DISTRIBUTION
Widespread in central and southern China, and Vietnam and a few other Southeast Asian countries.
HOSTS
The insect attacks over 60 bamboo species, mainly Phyllostachys spp. and some species of Pleioblastus, Pseudosasa, Sinobambusa, Indocalamus and Semiarundinaria (Wang Haojie et al. 1995).
BIOLOGY
Xu Tiansen (1964) has reported the biology of the weevil in detail. The adult weevil is about 15-17 mm long and dark reddish-brown or black in colour. There is a vertically elongate, black spot at the centre of the protergum of the adult. There is one generation per year. In China, adults and larvae occur in bamboo stands from early April to early June and from mid April to mid June, respectively. Adults come out from the soil, where they overwinter, when most bamboo shoots in the stand are about 2 m in height. They feed on sap from the upper part of the shoots and leave vertical lines of feeding holes on the outer surface of the shoots. Eggs are deposited individually in feeding holes and take about three days to hatch. The larvae bore beneath the sheath near the nodes, and feed on branch buds when shoots get older. There are five instars in larval stage. The fully developed larvae drop to the ground, burrow into the soil and pupate in cocoons made up of soil at 8-15 cm in depth. Adults emerge about 30 days later and overwinter in the cocoons.
Both adults and larvae feed on bamboo shoots and cause damage more serious than that caused by Cyrtotrachelus spp. Up to 80 larvae can be found on a single shoot and results in stunted and deformed culms, with very few branches, many holes and closely formed nodes.
Fig. 40: Adults of Otidognathus davidis feeding on shoot
Fig. 41: Damage on Phyllostachys pubescens caused by Otidognathus davidis Two other species of the genus ----Otidognathus nigropictus Fab. and O. rubriceps Chen ----sometimes occur together with O. davidis but cause only minor damage.
CONTROL
O. davidis can be effectively controlled by injecting systemic insecticides into the basal part of bamboo shoots in the case of species with large-sized culms, and by aerially spraying contact insecticides in the case of small-sized bamboos (Wang Haojie et al. 1993, 1994). Turning and loosening of soil in bamboo stands in winter months can kill some adults in the soil, or expose them to natural enemies and cold weather, thus reducing the population density of the pest in the following year (Xu Tiansen 1964).
Myocalandra exarata Boheman
DISTRIBUTION
India.
HOSTS
Bambusa polymorpha and Dendrocalamus strictus.
BIOLOGY
Adults of this secondary pest emerge from February to June, peaking in April. Eggs are laid in wounds or tunnels on shoots caused by bamboo hispine beetle or other primary borers. Larvae bore and make longitudinal tunnels in the internodal wall. No outbreaks have been reported, and the pest is considered to be of minor economic importance.
CONTROL
Cutting and disposal of attacked culms is considered the best method to check the spread of the insect (Beeson 1941).