Abstract To determine the effects of pelleted feed forms of Ptecticus tenebrifer (PT) on the growth performance and meat quality traits of Pekin ducks, a total of 225 1‐d‐old Pekin ducks were randomly allocated into three treatment groups, each consisting of three replicates with 25 ducks. The three treatment groups were a control with basal diet; T1 with basal diet + 1.5% pelleted PT; and T2 with basal diet + 3% pelleted PT. An increase in weight gain and a decrease in mortality were observed in ducks fed either 1.5% or 3% pelleted PT compared with the control (p < 0.05). No significant differences were observed in initial and final body weight, feed intake, and feed conversion ratios among the three treatment groups (p > 0.05). Remarkable differences were observed in the meat quality traits of pH on day 7, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) on day 0, and 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging values on days 3 and 7 (p < 0.05). Treatment groups of T1 and T2 presented reduced TBARS values and increased DPPH radical scavenging values compared with the control group. Although the breast meat red color did not show a significant difference among the three groups (p > 0.05), the lightness and yellowness of the meat were affected in groups fed pelleted PT on days 7 and 3, respectively (p < 0.05). Conclusively, dietary supplementation with 1.5% and 3% pelleted PT could enhance weight gain, reduce mortality, and improve the antioxidant effect of duck breast meat.

Abstract This study was performed to evaluate the effects of dietary Clanis bilineata larvae (CBL) on laying performance and biochemical blood parameters of Japanese quails. CBL was used to replace 10% corn meal of the basic diet to formulate the treatment feed, while the basic diet without CBL served as control feed. CBL treatment increased egg production, egg weight, egg mass, feed consumption, yolk ratio, shell ratio and egg shape index and serum total protein, albumin, globulin, high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol, low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol, IgG and IgG and decreased feed conversion ratio and albumin ratio of eggs and serum aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, triglycerides and total cholesterol. The results indicated that CBL could improve laying performance and health status of Japanese quails.

Abstract As traditional Chinese medicine and edible insects, Vespa hornets have high economic value and huge market demand. Hornet breeding has become an important way to increase the income of mountain farmers in China, but the limitation of traditional identification methods has become the bottleneck of the modern development of hornet resources. In this study, a simple and reliable method for the molecular identification of typical hornets from Yunnan was successfully established. In the NCBI database, DNA sequences of hornet samples were aligned as Vespa analis, Vespa basalis, Vespa velutina, Vespa mandarinia, Vespa magnifica, Vespa binghami, Vespa soror by BLAST search. The efficiency of the PCR amplification of mitochondrial cytochrome C oxidase I (COI) gene sequences in all samples was 100% by using the optimized program. Moreover, a reference database for DNA barcodes of Vespa materials in Yunnan was constructed. This study provided a successful example for the identification of local insects of Yunnan and will be helpful to the development of wasp resources.

No abstract is available for this article.

Abstract The present study was designed to evaluate the insecticidal activity of different concentrations of Foeniculum vulgare and two of its components, trans‐anethole and fenchone, against the different stages of Musca domestica. The tested concentrations were applied through a residual film method and topical application on larvae and pupae respectively. Trans‐anethole achieved the best results against larvae when compared with those of the fennel or fenchone with LC50 values of 0.58%, 1.57%, and 17.22%, respectively. Moreover, tans‐anethole killed 100% of larvae at concentration of 2.5% and fennel achieved the same effect at concentration of 10%, meanwhile fenchone did not reach such an effect at any of the tested concentrations. At the concentration of 10%, fennel oil and trans‐anethole induced morphological deformation in the dead larvae such as shrunk bodies with dark colored integument. Regarding the pupicidal activity, fennel oil showed percentage inhibition rate (PIR) of 100% at the concentration of 10% while the same effect was achieved by trans‐anethole at concentration of 5%. On the contrary, fenchone did not show any pupicidal activity. Treatment of the third instar house fly larvae with LC5o of fennel oil, trans‐anethole, and fenchone significantly inhibited the acetylcholinestrase (AchE) when compared with the control untreated larvae. Additionally, the glutathione‐s‐transferase (GST) and malondialdehyde (MDA) production significantly increased in the larvae treated with trans‐anethole. The results of the present study indicate that the insecticidal activity of fennel oil was mainly attributed to the presence of trans‐anethole as a major constituent.

Abstract Chrysomya saffranea is an insect that is important in criminal forensics as it plays a large role in decomposition on human cadavers. In this paper, the different developmental stages of C. saffranea flies were studied in the laboratory on different food, such as meat, liver, fat tissue and mixed food, to test whether these media affect the development of their larvae and have an impact on the calculation of the post‐mortem interval. Our results indicated a significant growth enhancement among flies that fed on the mixed food (pure fat, meat and liver minced in equal proportions) compared with those that fed on minced (pure fat tissues, pure meat of and minced liver) of buffalo. The present results also confirmed the impact of food on the growth of C. saffranea, as well as the post‐mortem interval PMI.

No abstract is available for this article.