Parasitic Wasps

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.. I can culture them and see if any embryos or larvae start to form, that's what I'd like to verify.

[mmarsha]

Originally Posted by Kammy

Oh boy! A jar full of maybe dead bugs is coming in the mail! Yippee! (What has my life come to?)

I'm sure we all look forward to seeing them, Marsha.

I'd like some of your specks and debris coming out of your ear, I can culture them and see if any embryos or larvae start to form, that's what I'd like to verify.

Hey kammy, I am not sure what is bug, larva, and skin, so I will be sending all that I have and you will have to decide what is what.sorry about that, but wiith out a scope it iss immpossible for me to tell.
mm

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[mmarsha]

Originally Posted by Kammy

Oh boy! A jar full of maybe dead bugs is coming in the mail! Yippee! (What has my life come to?)

I'm sure we all look forward to seeing them, Marsha.

I'd like some of your specks and debris coming out of your ear, I can culture them and see if any embryos or larvae start to form, that's what I'd like to verify.

check this out;
December 4, 2007 Fipronil Hawaii's Agriculture Department says bees poisoned by fipronil in Moloa'a, Kauai. . By Rachel Gehrlein. Kauai Garden Island News.
... They said the highest level of pesticide was in the honey,” said Jaylen Lane, Sage’s mother. “The second highest level was in the pollen. The dead bees on the inside had the third highest level while the bees on the outside had the fourth highest. The outside of the hive had the lowest level.” ..



May 28, 2007 Fipronil Possible culprit identified in decline of honeybees. The Star-Ledger (NJ)
... In sublethal doses, however, research has shown that imidacloprid and other neonicotinoids, such as fipronil, can impair honeybees' memory and learning, as well as their motor activity and navigation. When foraging for food and collecting nectar, honeybees memorize the smells of flowers and create a kind of olfactory map for subsequent trips... The possibility that neonicotinoids are at the heart of the bee die-off implies a far more complex problem because of the widespread use of pesticides. Every year these chemicals are applied to hundreds of millions of acres of agricultural lands, gardens, golf courses and public and private lawns across the United States. Their use on major crops nearly tripled between 1964 and 1982, from 233 million pounds to 612 million pounds of active ingredients. And since then, their use has exploded. By 1999, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reported 5 billion pounds of pesticides used on U.S. crops, forests, lawns, flowers, homes and buildings... There is more!!! I am hunting for the wasp and found this.
mm

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[mmarsha]

Originally Posted by Kammy

I just had a thought... Some time back - I had a bag of rice that when I poured it in the boiling water - had 'weevils' in it, it was the last of the rice and I was hungry... I remember scooping the weevils off the top of the water - they were floating ... and said to myself... 'ah, the cooking process will kill any bacteria'... and ate the rice afterward.

I know this is a long post but I felt like this whole sheet should be posted.
kammy these people are killing us!!! Read on; Biopesticides are certain types of pesticides derived from such natural materials as animals, plants, bacteria, and certain minerals. For example, canola oil and baking soda have pesticidal applications and are considered biopesticides. At the end of 2001, there were approximately 195 registered biopesticide active ingredients and 780 products. Biopesticides fall into three major classes:
(1) Microbial pesticides consist of a microorganism (e.g., a bacterium, fungus, virus or protozoan) as the active ingredient. Microbial pesticides can control many different kinds of pests, although each separate active ingredient is relatively specific for its target pest[s]. For example, there are fungi that control certain weeds, and other fungi that kill specific insects.
The most widely used microbial pesticides are subspecies and strains of Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt. Each strain of this bacterium produces a different mix of proteins, and specifically kills one or a few related species of insect larvae. While some Bt's control moth larvae found on plants, other Bt's are specific for larvae of flies and mosquitoes. The target insect species are determined by whether the particular Bt produces a protein that can bind to a larval gut receptor, thereby causing the insect larvae to starve. I wonder if we have certain protien that make us the unknown and unwanted victoms of these viruses as it seems that there is something different about my genetics that i would be so sick when others that have been in my same environment have been uneffected?
(2) Plant-Incorporated-Protectants (PIPs) are pesticidal substances that plants produce from genetic material that has been added to the plant. For example, scientists can take the gene for the Bt pesticidal protein, and introduce the gene into the plant's own genetic material. Then the plant, instead of the Bt bacterium, manufactures the substance that destroys the pest. The protein and its genetic material, but not the plant itself, are regulated by EPA. How does this make any sence? seeing how we are eating the plants?? How do they know if these companies have made a mistake and maybe 100,000.00 plants were toxic to us??(3) Biochemical pesticides are naturally occurring substances that control pests by non-toxic mechanisms. Conventional pesticides, by contrast, are generally synthetic materials that directly kill or inactivate the pest. Biochemical pesticides include substances, such as insect sex pheromones, that interfere with mating, as well as various scented plant extracts that attract insect pests to traps. Because it is sometimes difficult to determine whether a substance meets the criteria for classification as a biochemical pesticide, EPA has established a special committee to make such decisions.
: RefUS EPA What are Biopesticides? | Pesticides | US EPA
(Online as of April 4, 2005)
Breakdown product The chemical transformation product resulting from metabolism of a pesticide in a biological system or from reaction of a pesticide with oxygen, water, light or other substances in the environment. In the PAN database, known breakdown products are listed as related chemicals for the parent pesticide (see Related Chemicals section at the bottom of the Chemical Infomation page); however, it is important to note that not all pesticide transformation products have been identified. Breakdown products can sometimes be more toxic than the starting pesticide.
Chemosterilant Stops reproduction (sterilizes pests)
Fumigant Exist as gases or produce a gas when they break down in the environment. Fumigants typically kill all living things. Used in agriculture to sterilize soil before planting and to kill pests in stored food or before shipment to other countries. In urban settings, fumigants are used to treat dwellings for termites, ants, and roaches. The target pests for many soil fumigations are nematodes. Most of these pesticides are highly acutely toxic.
Fungicide Kills fungi
Herbicide Kills plants
INERT US EPA allows so-called "Inert" ingredients to be commonly mixed with the "active" pesticidal ingredient to create a formulated pesticide product. According to EPA, "The term `inert' is not intended to imply nontoxicity; the ingredient may or may not be chemically active." "Inert" ingredients include solvents, emulsifiers, spreaders, and other substances mixed into pesticide products to increase the effectiveness of the active ingredients, make the product easier to apply, or to allow several active ingredients to mix in one solution. Both US EPA and California Department of Pesticide Regulation require pesticide manufacturers to identify inert ingredients in their products but do not disclose this information to the general public because the pesticide industry considers product formulations trade secrets, protected by law and by the US EPA. The US EPA category of Inerts:
List 1 - Of Toxicological Concern (none in this list)
List 2 - Potentially Toxic / High Priority for Testing (7 in this list)
List 3 - Of Unknown Toxicity (11 in this list)
List 4A - Generally Regarded as Safe (none in this list)List 4B - EPA states it has Sufficient Information to Reasonably Conclude that the Current Use Pattern in Pesticide Products will not Adversely Affect Public Health or the Environment (1 in this list: Sodium fluoride)
See:US EPA's Current List of Inerts Is this a joke friend??
1998 US Code of Federal Regulations - identifies specific uses of certain inerts
Inert Ingredients No Longer Used in Pesticide Products, June 24, 1998, Federal Register.
Good report: Toxic Secrets": "Inert" Ingredients in Pesticides 1987-1997, published by Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides.
Note: EPA's List 4A & 4B Inerts have been approved for use in the new US National Organic Standards, e.g., Sodium Fluoride.
too long will post right after with rest of it.
mm

[mmarsha]

Originally Posted by mmarsha

INERT US EPA allows so-called "Inert" ingredients to be commonly mixed with the "active" pesticidal ingredient to create a formulated pesticide product. According to EPA, "The term `inert' is not intended to imply nontoxicity; the ingredient may or may not be chemically active." "Inert" ingredients include solvents, emulsifiers, spreaders, and other substances mixed into pesticide products to increase the effectiveness of the active ingredients, make the product easier to apply, or to allow several active ingredients to mix in one solution. Both US EPA and California Department of Pesticide Regulation require pesticide manufacturers to identify inert ingredients in their products but do not disclose this information to the general public because the pesticide industry considers product formulations trade secrets, protected by law and by the US EPA. The US EPA category of Inerts:
List 1 - Of Toxicological Concern (none in this list)
List 2 - Potentially Toxic / High Priority for Testing (7 in this list)
List 3 - Of Unknown Toxicity (11 in this list)
List 4A - Generally Regarded as Safe (none in this list)List 4B - EPA states it has Sufficient Information to Reasonably Conclude that the Current Use Pattern in Pesticide Products will not Adversely Affect Public Health or the Environment (1 in this list: Sodium fluoride)
See:US EPA's Current List of Inerts Is this a joke friend??
1998 US Code of Federal Regulations - identifies specific uses of certain inerts
Inert Ingredients No Longer Used in Pesticide Products, June 24, 1998, Federal Register.
Good report: Toxic Secrets": "Inert" Ingredients in Pesticides 1987-1997, published by Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides.
Note: EPA's List 4A & 4B Inerts have been approved for use in the new US National Organic Standards, e.g., Sodium Fluoride.
too long will post right after with rest of it.
mm

Insecticide Kills insects
Microbiocide Kills microbes such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi and used in disinfectant or antibacterial products.
Nematicide kills nematodes. Nematodes include many families of long, legless, worm-shaped animals including tens of thousands of species worldwide. Some species are aquatic, in freshwater or the sea. Some species are parasites of birds, mammals, or other vertebrate animals. Some species are parasitoids of insects. Others feed on plant roots. Among the many families are steinernematid nematodes.
Phototoxicity
An acute toxic response that is elicited after the first exposure of skin to certain chemicals and subsequent exposure to light, or that is induced similarly by skin irradiation after the systemic administration of a chemical. - see related definitions.
Piscicide Kills fish
Plant Growth Regulator Retards or speeds the growth of plants
Propellant Gaseous compounds used in spray formulations of pesticides to create an aerosol mist of the pesticide.
Rodenticide Kills rodents such as rats, mice and gophers.
Safener Herbicide safeners can protect certain crops from herbicide injury by promoting herbicide metabolism. The precise mechanisms of safener action and the reasons for their specificity are attracting much interest but are at present obscure.
Termiticide Kills termites
Wood preservative "Preservative" means any chemical used in treating wood to retard or prevent deterioration or destruction caused by the action of insects, fungi, bacteria, or other wood-destroying organisms. Most wood preservatives are highly toxic.

[Katinka]

Originally Posted by Kammy

I'm still thinking about this... so, you think that the wasp picks up the DNA from its victim at the time it is laying its egg - let's say, in a leaf hopper?... and this DNA is transferred into the wasp's larvae? And because the leaf hopper's DNA is now inside the wasp larvae, when they throw this combined DNA into the mix... voila!... a leaf hopper AND a wasp larvae comes out?

That seems counter-productive to me, now this wasp has to go about wasting its energy killing one more bug. I believe that scientists could easily remove the leaf hopper DNA from the 'mix', to have a better product - if this were the case.

I see this transfer as a one way street, like a chicken laying an egg. This larvae has a protective 'shell' around it, nature has a way to preserve each species in birth, nothing is going inside the wasp's larvae in this impregnation process - the egg is already formed, complete, it's just a matter of inserting it.

I believe they use cloning techniques to create larger numbers of specimens now and possibly would use an adult and not the larvae to do this?

The same holds true for flies and ants - these are the object pests - no need for them to be in the mix either.

Wonder what we can find on this subject?

I'm thinking about what could happen in NATURE not in the process of producing bioinsecticides.

If this wasp injects it's eggs into other insects...let's say a nematode...
it will also pick up nematode dna from that point...then it injects it's eggs into a fly larvae...it will also pick up fly dna....then it injects it's eggs into a mosquito larvae...it will also pick up mosquito dna....

So..just think about how much foreign insect dna could be on the stinger of the wasp? which is biological modified with bacteria/virus/fungi etc...and this wasp stings us?

Or think further..what about the mosquito larvae? It could also been infiltrated with different foreign insect dna and other bugs feed on the cadaver..or even birds?

What if a insect that picked up this dna by feeding on it would sting/bite us?

Who knows what the air/water/soil contamination will 'produce' in the future...mutated life forms? even more aggressive insects? highly resistent against all form of pesticides? pickung up all sorts of environmental toxins?

I personally think, what the scientists with their creation of bioinsecticides have started NATURE will finish!!

Mankind has always tried to manipulate nature not thinking about the consequences it might have destroying and disrupting the complex and very sensitive biological life forms..

If you fool around with 'mother nature' it WILL have consequences for all mankind sooner or later!

In fact it already has....WE are the living proof!

Kat

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