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Smoke from burning plants is a traditional spatial repellent against insects worldwide. Smoke is also commonly used in religious rituals. In Chinese folk religion and Taoism as practiced in Taiwan, Asiatic wormwood leaves, agarwood incense sticks, and joss paper ("ghost money") are often burned or carried to pray for health or at festivals that overlap with peak mosquito seasons. The possibility exists that some of these rituals became popular due to repellent effects of the smoke reducing the impact of insect-vectored pathogens. The effects of these smokes on the Dengue-vectoring mosquito Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus, 1762) (Diptera: Culicidae) was measured following the World Health Organization guidelines for spatial repellency testing. The chemical constituents of the smoke were identified using a solid-phase microextraction fiber for extraction followed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Smoke from wormwood weakly repelled mosquitoes and had some knock-down effects. Smoke from incense showed consistent but weak repellency effects, with no knock-down. Smoke from joss paper had no effect overall, with some mosquitoes seemingly attracted to the flames. While air pollution remains a concern regarding smoky incense, the possibility that mosquito-repelling volatiles can be isolated from the incense and utilized without smoke justifies deeper investigation into the source of these repellent effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While unnecessarily killing or injuring an insect is arguably wrong, euthanasia of an accidentally injured insect raises anew issues of whether insects can experience pain. The question takes renewed significance due to increasing insect farming for food and feed and concerns over farmed insect welfare. For euthanasia of a damaged insect to be justifiable, the damage must be sensed as a noxious stimulus (nociception) that the insect consciously experiences as pain. This pain must then lead to suffering or frustrated desire, with the possibility of the animal preferring death to continued existence. A failure at any of these points would deem euthanasia moot. The neurological, behavioral, and evolutionary evidence so far suggests the concept of euthanasia does not apply to insects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food futurists accept that sustainability-minded humanity will increasingly incorporate insects as alternative protein. The most studied and easily reared species are not necessarily the most sustainable, acceptable, or delicious. Here, we review the literature on the black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens, which is capable of efficiently converting a wide variety of organic materials, from food waste to manure, into insect biomass. They can be grown and harvested without dedicated facilities and are not pestiferous. Their larvae are 42% crude protein and 29% fat, although they are higher in saturated fats than most insects. They do not concentrate pesticides or mycotoxins. They are already grown and recommended for use as animal feed, but with regional legal restrictions on how this is done. For commercial use in human foods, larvae could potentially be milled and converted into a textured protein with a strong flavor. Their biggest advantage over other insects is their ability to convert waste into food, generating value and closing nutrient loops as they reduce pollution and costs. This general advantage is also their greatest disadvantage, for the social stigmas and legal prohibitions against eating organisms that eat waste are added to extant taboos facing insect consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coconut rhinoceros beetle (CRB, Oryctes rhinoceros) is a palm tree pest capable of rapidly expanding its population in new territories. Previous studies identified a digestive symbiosis between CRB and its gut microbes. However, no research compared the genetic variation of CRBs with their hindgut microbiota on a global scale. This study aims to investigate the genetic divergence of CRB and the compositional variation of CRB's microbiota across different geographical locations, and explore the association between them and their predicted functional profiles and environmental data. The research reveals a distinct and consistent microbial community within local populations, but it varies across different geographical populations. The microbial functional profiles linked to the production of digestive enzymes, including cellulases and ligninases, are nonetheless globally conserved. This suggests that CRBs employ specific mechanisms to select and maintain microbes with functional benefits, contributing to host adaptability, stress tolerance, and fitness. The CRB microbial communities did not appear to recapitulate the genetic variation of their hosts. Rather than depend on obligate symbionts, CRBs seem to establish similar digestive associations with whatever environmentally acquired microbes are available wherever they are, aiding them in successfully establishing after invading a new location. IMPORTANCE Coconut rhinoceros beetles (CRBs) are notorious pests on Arecaceae plants, posing destructive threats to countries highly reliant on coconut, oil palm, and date palm as economic crops. In the last century, CRBs have rapidly expanded their presence to territories that were once free of these beetles. The United States, for instance, has officially designated CRBs as invasive and alien pests. Given their remarkable ability to swiftly adapt to new environments, their gut microbes may play a crucial role in this process. While the microbiota of CRBs vary depending on geographical location, these beetles consistently exhibit a functionally identical digestive association with locally acquired microbes. This underscores the significance of CRB-microbe association in shaping the adaptive strategies of this agricultural pest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two strains of Chryseobacterium identified from different experiments are proposed to represent new species. Strain WLa1L2M3 T was isolated from the digestive tract of an Oryctes rhinoceros beetle larva. Strain 09-1422 T was isolated from a cage housing the stick insect Eurycantha calcarata . Sequence analysis of the 16S rRNA and rpoB genes found both strains to be similar but not identical to other Chryseobacterium species. Whole-genome sequencing suggested the isolates represent new species, with average nucleotide identity values ranging from 74.6 to 80.5 %. Genome-to-genome distance calculations produced values below 25.3 %, and digital DNA-DNA hybridization values were 13.7-29.9 %, all suggesting they are distinct species. The genomic DNA G+C content of WLa1L2M3 T is approximately 32.53 %, and of 09-1422 T is approximately 35.89 %. The predominant cellular fatty acids of strain WLa1L2M3 T are C 15 : 0 iso, summed feature 9 (C 16 : 0 10OH or C 17 : 1 iso ω6 c ), C 17 : 0 iso 3OH, summed feature 3 (C 16 : 1 ω7 c and/or C 16 : 1 ω6c), C 15 : 0 iso 3OH, C 15 : 0 anteiso and C 13 : 0 iso, and those of strain 09-1422 T are C 15 : 0 iso, summed feature 3 (C 16 : 1 ω7c and/or C 16 : 1 ω6 c ), C 17 : 0 iso 3OH, C 15 : 0 anteiso, C 15 : 0 iso 3OH, C 16 : 1 ω7 c , C 17 : 0 2OH and C 18 : 0 . In addition, physiological and biochemical tests revealed phenotypic differences from related Chryseobacterium type strains. These cumulative data indicate that the two strains represent novel species of the genus Chryseobacterium for which the names Chryseobacterium oryctis sp. nov. and Chryseobacterium kimseyorum sp. nov. are proposed with WLa1L2M3 T (=BCRC 81350 T =JCM 35215 T =CIP 112035 T ) and 09-1422 T (=UCDFST 09-1422 T =BCRC 81359 T =CIP 112165 T ), as type strains, respectively.