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Field surveys were carried out in early morning and evening hours in order to observe the avifaunal biodiversity of in and around Futala Lake Nagpur. Futala Lake is rich in biodiversity and harbors a wide variety of local birds and waterfowls due to abundant food availability throughout the year in the form of insects, worms, and weeds. Variations in food availability in different seasons affected the avifaunal diversity in the study area. This habitat attracted 34 bird species, belongs to 15 different orders and among waterfowls geese and ducks of the varied number along with migratory birds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of transgenic Bt cotton genotype containing Cry 1 Ac was evaluated against armyworm, Spodoptera litura (Fabricius). The larva of S. litura reared on leaves of Bt cotton, Non Bt cotton and Castor from first instar up to initiation of pupation. The effect on mortality, development period and fecundity was recorded. Mortality during larval development stage was 66.7% on Bt cotton, 16.7% on Non Bt and 13.3% on castor. Larval development period prolonged when larvae reared on Bt cotton. However, the damage reduced as compared to the larvae reared on Non Bt and castor leaves. The female fecundity also reduced compared to other groups. Thus present studies suggest that Bt cotton influenced on the larval mortality and increased the stages and duration of development, wheras fecundity significantly reduced the population of S. litura. This study has shown the persistence of toxicity of Bt transgenic on S.litura to be recommended as control measure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

survey was conducted in 47 locations in nine cotton-growing states of India to identify the composition of mealybug species occurring on cotton. Results of the taxonomic study showed that two mealybug species, the solenopsis mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis (Tinsley), and the pink hibiscus mealybug, Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Green), were found to infest cotton plants from all nine cotton growing states of the country. However, P. solenopsis was found to be the predominant mealybug species, comprising 95% of the samples examined. P. solenopsis, which was hitherto not reported to occur in India, now appears to be widespread on cotton in almost all cotton-growing states of the country. P. solenopsis is an exotic species originated from the USA and was reported to damage cotton and crops of 14 families. This report discusses the implications of the introduction of this exotic polyphagous pest species and the necessary steps to mitigate its potential threat to agriculture in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]