Several Dipteran flies are vectors of diseases in the Afro-tropical region. The study was carried out to determine the species abundance of biting and non biting flies prevalent at the Jos Museum Zoological Garden, north central Nigeria. The flies were trapped using Biconical traps during the raining season of August-September 2013. The flies were harvested three times a week at an interval of 48 hours. Stomoxys calcitrans is the most abundant species trapped. There were significantly more flies in the Lion, Bovidae (Donkey, Carmel and Horse) and Ostrich sites compared to Human routes, Chimpanzee and Hyena sites suggesting a correlation between flies abundance and body size of animal. Flies proportions were compared using Chi-square test. There is a significant difference in the abundance of biting and non-biting flies. There is also a significant difference in the abundance of flies in relation to species and trapping sites. The biting effects on resident animals and tourists were discussed. The Jos Museum Zoological Garden being the oldest and second largest tourist destination in Nigeria will require concerted efforts to put in proper control measures to prevent flies infestation. This can be done through improved hygienic conditions and wastes management.

Background:The high cost of conventional animal feed ingredients in Nigeria has made it necessary to search for alternative local sources of feed. Crop residues including sweet potato leaves abound in Nigeria. These have been explored as feed sources. The ability of microorganisms to convert agricultural wastes to more useful products could be harnessed to produce feed from sweet potato leaves which can be obtained in high abundance at low cost. Aim: To examine the possibility of converting sweet potato leaves to animal feed through fermentation with a co-culture of Chaetomium globosum and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Materials and Methods: Triplicate samples of sweet potato leaves were fermented with a coculture of C. globosum and S. cerevisiae for 21 days at 25±2°C and the effects of fermentatio n on Original Research Article nutrient composition were determined. Fermentation and control samples were analysed for proximate, amino acids, and elemental contents. Results: Crude protein, crude fat and ash contents increased by 97.5%, 265.3% and 12.3%, respectively, while crude fibre and nitrogen free extract values decreased by 22.7% and 61.4% respectively. Energy content increased by 14.5%. The observed changes in the values of these nutritional components were significant (P = 0.05). The percentage dry matter values of all the amino acids analyzed (lysine, histidine, arginine, aspartic acid, threonine, glutamic acid, proline, glycine, alanine, cystine, valine, methionine, isoleucine, leucine tyrosine and phenylalanine) were found to increase, with the contents of seven of the amino acids increasing significantly. Calcium, phosphorus, potassium and magnesium contents increased significantly while those of copper and iron decreased. Conclusion: Fermentation of sweet potato leaves with a co-culture of C. globosum and S. cerevisiae enhanced the feed potential of the leaves. With mineral supplementation, energy enhancement, and further crude fibre reduction, fermented sweet potato leaves could serve as feed for some animals.

Little is known about the species composition and ecology of ground dwelling arthropods of

The species composition and diversity of aerial insects inhabiting different ecosystems are not well known particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Thus, a study on species diversity and abundance of aerial insects in the Jos Museum Zoological (JMZ) Garden, Plateau State, Nigeria was carried out between June and July, 2013. Aerial insects were collected from edge, mid and interior points of rocky outcrop and savannah woodland using a sweep net. Each transect point was 50 metres long, 20 sweeps were made in each transect point. Wilcoxon rank sum test was used to test for significant difference in the mean abundance of aerial insects between habitats. One-way ANOVAwas used to test for significant difference in the mean abundance of aerial insects between points and insects' orders. The Shannon diversity index was used to compare species diversity in the two habitats. The Sorensen's similarity index was used to compare species compositional similarity or variation between habitats. A total of 103 individuals aerial insects distributed in 11 Orders, 36 Families, 35 genera and27 species were collected. Fiftyeight(58) insects representing 55.77% were collected from rocky outcrop while 45 insects representing 44.23% were collected from savanna woodland. The species diversity index did not vary significantly (P<0.05), but showed a complete dissimilarity in species composition in the two habitats. These findings clearly suggest that the JMZ Garden is rich in insect species of different orders and is a healthy ecosystem. It is, therefore, recommended that unsustainable anthropogenic activities such as refuse dumping, defeaeating, logging and bush burning should bediseouraged in the garden.

Soil macroarthropods are important components that sustain the health and quality of agro-ecosystems for improved agricultural productions though are influenced by abiotic components of the environment. Macroarthropod collections vary across traps due to the fact that some traps can stand for a long time while others such as handpicking cannot. However, traps may be used as a rapid assessment tool to generate checklists for macroarthropod species present in an area within a very short time. To this end, a study on the comparison of pitfall traps and hand-picking techniques for studying macroathropods abundance in vegetable plots and the influence of abiotic factors (temperature and pH) on their abundance in Jos, Nigeria was carried out from August to October, 2014. Pitfall traps and hand-picking techniques were used to collect macroarthropods from six different vegetable plots in three selected villages in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State, Nigeria. Soil temperature was recorded in the field while soil samples were obtained from a 7.5 cm depth for measurement of soil pH in the laboratory. A total of 3,346 macroarthropods were collected and pitfall traps had 2,780 (83.08%) while handpicking technique recorded 566 (16.92%). There was a significant difference (P = 0.0076) in the mean abundance of macroarthropods between sampling techniques. Macroarthropods abundance and species richness in relation to vegetable plots varied significantly (P < 0.0001). There was a positive association between pH and macroarthropod abundance (r = 0.13) while temperature did not influence the abundance (r = -0.08). Although, pitfall trap is a passive collector of macroarthropods, it is still a more efficient and preferred sampling techniques for ground crawling arthropods. Farmers should ensure that their soil pH is well maintained at alkaline level so as to influence macroathropods abundance in vegetable plots and ensure robust productivity.