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The present work aimed to examine the attractiveness of ten new pollen supplemental diets to honey bees (Apis mellifera) through evaluating the consumption rate, besides their efficiency in supporting the colony through measuring colony growth (sealed workers brood area). Twelve materials were used and mixed with honey bee in different proportions forming diets taking numbers from 1 to 10. These materials were flours of: gram seeds, beans seeds, pea seeds, fenugreek seeds, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, anise seeds, white kidney beans seeds, caraway seeds, rice seeds, fennel seeds and oats. Diets were consumed at rates that were comparable to the control (sugar candy). Generally differences among consumption rates of supplemental pollen diets were highly significant. The highest consumed amounts were recorded in colonies fed on diet (1); 47.42gm/ colony in average, mix. (2); 43.35 gm/ colony in each week. While the lowest consumption rate (27.3 gm/ colony) in each week was recorded for diet no. 10 in average. There was a significant relationship between the amount of diet consumed and the increase in workers sealed brood area. Where colonies fed with mixture diets from gram seeds (Diet 2), dried pea with rice, fennel and fenugreek (Diet 3), dried beans seeds with fennel seeds (Diet 4) and oats, rice, anise seeds (Diet 1), showed 53.71%, 38.44%, 35.98% and 5.85% more brood area than control ones.

In the present study, gamma radiation effects on the reproductive potential of the mosquito, Culex pipiens and its role in the transmission of the Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) were investigated. The susceptibility of female, Culex pipiens mosquitoes to gamma irradiation was carried out by exposed full grown pupae to doses 0, 20, 40, 60 Gy. The lethal doses were calculated, as the doses of gamma radiation increased, a progressive increase in the nonhatched eggs percentage. The viral load at mouth parts, in mid-gut and salivary gland, was detected in the irradiated females with LD 75 (60 Gy) and non-irradiated using RT-PCR relatively at time 60 min., 5 and 13 days and tested in the mentioned position. Viral load in irradiated Culex pipiens that fed on an infected blood with a viral load 1.2 x 10 6 IU/ml %was decreased by time from 6.0782 x 10 4 IU/ML% at zero time into 2.399 x 10 3 IU/ML% after 60 min. postinfection at the mouth parts. Also, the viral load decreased by time in the mid-gut from 2.63575 x 10 5 IU/ML% at zero time into 3.969 x 10 3 IU/ML% after 5 days post-infection, while HCV was not detected in the salivary glands. The current results indicated that the mechanical transmission through mouth parts in irradiated and nonirradiated Culex pipiens mosquitoes is plausible while the biological transmission did not occur.

Avian malaria is a mosquito-borne disease caused by Plasmodium spp. protozoa. Although these parasites have been extensively studied in North America and Eurasia, knowledge on the diversity of Plasmodium, its vectors and avian hosts in Africa is scarce. In this study, we report on natural malarial infections in free-ranging sparrows (Passer domesticus) sampled at Giza Governorate, Egypt. Parasites were morphologically characterized as Plasmodium cathemerium based on the examination of thin blood smears from the avian host. Sequencing a fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene showed that the parasite corresponded to lineage PADOM02. Phylogenetic analysis showed that this parasite is closely related to the lineages SERAU01 and PADOM09, both of which are attributed to P. cathemerium. Experimental infection of Culex pipiens complex was successful, with ookinetes first detected at 1-day post infection (dpi), oocysts at 4 dpi and sporozoites at 6 dpi. The massive infection of the salivary glands by sporozoites corroborates that Cx. pipiens complex is a competent vector of PADOM02. Our findings confirm that Plasmodium lineage PADOM02 infects sparrows in urban areas along the Nile River, Egypt, and corroborate that Cx. pipiens complex is a highly competent vector for these parasites. Furthermore, our results demonstrate that this lineage corresponds to the morphospecies P. cathemerium and not P. relictum as previously believed.