Adults of Dysdercus koenigii remain in continuous copula for up to 72h. The adaptive significance of prolonged copulation in the reproductive bioactivities of D. koenigii was investigated by a series of interrupted mating experiments. The adults were allowed to mate for a specified duration, after which mating was forcibly terminated. The study indicated that insemination in the female takes place during the first day of mating. This was reflected by the observation that 24h mated females laid fertile eggs. Prolonged mating modifies the female’s reproductive behaviour. The duration of mating had a profound effect on the onset of oviposition as well as the total number of eggs and egg batches laid by a female during her lifetime. Female fertility was also correlated with the duration of mating. Therefore, a female mated for 24h laid fewer fertile eggs in comparison to females mated for 48h or 72h. Hatching success decreased significantly in the egg batches laid by a female during the latter part of her life. A mated female exhibited rhythmic ovipositional behaviour. Our results indicated that the rhythmicity of the oviposition changed as a consequence of the different duration of mating. For instance, in females mated for 24h, there was a change in the number of eggs laid and in the rhythmicity of ovipositional peaks. Further, the rate of oocyte growth appeared to be enhanced by mating. This was evidenced by the shorter inter-oviposition period in the case of females mated for a longer period. It is suggested that throughout mating, females acquire additional sperm and non-gametic resources, such as male accessory gland secretions, which govern their reproductive behaviour and physiology.

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Aim and Objectives: Plants are a good source of secondary metabolites, which have huge potential to kill micro-organisms. The present study aimed to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of Ocimum sanctum ethanol extract against drug-resistant and drug-sensitive strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa). Materials and Methods: A total of 119 strains of P. aeruginosa, 92 multidrug-resistant (MDR) and 27 pan sensitive strains were included in the study, which were isolated from different human clinical samples. Ocimum sanctum crude leaves extract was prepared with the standard "cold extraction method". The susceptibility agar dilution plates were made by mixing molten Mueller-Hinton Agar (MHA) media with plant extract in different quantities to get the final extract concentration of 0.2%, 0.1% and 0.05%. These plates were used for determining the sensitive/ resistance nature of all strains of P. aeruginosa against plant extract. Results: Among 92 MDR strains in MHA plates with 0.05% of plant extract, 59 strains were sensitive and 33 were resistant. The same MDR strains in MHA plate with 0.1% of the extract showed somewhat similar trends, 61 sensitive and 31 resistant. Whereas with 0.2% of the extract, 67 strains were sensitive, 11 showed resistance while 14 showed discrete colonies. Among 27 pan sensitive strains at 0.05% concentration, there was complete growth inhibition in 23, while discrete colonies were observed in 4, though, at 0.1% and 0.2%, all strains were found as sensitive. Conclusion: Analysis of the present study showed that Ocimum sanctum extract possess compounds with antimicrobial properties against commonly used isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains.

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