Aspergillus flavus F5 was used to reduce AgNO₃ to form silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) that were monitored by a color change from colorless to yellowish-brown. The characterizations were achieved by UV-Vis spectroscopy, FT-IR, TEM, SEM-EDX, and XRD. Data showed that there was a successful formation of crystalline, spherical shape Ag-NPs with a particle average size of 12.5 ± 5.1 nm. The FT-IR clarified the role of various functional groups in the reducing/capping process. EDX-SEM revealed that the main component of the as-formed sample was set to be mainly Ag with a weight percentage of 46.1%. The synthesized Ag-NPs exhibit antibacterial and anti-Candida activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Candida albicans, C. glabrata, C. tropicalis, and C. parapsilosis, with inhibition zones ranging between 9.3 ± 0.5 to 20.8 ± 0.3 nm based on concentrations used and MIC values between 6.25 to 25 ppm. The mortality percentages of Tyrophagus putrescentiae mite species due to the mixing of their diet with different Ag-NPs concentrations of 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 mg were 55.7 ± 2.1, 73.3 ± 1.5, and 87.4 ± 1.6% respectively after 20 days post-treatment. The catalytic activity of Ag-NPs to degrade methylene blue (MB) was investigated in the presence and absence of light irradiation. Data showed that a high photocatalytic degradation of MB compared with dark conditions at various times and concentrations. At a concentration of 70 mg/30 mL after 200 min., the dye removal percentages were 86.4 ± 0.4% in the presence of light irradiation versus 66.5 ± 1.1% in dark conditions.

Herein, silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) were synthesized using an environmentally friendly approach by harnessing the metabolites of Aspergillus niger F2. The successful formation of Ag-NPs was checked by a color change to yellowish-brown, followed by UV-Vis spectroscopy, Fourier transforms infrared (FT-IR), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Data showed the successful formation of crystalline Ag-NPs with a spherical shape at the maximum surface plasmon resonance of 420 nm with a size range of 3–13 nm. The Ag-NPs showed high toxicity against I, II, III, and IV instar larvae and pupae of Aedes aegypti with LC50 and LC90 values of 12.4–22.9 ppm and 22.4–41.4 ppm, respectively under laboratory conditions. The field assay exhibited the highest reduction in larval density due to treatment with Ag-NPs (10× LC50) with values of 59.6%, 74.7%, and 100% after 24, 48, and 72 h, respectively. The exposure of A. aegypti adults to the vapor of burning Ag-NPs-based coils caused a reduction of unfed individuals with a percentage of 81.6 ± 0.5% compared with the positive control, pyrethrin-based coils (86.1 ± 1.1%). The ovicidal activity of biosynthesized Ag-NPs caused the hatching of the eggs with percentages of 50.1 ± 0.9, 33.5 ± 1.1, 22.9 ± 1.1, and 13.7 ± 1.2% for concentrations of 5, 10, 15, and 20 ppm, whereas Ag-NPs at a concentration of 25 and 30 ppm caused complete egg mortality (100%). The obtained data confirmed the applicability of biosynthesized Ag-NPs to the biocontrol of A. aegypti at low concentrations.

Beekeeping is essential for the global food supply, yet honeybee health and hive numbers are increasingly threatened by habitat alteration, climate change, agrochemical overuse, pathogens, diseases, and insect pests. However, pests and diseases that have unknown spatial distribution and influences are blamed for diminishing honeybee colonies over the world. The greater wax moth (GWM), Galleria mellonella, is a pervasive pest of the honeybee, Apis mellifera. It has an international distribution that causes severe loss to the beekeeping industry. The GWM larvae burrow into the edge of unsealed cells that have pollen, bee brood, and honey through to the midrib of the wax comb. Burrowing larvae leave behind masses of webs that cause honey to leak out and entangle emerging bees, resulting in death by starvation, a phenomenon called galleriasis. In this study, the maximum entropy algorithm implemented in (Maxent) model was used to predict the global spatial distribution of GWM throughout the world. Two representative concentration pathways (RCPs) 2.6 and 8.5 of three global climate models (GCMs), were used to forecast the global distribution of GWM in 2050 and 2070. The Maxent models for GWM provided a high value of the Area Under Curve equal to 0.8 ± 0.001, which was a satisfactory result. Furthermore, True Skilled Statistics assured the perfection of the resultant models with a value equal to 0.7. These values indicated a significant correlation between the models and the ecology of the pest species. The models also showed a very high habitat suitability for the GWM in hot-spot honey exporting and importing countries. Furthermore, we extrapolated the economic impact of such pests in both feral and wild honeybee populations and consequently the global market of the honeybee industry.

Climate change is expected to influence the geographic distribution of many taxa, including insects. Chrysomya albiceps is one of the most pervasive calliphorid fly with apparent ecological, forensic, and medical importance. However, the global habitat suitability is varied due to climate change. Models that forecast species spatial distribution are increasingly being used in wildlife management, highlighting the need for trustworthy techniques to assess their accuracy. So, we used the maximum entropy implemented in Maxent to predict the current and future potential global geographic distribution of C. albiceps and algorithms of DIVA-GIS to confirm the predicted current model. The Maxent model was calibrated using 2177 occurrence records. Based on the Jackknife test, four bioclimatic variables along with altitude were used to develop the final models. For future models, two representative concentration pathways (RCPs), 2.6 and 8.5, for 2050 and 2070 were used. The area under curve (AUC) and true skill statistics (TSS) were used to evaluate the resulted models with values equal to 0.92 (±0.001) and 0.7, respectively. Two-dimensional niche analysis illustrated that the insect can adapt to low and high temperatures (9 °C to 27 °C), and the precipitation range was 0 mm to 2500 mm. The resulted models illustrated the global distribution of C. albiceps with alteration to its distribution in the future, especially on the Mediterranean coasts of Europe and Africa, Florida in the USA, and the coasts of Australia. Such predicted shifts put decision makers against their responsibilities to prevent destruction in economic, medical, and ecological sectors.

The two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae, also known as the red spider, is one of the most harmful pests in agriculture and causes large losses of many crops. These mites have rapidly developed a resistance to many chemical pesticides in recent years. In this study, the essential oil of seeds of the anise plant (Pimpinella anisum) was extracted by hydrodistillation, and the chemical composition of the oil was analyzed. The antioxidant activity of the volatile oil was determined by the DPPH radical scavenging assay. The acaricidal activity of the anise oil, a natural acaricide, was evaluated for its ability to protect green bean plants from mite injury. The two-spotted spiders were spread on green bean seedlings for 1 week; then, different plants were sprayed with different concentrations of anise oil (10, 20, 30, or 40 µL/L). Our results revealed that anethole was the major component of anise oil, at 53.23%. The acaricidal effect of the various concentrations on T. urticae was recorded after 24, 48, and 72 h of treatment. Our findings suggest that anise oil showed significant acaricidal activity against T. urticae in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Anise oil at a concentration of 40 µL/L killed 96.0% of the red spiders after 72 h. Also, all concentrations of anise oil inhibited acetylcholinesterase, and the spiders’ protease activity declined when the plants were treated with 30 or 40 µL/L of anise oil. The concentrations of 10 and 20 µL/L did not significantly affect the protease activity of T. urticae mites. We can conclude that anise oil exhibited acaricidal activity against T. urticae and that this was highly correlated with the inhibition of acetylcholinesterase and protease activities in the mites.

Climate change has a direct impact on biodiversity, affecting ecosystems and altering their balance. Many taxa, including insects, are likely to be affected by climate change in terms of geographic distribution. Sarcophagid flies, such as Sarcophaga dux and Sarcophaga haemorrhoidalis, are important flies because of their apparent ecological, forensic, and medical significance. Global habitat suitability varies as a result of climate change. In wildlife management, models that predict species’ spatial distribution are being used more and more, which emphasizes the need for reliable methods to evaluate their accuracy. Consequently, the statistical robustness of maximum entropy was implemented in Maxent to model the current and future global distribution of both flies, involving occurrence data of 155 and 87 points for S. dux and S. haemorrhoidalis, respectively. Based on the Pearson correlation and Jackknife test, five bioclimatic variables were used for current and future predictive models. For future models, two representative concentration pathways (RCPs), 2.6 and 8.5, for 2050 and 2070 were applied. Both statistical parameters, AUC and TSS, were used to assess the resulting models with values equal to 0.80 (±0.01) and 0.9, respectively, for S. dux and equal to 0.86 (±0.01) and 0.92 for S. haemorrhoidalis. The resulting models for S. dux showed high and very high suitability in Europe, Tropical Africa, India, Canada, the United States from Alaska to Florida, Brazil, and Australia. In the case of S. haemorrhoidalis Europe and North and South America displayed low to medium suitability, but North Africa, including Egypt; Tropical Africa; Asia, including Saudi Arabia, India, and China; and Australia showed increased suitability. Decision-makers are put in conflict with their duties to avert destruction in the economic, medical, and ecological sectors by such anticipated models, and use these predictive models as a cornerstone for building a control strategy for such forensically important flies at local spatial scales.