Essential oils of three species of Artemisia genus (A. absinthium L., A. campestris L. and A. herba-alba (Asso)) were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and their potential insecticidal and repellent activities against the stored grain insect Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) was investigated. Fumigant and repellent activity bioassays were investigated in vitro. Chemical characterisation of essential oils showed that the bicyclic monoterpenes were predominant in all Artemisia essential oils, A. absinthium essential oil having the highest content of bicyclic monoterpenes, bicycloheptanes, naphthalenes and cycloalkenes. A. campestris had the highest content of sesquiterpenoids and acyclic monoterpenoids. A. herba-alba was characterised by the highest amounts of menthane monoterpenoids, oxanes, cumenes, oxolanes, ketones, benzenoids and monocyclic monoterpenes. Fumigant bioassay demonstrated that the three types of oil applied separately caused significant insect mortality. The lowest median lethal dose, LC50=142.8 μL/L, was observed with A. herba-alba. In repellency test, essential oil of A. absinthium was more potent with more rapid action than all other species. The mixture of Artemisia sp. essential oils showed an antagonistic effect in all the tested combinations. This study highlighted an important potential of Artemisia sp. especially A. herba-alba and A. absinthium in the control of the pests of stored products.

The role of juvenile hormone (JH) and corazonin in the maternal regulation of progeny characteristics was examined in the migratory locust, Locusta migratoria (Orthoptera: Acrididae). Crowded female adults are known to produce large eggs, heavier and darker hatchlings than solitarious female adults which produce smaller eggs, smaller hatchlings with brighter cuticular colour. Implantation of corpora allata (CA) taken from gregarious sexually mature females caused crowded females to deposit smaller eggs and smaller, lighter hatchlings. The neuropeptide [His⁷]-corazonin, present in the central nervous system and corpus cardiacum, is known to induce darkening of body colouration when injected into locusts reared in isolation. To examine whether this neuropeptide is responsible for the maternal regulation of progeny phase characteristics, 1 nmol [His⁷]-corazonin mixed with 2 µl of sunflower oil were injected twice into solitarious female adults. No effect of corazonin on egg size, the weight of the hatchlings and brightness of their cuticular colour changes was found.

Optimizing olive orchard management requires timely, per-tree data to enhance productivity and sustainability. Unoccupied aerial vehicle (UAV)-based red, green, and blue (RGB) imagery offers a low-cost solution for acquiring high-resolution spatiotemporal insights for orchard management, which are not yet common in Tunisia. This study monitored tree structural parameters, leaf area index (LAI), and leaf nitrogen content (%N DW) in two Tunisian olive orchards during 2022 and 2023. UAV-derived imagery was photogrammetrically processed into 3D point clouds and analyzed using an automated approach. Target variables of the automated approach included tree-wise estimates of height, projected crown area, and crown volume, as well as raster cell counts of the canopy cloud and spectral indices such as the normalized green-red difference index (NGRDI) and green leaf index (GLI). In addition, the estimated parameters per tree were used to model LAI and leaf nitrogen content. Analyses were conducted separately for trees represented by a high and a low number of points in the dense point cloud. Outcomes were compared to reference data collected in the field on dates close to the UAV flights. The findings showed strong relationships for the projected crown area (R² = 0.82 and 0.91) and tree height (R² = 0.89 and 0.88) when compared to reference values. Linear regression models for LAI (R² = 0.73 and 0.68) and crown volume (R² = 0.85 and 0.91) estimation also show strong relationships. However, leaf nitrogen estimation was not feasible from RGB spectral index values, as it showed a weak relationship (R² = 0.34). A dataset with multispectral imagery could overcome this limitation but would increase costs, making it less suitable for the low-budget approach required in price-sensitive farming contexts, particularly in low-income regions.

The present study was carried out to investigate the feending deterrence, nutritional indices and morphological abnormalities of Spodoptera littoralis in response to methanol, ethanol and aqueous extracts of Punica granatum peel. The peel powder was extracted on ethanol, methanol and water and the dose of 2% was applied on the 3rd instars’ larvae maintained on artificial diet or Emex spinosa leaves. Feeding deterrence, nutritional and morphological abnormalities were evaluated. Pomegranate peel