eChapters

INTRODUCTION

“An insect is like an old-fashion soldier: it does what it is ordered to do, and when it has no orders it does nothing” (a citation from Wright, 1963). The orders are very often given as chemical signals that induce certain behaviour or change the course of development in the insect. Chemical communication appears to be the primary mode of information transfer in insects. These chemicals are able to modify the behaviour of a perceiving organism at sub-micro/nanogram levels and are known as semiochemicals. The term is derived from the Greek Word Simeone, meaning a mark of a signal. These behaviour modifying chemicals are divided into two broad categories.

Introduction

According to an estimate by World Health Organization (WHO), about one million cases of pesticides poisoning and 20, 000 deaths occur every year due to pesticide residues in food chain including cereals, pulses, vegetables, fruits, oils, milk and milk products (including mother’s milk), fishes, poultry, meat and water. At global level, chemical pesticide worth US$ 30 billion is being used annually for the management of diseases and insect pests. In spite of this, epidemics of diseases, infestations of insect pests and colonization by weeds results in significant losses in agriculture production worldwide. As a result of crop improvement programs to incorporate resistance to pests, devastations epidemics and infestations are rare. Nevertheless, pests continue to exert a heavy toll in terms of yield losses. The last global estimate of yield losses due to pests, made crops like rice, wheat, maize, cotton, soybean, barley and coffee were equivalent to approximately US $ 250 billion annually during the period the period 1989-1990 (Table 1). Since these eight crops occupy only half of the global cropped area, yield losses due to all pests on all crops would be much high. The estimates indicate that 42 per cent of the total global attainable production of the eight major crops is lost due to pests, of which 16, 13 and 13 per cent losses are due to insects, diseases and weeds, respectively. Post harvest losses are estimated to cause an additional 10 per cent loss. Developing countries incur higher losses than industrial countries. (Table 2).

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an international organization designed to supervise and liberalize international trade. It was established on 1^st January 2005 and is responsible for making and enforcing rules for trade between nations. WTO marks a major change in global trade rules. As an organization, it replaces the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which had been in existence since 1947. The Eighth Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations under GATT, which started in Uruguay in 1986, was concluded in 1994, leading to the creation of WTO as the new permanent international trade organization. The role of WTO is much more extensive than that of GATT, which dealt with trade in goods. Apart from goods, the two other broad areas that WTO covers are services and intellectual property, which previously belonged to the domestic domain. Accordingly, WTO administers not only the Multilateral Trade Agreements (MTAs) in goods but also the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), which came into existence with WTO. All the agreements annexed to the Agreement establishing the WTO were signed as part of a package deal. Member countries did not have the option of choosing some and rejecting others. Another important difference with the erstwhile GATT is that WTO has a stronger compliance mechanism than did GATT-a member’s failure to meet the obligations can invoke retaliation across agreements and sectors.

Immunoblotting or Western blotting is a technique employed to observe proteins separated through gel electrophoresis. After the proteins migrate from the gel to a nitrocellulose or PVDF membrane due to an electrical current, the membrane is exposed to antibodies tailored for the desired target. Subsequently, secondary antibodies and detection reagents are utilized to visualize the proteins of interest on the membrane.

1. Preparation of tissue homogenate

The initial phase of sample preparation involves extracting proteins from their origin. Typically, proteins are extracted from cells or tissues through a process called lysis. This procedure disrupts the cell membrane to separate proteins from the insoluble components of the cell. Different lysis buffers are available for sample preparation in Western blotting and they differ in the potency of their detergents used to liberate soluble proteins.

Introduction

Despite the predominance of attention to insects as pests, many insects are directly beneficial to humans, and as a result, mass-production methods have been developed. The most notable example is silkworms, although many other insects are mass produced for various purposes. For example, Lacewings, ladybird beetles, and some parasitoids are mass produced and sold as biological control agents against various pests. Bumble bees and alfalfa leaf cutting bees are mass produced as pollinators for greenhouse crops and alfalfa seed production, respectively. A major concern in any kind of mass rearing facility is the risk for pest and disease outbreaks. If pest and diseases are not controlled, a sudden collapse of the insect colony can occur and the quality and quantity of their product may be reduced. Sericulture is practiced by scores of farmers in the tropical, subtropical and temperate countries including India, China and other Asian countries. India produces 25,519 metric tonnes of silk and holds second position in the world in silk production (www.csb.nic.in). The Indian silk is comprised of mulberry silk produced by Bombyx mori (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Bombycidae). About 92% of India’s total raw silk production is from the mulberry silkworm. The silk produced by silkworms is known as “Queen of fibers” due to glittering luster, soft-feeling, elegance, durability and tensile properties.

Introduction

The Indian lac insect, Kerria lacca (Kerr) (family Tachardiidae (Kerriidae), super family Coccoidea of the order Hemiptera) is widely cultivated in India for their products viz., resin, dye and wax.Lac products have diverse uses in food, pharmaceuticals, surface coating, electrical, cosmetic industries, etc. Lac cultivation is one of the major sources of income for the tribal community of the country. India is the global leader in lac production. Out of 2 strains (kusmi and rangeeni) available in lac insects, Kusmi lac insects are specific to India and contribute good quality and quantity lac. Although lac insects can survive on more than 400 host plants, important host plants of lac insects are Butea monosperma (Palas), Schleichera oleosa (Kusum), Ziziphus mauritania (Ber) and Flemingia semialata in India.

Insects generally reproduce by laying eggs or ‘ova’. The initiation of growth inside an egg, which in most cases is preceded by fertilization, leads to a long series of changes, finally attaining the adult stage and in due course to sexual maturity and finally to reproduction of a new generation. This chain of events from the egg stage to adult constitutes the ‘life history’ or ‘life cycle’ of an insect.

Introduction

Almost all agricultural commodities include cereals which are stored in go-downs or store on large scale or small scale because storage of food grains is inevitable both in times of deficit and surplus production (Lal, 1985). The intensification of food production has led to several problems in the post-harvest phase including the major concern of pest infestation during storage. The post harvest losses in India have been estimated to be 12 to 16 million metric tonnes of food grains every year (Singh, 2010). The stored grain pests are serious pests of dried, stored, durable agricultural commodities and of many value-added food products and non-food derivatives of agricultural products worldwide.

The digestive system of insects comprises of two main sub-parts, one is the alimentary tract or also known as the digestive tract and the associated digestive glands. These digestive glands may be associated directly or indirectly such as, salivary glands, gastric, caeca (directly) and Malpighian tubules (indirect). If we have to describe an insect and its anatomy, or its histology, it is based on the orthopteroid plan, which is mostly shown by grasshoppers, crickets, and locusts, because their plan shows and describes the basic, primitive design from which other groups of insects have enolved and showed modifications and specialization. We can say that this orthoptera insect shows the general anatomical and histological features of a generalised insect.Today, we see that insects have invaded and adapted in almost all types of habitats and the major reason for their biological success is their ability to show digestion, utilization and their ability to eat an extremely vast diversity of food. It is due to this abilityof extremizm in food diversity that insects have undergone many specializations and modifications of the alimentary canal. What modifications a species of insects undergoes, depends upon the type of insects, depends upon the type of food it consumes. The diversity is also seen in the way of obtaining, storing, processing and absorbing the food. These differences may be structural or functional or both. It is not necessary that these differences must be present in different species only, those may be shown by different life stages of a single insect, by two sexes of a single species, etc. e.g., the difference between the mouths parts of mosquito species.

Introduction

There are both ants and white-ants present in this world since long. Although wrongly called, white ants or termites are responsible for substantial losses due to their infestation or attack not only to agriculturally important crops, but also to buildings and constructions, which in other way creates a hurdle to advancement of civilization. It will be an injustice if the beneficial role of them rendered to the society is remained unmentioned. Their ability to digest cellulose helps these insects recycle the entire base of the nutrient of this earth. But in terms of wastage and destruction, particularly in buildings and constructions, it surpasses the other damages mainly in the sectors like agriculture. In a latest literature, it was estimated that the world suffered an annual loss of 40 billion USD, owing to the attack of termites on various constructions (Liston, 2015).

Pollination is the transfer of pollen from the male part of the plant to the female part of the plant of the same species. The anthers, the male part of the flower, produce pollen. The pollen must be transferred to the upper female part of the flower, the stigma. Here the pollen germinates and grows down the style (the elongated portion of a pistil that connects the ovary with the stigma of a plant) to where fertilization occurs and the seeds develop in the ovaries. A fruit is a ripened ovary.

Insects show sexual Dimorphism i.e., the sexes are usually separate and are dioecious. Male reproductive system produces sperms, stores them and delivers them i.e., spermatozoa. It also produces the seminal fluid, which provides a suitable environment to the sperms and nourishes them. Male reproductive system also situmilates are the female for oviposition. The female reproductive system produces and stores eggs provide nutrition to them for embryonic development, recieves and stores the sperms, is a site of fertilization. Female reproductive system also deposite eggs and may provide additional protection to the embryos. The reproductive system of both male and female insect’s bearis a gononpore, which is an opening of a pair of gonads. Both the gonads open into the gonopore by a median duct. For the secondry sexual purposes, e.g., formation of spermatophore and egg-case or ootheca, some accessory glands are associated with the reproductive system.

2.1 Introduction
As time passes, the customers are used to the practice of having short life for the products, which they buy and use. This is because of the globalization of business and growing global competition all over the world. The companies engaged in manufacturing and selling the products which are used at large volume by households and partly by industries, introduce new models to attract customers and to have more market share. This in turn has impacts on customer buying and retention decisions of those products. Though the companies introduce new models, they are expected to keep the prices of the products at affordable ranges so that there is always a larger customer segment to buy those products. This is like egg or chicken situation, because companies introduce many new models to out beat competition and in turn customers expect improved versions of those models in shorter time intervals. This forces companies to continuously engage themselves to come out with new models or improved models which have convergence of technologies to give maximal customer satisfaction. So, creativity in product design becomes an essential requirement of the product development teams of the companies.
2.2 Product Design
Product design aims to include the following tasks to solve the problems of the users or address expected needs of customers in a given market. These tasks are human intensive.
i. Understanding end-users’ requirements
ii. Imagining alternate product ideas to address their needs

6.1 Introduction
The success of design thinking depends on its applicability in industries and service organization. The applications of design thinking applied to product development should focus on the needs of users. The design thinking can also be applied to design new processes as well as improve an existing process.
6.2 Case Studies
The section presents several case studies of applying design thinking in realities as listed below.
1. Design thinking in eye care
2. Design thinking in foundry
3. Design thinking in FMG company
4. Design thinking in auto industry
5. Design thinking at retail outlet
6. Design Thinking in Flight Reservation System
7. Design thinking in winding fabric on roller in textile mill
6.2.1 Case study: Design Thinking in Eye Care
Eye care is a crucial part of health care system. There are many factors that are responsible for poor eye vision. Normally in the early stages, viz. children and adults up to 40 or 45 years of age may have eye power issues, which are managed

Many insect can be observed at any hour of the day. This is proper understanding of the taxonomy and biology. The insect collection, storage and preservation are useful technique of their culture. The best period for collection is from early spring to late rainfall and the best time of the collection of most of the species is during the daytime. The insect are polyphagous and therefore, plants provide one of the best collecting places. Insect can be picked, swept off the plant with the help of a net. Different species feed on different kinds of plant, one should therefore, examine all sorts of plant, flowers weed shrubs and trees. Few insect are only found in the stem, bark, wood, fruit or roots etc. Some species can be found in the leaf mud and litter on the surface of the soil, particularly in woods or areas where the vegetation is dense, others can be found under stones bark etc. other house hold insects may be observed feeding on clothing, furniture, grain, food and other parts of Plant and House and some are aquatic insects.

Chromatography is an important analytical technique for the separation, isolation and identification of the constituents of a mixture. It is a physical method of separation in which the components to be separated are distributed between two phases; one of these phases consisting a stationary bed of large surface area, the other being a fluid that percolates through or along the stationary bed. All forms of chromatography do have the common features given in this definition. All of them involve the physical movements of the sample across a flat surface (tube like) or through a tube. The stationary phases in all of these possess a large surface area. In all the techniques, the movement of the sample is due to the motion of the fluid/mobile phase. The principle underlying all these methods is the selective retardation of the movement of the components by the stationary phase. These methods result in the production of bands of concentrated components. The basis of naming various chromatographic methods are different:

The role of toxicology in the evaluation of new agrochemicals

The widespread use of agrochemicals for crop protection may expose humans, animals, and the environment to toxic chemicals. Humans may be exposed during manufacture or application, and to a lesser extent as consumers of food products containing trace amounts of residues.

Strategies of toxicity testing

No-Observable-Adverse- Effect-Level (NOAEL)

A level in which the total diet that causes no adverse effect in treated animals when compared to untreated animals maintained under identical conditions. This NOAEL is expressed on a mg/kg of body weight/day basis. Chronic and sub chronic studies are need to be carried out in different species to determine NOAEL values.

It depends on how much of the substance an organism is exposed to, but all chemicals are toxic to some degree. Toxicology studies try to figure out the exact types and amounts of harmful effects, as well as the lowest doses that won’t have any negative effects (called the “No Observed Adverse Effect Level” or NOAEL). Most data come from studies with lab animals and cells that have been grown in a lab. Using these numbers and extrapolation or uncertainty factors, it is possible to figure out an Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI). This is the maximum amount of a substance that a person can take in every day without putting themselves at a very high risk of getting sick. These numbers will be compared to how people might be exposed to a compound in the environment, including through food. This will show if the use of an agrochemical is potentially allowed.

Insect pollinators are essential for the reproduction of most flowering plants and contribute substantially to global crop production and food security. Bees, butterflies, moths, flies, beetles and other insects transfer pollen and support fruit and seed formation. Climate change can influence their physiology, development, activity, foraging, migration, distribution and seasonal emergence. It may also create mismatches between flowering periods and pollinator activity, reducing pollination efficiency. Drought, extreme heat, habitat loss and changes in floral resources further threaten pollinator diversity and abundance. This chapter examines the direct and indirect effects of climate change on insect pollinators and discusses conservation and management measures

Nomenclature should not be confused with terminology which deals with terms, like antenna, abdomen, radius etc. Names of animal and plants may be either vernacular or scientific.

Vernacular names or local names of plants and animals are different from region to region, from language to language.

Scientific names or Latin or International names are used universally all over the world. Without them we would not be able to communicate and to use the knowledge accumulated about animals and plants in literature. These international names are under certain rules or nomenclature.

Nomenclature

No-men-cla-ture means a system of names. It is derived from Latin Nomen means name and calor means to call, which means to call by names. Nomenclature is the “language of Zoology” and the rules of nomenclature are its grammar. Since all zoologists work with animals and used their names, it is essential that the general principles of zoological nomenclature be familiar to all zoologists.

Bio-stimulants are increasingly used to improve crop performance while reducing dependence on intensive chemical inputs. They include amino acids, protein hydrolysates, humic substances, seaweed extracts, beneficial microorganisms and plant- or microbial-derived compounds. These substances can influence root architecture, nutrient assimilation, hormonal balance, photosynthesis, stress tolerance and disease resistance. This chapter examines the effects of different bio-stimulants on onion seed germination, vegetative growth, bulb development, yield, quality and storage life. It discusses their modes of action, application methods and integration with nutrient-management programmes. Bio-stimulants are presented as promising components of environmentally responsible and resource-efficient onion production, while areas requiring further research are identified.