Zoology and Entomology.

Chair: Alex D.W. Acholonu, Alcorn State University 

Vice-chair: Elgenaid Hamadain, Jackson State University 

THURSDAY MORNING

Classroom B

8:00 COMPARISON OF ECTO- AND ENDO-PARASITES OF LEPOMIS MACROCHIRUS AND POMOXIS ANNULARIS IN A CARROLL COUNTY MISSISSIPPI WATERSHED POND

Julius Ikenga*, and Richard Wagner, Mississippi Valley State University, Itta Bena, MS 38941

Lepomis macrochirus and Pomoxis annularis are the predominant fish species inhabiting a pond northeast of section 23, range 2 East in Carroll County, MS. Both fish species were caught in mid-afternoons, using ZebcoT fishing rods baited with live and, or artificial baits. A 30 gal tank equipped with AquacultureT air pump and diffusion stones, for water aeration and circulation, were used to transport the fishes to the university laboratory for examination. A dissecting and a light compound microscopes equipped with a Bell and HowellT digital camera were used in this study. Scrapings from body mucus and lesions examined revealed that both fishes were infected with a variety of ecto-parasites. Trichodina sp., Ambphyra ameiuri, Trichophyra sp., Cryptobia agitans, Brachiomyces sanguinis, and Actionocleidus longus were identified from specimens of L. macrochirus, while Trichodina sp., C. agitans, Cleidodiscoides sp.; B. sanguinis, Saprolegnia sp., and Lernaea cyprinacea were identified from specimens of P. annularis. Endo-parasites identified from tissue preparations of L. macrochirus include Posthodiplostomum minimum, Camallanus oxycephalus, Contacaecum spiculigerum, and Sebekia mississippiensis, while those from P. annularis were Spinitectus sp. along with the first three endoparasites listed above. Three of the nine ecto-parasites found were specific for P. annularis, two for L. macrochirus, and three were common to both fish species. Of the five endo-parasites found, three were common to both fish species while the specificity of two parasites were inconclusive. Additional studies are needed to resolve the specificity of two endo-parasites and one ectoparasite.

8:15 SEROPREVALENCE OF TOXOPLASMA GONDII INFECTION IN PIGS FROM SOUTHWESTERN MISSISSIPII

Mary L. Coleman*, Alex D.W. Acholonu, and Abram Dunbar, Alcorn State University, Alcorn State, MS 39096

Toxoplasma gondii infection of swine is considered to be a potential public health concern because the infection can be acquired by humans through handling and consumption of contaminated raw or undercooked meat. Infection in immuno-compromised individuals and fetuses are the most severe and these individuals are mostly likely to develop clinical toxoplasmosis. Since Mississippians consume a lot of pork, there was a significant need to know the extent to which Toxoplasma gondii infection poses a health problem in the state. Prior studies had been done in Mississippi, but they were limited to Crystal Springs, MS. This study focused on the Southwestern region of the state of Mississippi. Between July 2003 and March 2004, blood samples were collected form slaughter-houses in Southwestern MS and Alcorn State University Swine Farm in Churchill, MS. The collected blood samples were centrifuged and the sera were collected, labeled and stored in a freezer. The modified agglutination test (MAT) was preformed at dilutions of 1:25, 1:50 and 1:500. A titer of 1:25 was considered to be seropositive. Of a total of 302 samples tested, 48 (16%) were seropositive at 1:25; 29 (10%) were positive at a titer of 1:50; 11 (4%) were positive at a titer of 1:500. The prevalence of T. gondii in pigs in Southwestern Mississippi is not as high as previous studies done in Mississippi, but the potential for infection still exists.

8:30 HIV/AIDS IN MISSISSIPPI AND NIGERIA

Alex D.W. Acholonu, Alcorn State University, Alcorn State, MS 39096

AIDS is an extremely serious disease in which the ability to mount an immune response is disabled completely. It is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). HIV infection virtually always progresses to AIDS after a prepatent period of some years (6 months to about 10 years or longer). The purpose of this study is to assess the extent to which HIV/AIDS has spread in the two geographic areas. Data for this study were obtained from literature review and information from the Mississippi State Department of Health. While the first case of AIDS was reported in 1981, AIDS became reportable in Mississippi in 1983 and HIV infection in 1988. In 2001 the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Mississippi was reported to be 7,635. The total reported since 1981 is 10,032. (1698 AIDS; 8334 HIV). In terms of public Health Districts, District V was the highest (3728, 37.2%) and District II was the lowest (370,3.7%); in terms of counties, Hinds County had the highest (2615, 26.0%) and Greene the lowest (8, 0.1%) as of year 2002. A preponderance of HIV/AIDS cases occurred in African Americans (38.4 African Americans vs. 5.6 whites per 100,000 population). The number infected is reported to be declining. The prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria has steadily increased from 1.8% of the population in 1991 when the first sentinel survey was conducted to 5.8% in 2001. The latest sentinel survey was conducted in 2003. The following were reported: HIV population was 4,046,701; new AIDS cases, 235, 146; AIDS deaths in 2003, 198, 184. Relentless effort must be made to educate people on HIV/AIDS. It is necessary to teach and preach safe sex for the sexually active ages and continence. It should be mandatory for pregnant women to undergo HIV/AIDS tests. Effective treatment drugs should be made available to the rich and poor alike.

8:45 THE FIRST RECORD OF THE GENUS POLYERGUS (HYMENOPTERA: FORMICIDAE) IN MISSISSIPPI

JoVonn G. Hill* and Richard L. Brown, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS 39762

Polyergus is a biologically and behaviorally interesting genus of ants whose members have no worker caste, but rather have a well-developed soldier caste. Soldiers are obligatory slave-makers of various ant species in the genus Formica, which assume all worker activities after they are captured as pupae in slaving raids. In June 2003, P. lucidus lucidus Mayr and P. lucidus longicornus Smith were discovered at three locations in the Black Belt Prairie region of Mississippi, representing the first record of this genus for the state. Polyergus l. lucidus was previously known from New England to Florida, west to the Rocky Mountains. Eight individuals of this subspecies, some holding pupae of a Formica species in their mandibles, and several adults of Formica pallidefulva Latreille were collected with a pitfall trap in an oak-hickory forest in Lowndes County. Subsequently, pitfall traps in a prairie remnant of the Tombigbee National Forest (Trace Unit) in Chickasaw County yielded 48 individuals of P. l. lucidus and several individuals of Formica schaufussi dolosa Buren, the dominant Formica at this prairie. A second subspecies, Polyergus l. longicornus, was previously known only from the Carolinas and Georgia. A slave raid of this subspecies was observed in a one-hectare oak-hickory forest near the Osborn Prairie in Oktibbeha County about 5:30 p.m. on 5:30 on 19 June 2003. Approximately 100 individuals were moving as a group in a southeasterly direction, but the Formica slave of this subspecies was not discovered. Specimens of both subspecies are deposited in the Mississippi Entomological Museum.

9:00 Break

9:15 ASSESSMENT OF WATER QUALITY IN TWO LOTIC BODIES OF WATER IN JEFFERSON COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI 

Rosie Hopkins* and Alex D.W. Acholonu, Alcorn State University, Alcorn State, MS 39096

This study was conducted to find out if Coles Creek and Mud Island Creek located off the Natchez Trace Parkway, in the picnic areas, are polluted or meet the Mississippi Water Quality Standard. The main thrust was to eventually check the distribution of pollutants and/or human contamination in all seasons of the year. During the summer and the fall of 2002 and the winter and spring of 2003, water samples were collected in three replicates from three sites, 50 meters apart, and at one week intervals for three consecutive weeks. This was done in each of the two bodies of water. They were taken to the laboratory and tested according to the manufacturers of LaMotte Test Kits. The chemical parameters tested and recorded as parts per million (ppm) were total alkalinity, ammonia-nitrogen, carbon dioxide, chloride, chlorine, chromium, copper, fluoride, hardness, iron, manganese, magnesium, nitrate-nitrogen, pH, phosphate, silica, sulfate, sulfide, and zinc. The physical parameters tested on site were atmospheric temperature ([degrees]C), surface temperature, ([degrees]C), conductivity (mS, micro Siemens), dissolved oxygen (DO), salinity (ppt, parts per thousand) and turbidity (NTU, Nephelometirc Turbidity Units). The parameters, namely, conductivity, and salinity, were added in the fall of 2002. There were no significant differences found in their habitat profiles and they meet the Mississippi Water Quality Standard.

9:30 USE OF BURROWS AND TURRETS BY FEMALES OF THE WOLF SPIDERS RABIDOSA PUNCTULATA AND R. RABIDA (ARANEAE, LYCOSIDAE)

Gail Stratton*, Amy Nicholas, and David Reed, University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677

Among wolf spiders, burrow construction and use is best known in the obligate burrowers, the Geolycosa. However, a growing number of species from several genera have now been documented to use burrows. We document the construction and use of burrows and turrets by Rabidosa punctulata and R. rabida. In the southeast U.S.A. R. punctulata mature and mate in the fall, females overwinter and construct egg sacs in the spring. As part of a large population study, 36 females of R. punctulata were brought into the lab prior to egg sac construction, were placed in containers and monitored for burrow construction. Containers were 14 cm wide X 21 cm tall and were provided with an avg of 6.7 cm of top soil and 8 cm of dried grass). Of the 36 females, 30 constructed burrows and 34 constructed turrets made of silk and grass prior to making their egg sacs. The average burrow depth was 4.0 cm and width was 2.2. Silken turrets were conspicuous, heavily silked and varied from 0 to 12 cm (average height was 4.7 mm). In the field, we have noted that at the time when females are laying egg sacs, they become difficult to find and may be in burrows. This study provides insight into the evolution of burrow construction and use in the Lycosidae.

9:45 BEHAVIORAL ROLE OF STRIDULATION IN THE ACOUSTIC COMMUNICATION OF THE BLACK IMPORTED FIRE ANT, SOLENOPSIS RICHTERI FOREL

Jake R. Marquess* and James B. Anderson, University of Mississippi, CWWR/UMFS, Abbeville, MS 38601

Stridulation, a form of acoustic communication, is an important yet poorly studied component of ant communication. Although many ants are capable of stridulation (Markl 1973), little is known of the behavioral implications of this signal. The leaf-cutting ant, Atta cephalotes, is the only well studied species where the behavioral role of stridulation was investigated. Markl (1965) observed workers dig out buried nest mates, when buried workers were stridulating. Similarly when workers encountered good quality leaves, they stridulated to recruit nearby nest mates (Roces et al. 1993). Stridulation has been observed in both the red and black imported fire ant (S. invicta and S. richteri, respectively), but little is know of the behavioral implications of these signals. Preliminary results suggest that S. richteri stridulate from a variety of different cues: nest disturbance, discovery of a new food source, physical restraint, and interactions with ants of intra or interspecific colonies. Recordings of the acoustic signal with corresponding real-time video of the stridulating ants and surrounding nestmates will provide evidence of the role of stridulation in the behavior of S. richteri. This approach will also be used to investigate the interspecific difference of the stridulatory signals between S. invicta and S. richteri. Intraspecific differences of stridulatory signals will also be investigated in the polymorphic worker caste of both species.

10:00 Divisional Business Meeting