InsectsPub Date : 2025-02-08DOI: 10.3390/insects16020184
George Tzotzos
{"title":"Properties of \"Stable\" Mosquito Cytochrome P450 Enzymes.","authors":"George Tzotzos","doi":"10.3390/insects16020184","DOIUrl":"10.3390/insects16020184","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The use of insecticides is widespread in the control of debilitating mosquito-borne diseases. P450 enzymes (CYPs) play essential roles in mosquito physiological function but also in the enzymatic detoxification of xenobiotics. Broadly speaking, CYPs can be classified as \"stable\", meaning those that have no or very few paralogs, and \"labile\", constituting gene families with many paralogous members. The evolutionary dichotomy between \"stable\" and \"labile\" P450 genes is fuzzy and there is not a clear phylogenetic demarcation between P450s involved in detoxification and P450s involved in essential metabolic processes. In this study, bioinformatic methods were used to explore differences in the sequences of \"stable\" and \"labile\" P450s that may facilitate their functional classification. Genomic and sequence data of <i>Anopheles gambiae</i> (<i>Agam</i>), <i>Aedes aegypti</i> (<i>Aaeg</i>), and <i>Culex quinquefasciatus</i> (<i>Cqui</i>) CYPs were obtained from public databases. The results of this study show that \"stable\" CYPs are encoded by longer genes, have longer introns and more exons, and contain a higher proportion of hydrophobic amino acids than \"labile\" CYPs. Compared to \"labile\" CYPs, a significantly higher proportion of \"stable\" CYPs are associated with biosynthetic and developmental processes.</p>","PeriodicalId":13642,"journal":{"name":"Insects","volume":"16 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-02-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11855896/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143500752","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
InsectsPub Date : 2025-02-08DOI: 10.3390/insects16020181
Jennifer D Viafara-Campo, Rafael José Vivero-Gómez, Daniel Fernando-Largo, Lina Marcela Manjarrés, Claudia Ximena Moreno-Herrera, Gloria Cadavid-Restrepo
{"title":"Diversity of Gut Bacteria of Field-Collected <i>Aedes aegypti</i> Larvae and Females, Resistant to Temephos and Deltamethrin.","authors":"Jennifer D Viafara-Campo, Rafael José Vivero-Gómez, Daniel Fernando-Largo, Lina Marcela Manjarrés, Claudia Ximena Moreno-Herrera, Gloria Cadavid-Restrepo","doi":"10.3390/insects16020181","DOIUrl":"10.3390/insects16020181","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The <i>Aedes aegypti</i> mosquito serves as a vector for several diseases, including dengue, Zika, chikungunya, and yellow fever. This species is well adapted to urban environments and poses a significant threat to public health. Some studies suggest that the gut bacteria of insect vectors may play a crucial role in developing resistance to insecticides. This study assessed the resistance of <i>Ae. aegypti</i> from Florencia, Caquetá, to temephos and deltamethrin and analyzed the diversity of gut bacteria in resistant larvae and adult females. Larvae exhibited resistance to temephos at a lethal concentration 50 (LC<sub>50</sub>) of 0.034 µg/mL, while females showed resistance to deltamethrin at a discriminant concentration of 10 µg/mL. The bacterial load in the guts of deltamethrin-treated females (3.42 × 10<sup>6</sup> CFU/mL) was significantly higher compared to temephos-treated larvae (9.4 × 10<sup>5</sup> CFU/mL) and untreated females (8 × 10<sup>4</sup> CFU/mL). A total of sixty-eight bacterial strains were isolated from the guts of both larval and resistant females <i>Ae. aegypti</i>, with 31 strains identified through 16S rRNA gene analysis and 11 confirmed by <i>gyrB</i> gene sequencing. In untreated females, <i>Bacillus</i> comprised 12.55% of the gut bacteria and was identified as an exclusive genus. In resistant larvae, <i>Serratia</i> was the most abundant and exclusive genus, accounting for 35.29%, while in resistant females, <i>Cedecea</i> was the predominant genus, representing 66.67%. These findings suggest that gut bacteria may influence the resistance of <i>Ae. aegypti</i> to temephos and deltamethrin. Furthermore, this research provides valuable information that can be considered for the design of local vector control strategies. The results highlight new research focused on the study of insecticide tolerance and degradation within the gut microbiota of insect vectors of arboviruses.</p>","PeriodicalId":13642,"journal":{"name":"Insects","volume":"16 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-02-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11856030/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143500742","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
InsectsPub Date : 2025-02-08DOI: 10.3390/insects16020182
Connor J Tyler, Shubhangi Mahajan, Lena Smith, Haruko Okamoto, Herman Wijnen
{"title":"Adult Diel Locomotor Behaviour in the Agricultural Pest <i>Plutella xylostella</i> Reflects Temperature-Driven and Light-Repressed Regulation Rather than Coupling to Circadian Clock Gene Rhythms.","authors":"Connor J Tyler, Shubhangi Mahajan, Lena Smith, Haruko Okamoto, Herman Wijnen","doi":"10.3390/insects16020182","DOIUrl":"10.3390/insects16020182","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The diamondback moth, <i>Plutella xylostella,</i> is arguably the most economically impactful and widespread lepidopteran pest. Though the larval <i>P. xylostella</i> life stage is responsible for most of this cost through the consumption of crops, it is the adult form that spreads the pest to fresh crops all around the world, seeking them out in a seasonally expanding range. It is therefore important to understand the activity rhythms of adult <i>P. xylostella</i> in response to environmental cues such as light and temperature. We analysed diel rhythms in both adult clock gene expression and locomotor behaviour for the ROTH <i>P. xylostella</i> strain. Real-time quantitative PCR analyses of <i>P. xylostella</i> demonstrated diel rhythms for transcripts of the clock genes <i>period</i> and <i>timeless</i> under both entrained and free-running conditions indicating the presence of a functional daily timekeeping mechanism. However, adult locomotor rhythms exhibited temperature-driven and light-repressed regulation rather than circadian control. Thus, our analyses show a lack of coupling between the <i>P. xylostella</i> circadian clock and adult locomotor behaviour, which may be relevant in predicting the activity patterns of this agricultural pest.</p>","PeriodicalId":13642,"journal":{"name":"Insects","volume":"16 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-02-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11856205/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143500631","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Potential of <i>Beauveria</i> Species Isolated from Southern Kazakhstan for Controlling Colorado Potato Beetle (<i>Leptinotarsa decemlineata</i>) Populations Under Arid Conditions.","authors":"Rauza Abdukerim, Meiramgul Mussina, Gaukartas Abysheva, Nagima Tumenbayeva, Bekzat Mombayeva, Assel Karabayeva, Nurgul Amangeldi, Zamzagul Amangeldikyzy","doi":"10.3390/insects16020176","DOIUrl":"10.3390/insects16020176","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Environmentally sound insect pest management strategies require continuous isolation and identification of effective biocontrol agents from different ecosystems. The quest for fungal isolates that are adapted to high temperatures is particularly significant, as they hold the potential to produce mycoinsecticides that are highly effective in semiarid and arid areas. This study aimed to collect new virulent isolates of entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) from Kazakhstan that show promise for controlling Colorado potato beetle (CPB) populations under arid conditions. Local isolates could be adapted to abiotic and biotic factors in the environment in which they survive. The findings of this study should provide insights into the species of EPF that inhabit a specific arid region of Kazakhstan, examining their traits in the regional climate, soil composition, and biological diversity. Throughout 2023-2024, a series of soil samples was collected from diverse locations within the Turkestan region of southern Kazakhstan for the isolation of EPF. The isolation of EPF was conducted using susceptible larvae of <i>Tenebrio molitor</i> (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), a host that does not have specificity for particular species of EPF. Using this insect bait, 41 pure cultures of EPF were isolated from soils in the arid zone of Kazakhstan. Polymerase chain reaction analysis based on the <i>TEF1</i>-α locus showed that all the isolates were indistinguishable from <i>Beauveria bassiana</i> ARSEF 2860 species. However, analysis of the ITS locus revealed two cryptic species: <i>B. bassiana</i> and <i>B. pseudobassiana</i>. For laboratory evaluation of biological activity EPF, the second and third instars of CPB were collected from potato fields in southern Kazakhstan and placed in plastic containers. Test CPB larvae were treated with conidia suspensions at 1 × 10<sup>7</sup> spores/mL and survival was recorded daily for 3 weeks. The results of the bioassays revealed that all the new Kazakhstan isolates were pathogenic to larvae CPB and caused complete mortality by the end of the 11-day. These results showed that new isolates of EPF were highly virulent against larvae CPB.</p>","PeriodicalId":13642,"journal":{"name":"Insects","volume":"16 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11856833/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143500688","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
InsectsPub Date : 2025-02-07DOI: 10.3390/insects16020178
Wen-Bin Liu, Wen-Xuan Pei, Ya-Ning Tang, Jia-Xin Nie, Wei Cao, Cheng-Yan Wang, Chun-Cai Yan
{"title":"New Mitogenomes from the Genus <i>Ablabesmyia</i> (Diptera: Chironomidae, Tanypodiinae): Characterization and Phylogenetic Implications.","authors":"Wen-Bin Liu, Wen-Xuan Pei, Ya-Ning Tang, Jia-Xin Nie, Wei Cao, Cheng-Yan Wang, Chun-Cai Yan","doi":"10.3390/insects16020178","DOIUrl":"10.3390/insects16020178","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>(1) Background: The insect mitogenome encodes essential genetic components and serves as an effective marker for molecular identification and phylogenetic analysis in insects due to its small size, maternal inheritance, and rapid evolution. The morphological identification of <i>Ablabesmyia</i> is challenging, particularly for non-experts. Thus, there is an increasing need for molecular data to improve classification accuracy and phylogenetic analysis. (2) Methods: Our analysis encompassed eight species of <i>Ablabesmyia</i>, a single species of <i>Conchapelopia</i>, one species of <i>Denopelopia</i>, and one species of <i>Thienemannimyia</i>, all originating from China. We then performed a comprehensive analysis of the nucleotide composition, sequence length, and evolutionary rate. (3) Results: All newly assembled mitogenomes displayed a negative GC-skew, indicating a cytosine bias, while most exhibited a positive AT-skew, reflecting an adenine and thymine abundance. All thirteen protein-coding genes (PCGs) featured the conventional start codon ATN, aligning closely with the typical mitochondrial start codon observed in insects. The evolutionary rates of these PCGs can be ordered as follows: <i>ND2</i> > <i>ATP8</i> > <i>ND6</i> > <i>ND4</i> > <i>ND5</i> > <i>ND3</i> > <i>ND4L</i> > <i>ND1</i> > <i>CYTB</i> > <i>COIII</i> > <i>ATP6</i> > <i>COII</i> > <i>COI</i>. (4) Conclusions: These newly sequenced mitogenomes exhibit structural features and nucleotide compositions that closely align with those of previously reported Chironomidae species, marking a significant expansion of the chironomid mitogenome database.</p>","PeriodicalId":13642,"journal":{"name":"Insects","volume":"16 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11856422/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143500845","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
InsectsPub Date : 2025-02-07DOI: 10.3390/insects16020177
Szabolcs Szanyi, Zoltán Varga, Antal Nagy, Gábor Szőcs, Júlia Katalin Jósvai, Miklós Tóth
{"title":"New Attractant Lures for Sampling <i>Conistra vaccinii</i> L. Populations: Bisexual Lures and a Sex Attractant (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae).","authors":"Szabolcs Szanyi, Zoltán Varga, Antal Nagy, Gábor Szőcs, Júlia Katalin Jósvai, Miklós Tóth","doi":"10.3390/insects16020177","DOIUrl":"10.3390/insects16020177","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The chemical ecology and host plant preferences of the different Conistra species (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae, Xylenini) are mostly unknown, even though they are essential components of the herbivorous assemblages of temperate zone forests. During field studies, (Z)-7-tetradecenyl acetate (Z7-14Ac) was identified as a sex attractant of <i>Conistra vaccinii</i>. Phenylacetaldehyde-based synthetic and iso-amyl alcohol-based semi-synthetic lures also attracted <i>C. vaccinii</i>, <i>C. rubiginea</i>, and <i>C. rubiginosa</i>, and in the case of <i>C. vaccinii</i>, they performed better than the newly identified sex attractant. The different efficiencies of the two bisexual lures probably reflected the different feeding source preferences of the species caught. The tested lures attracted both sexes and, thus, we can estimate the actual sex ratio. These traps can be used especially in applications where female samples are needed, i.e., surveys on the reproduction biology of moths (e.g., polyandry), or in surveys of population dynamics.</p>","PeriodicalId":13642,"journal":{"name":"Insects","volume":"16 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11856601/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143500841","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
InsectsPub Date : 2025-02-07DOI: 10.3390/insects16020179
Shovon Chandra Sarkar, Stephen Paul Milroy, Wei Xu
{"title":"A Preliminary Study on Identifying the Predator Community of Invasive <i>Bactericera cockerelli</i> (Hemiptera: Triozidae) and Developing Molecular Identification Tools for Testing Field Predation.","authors":"Shovon Chandra Sarkar, Stephen Paul Milroy, Wei Xu","doi":"10.3390/insects16020179","DOIUrl":"10.3390/insects16020179","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The tomato potato psyllid <i>Bactericera cockerelli</i> (Hemiptera: Triozidae) is a significant insect pest of Solanaceae. In early 2017, it was first detected in Perth, Western Australia. The objective of this work was to identify predator species of <i>B. cockerelli</i> occurring in fields of Solanaceae in Western Australia. Predatory insects and arachnids were sampled using sweep netting in some of the major Solanaceae-growing regions in the south-west of Western Australia in 2021 and 2022. Several laboratory feeding trials were conducted to develop PCR primers that could detect the DNA of <i>B. cockerelli</i> in predators that had fed on <i>B. cockerelli</i> rather than on alternative diets. The primers were then used to screen predators collected from the field to identify those that had been feeding on <i>B. cockerelli</i>. In the two years of field sampling, the predators collected represented a broad taxonomic range. The most abundant predator was green lacewing followed by ladybirds. Further, we analysed predators belonging to seven insect taxa (one Neuroptera, two Hemiptera and four Coleoptera) for the presence of <i>B. cockerelli</i> DNA. We found that 45% of the individual insects from all taxa that we caught were positive for <i>B. cockerelli</i> DNA, and Coleopteran predators showed the highest rate of positive results. This is the first report confirming predation on invasive <i>B. cockerelli</i> by the resident predator community in the field in Australia.</p>","PeriodicalId":13642,"journal":{"name":"Insects","volume":"16 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11856946/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143500459","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
InsectsPub Date : 2025-02-06DOI: 10.3390/insects16020173
Leszek S Jankiewicz, Marzenna Guzicka, Agnieszka Marasek-Ciołakowska
{"title":"Structure and Ultrastructure of Three Oak Leaf Galls: <i>Cynips quercusfolii</i> L., <i>Neuroterus numismalis</i> Geoffroy and <i>Cynips longiventris</i> Hartig.","authors":"Leszek S Jankiewicz, Marzenna Guzicka, Agnieszka Marasek-Ciołakowska","doi":"10.3390/insects16020173","DOIUrl":"10.3390/insects16020173","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The structural and ultrastructural characteristics of galls induced by three species of insects parasitizing on oak leaves (<i>Quercus robur</i> L.) were examined utilizing light and fluorescent microscopes, as well as scanning and transmission electron microscopes. The tissues of the investigated galls exhibited marked differences from those of a typical oak leaf. In the <i>Cynips quercusfolii</i> L. gall, the larval chamber in its final stage was formed from the remnants of dead cells that remained after larval feeding on the gall nutritive tissue. The cells of the gall nutritive tissue and the cells of the gall parenchyma exhibited diametrical differences: the former contained dense cytoplasm and had large nuclei and nucleoli, whereas the latter displayed sparse cytoplasm, prominent vacuoles, and very small nuclei. The region of coalescence between the gall stalk and leaf tissues has been described. In <i>Neuroterus numismalis</i> Geoffroy gall, the early developmental phases have been described in detail. The external gall tissues resembled periderm, whereas periderm does not normally occur in leaves. In the cytoplasm of <i>Cynips longiventris</i> Hartig gall, different bodies were found, including organized smooth endoplasmic reticulum; however, not all of the observed structures were definitively classified.</p>","PeriodicalId":13642,"journal":{"name":"Insects","volume":"16 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11856488/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143500881","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
InsectsPub Date : 2025-02-06DOI: 10.3390/insects16020172
Alan Lee Knight, Michele Preti, Esteban Basoalto
{"title":"Factors Impacting the Use of an Allelochemical Lure in Pome Fruit for <i>Cydia pomonella</i> (L.) Monitoring.","authors":"Alan Lee Knight, Michele Preti, Esteban Basoalto","doi":"10.3390/insects16020172","DOIUrl":"10.3390/insects16020172","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A four-component blend comprising pear ester, DMNT, linalool oxide, and acetic acid (CM4K) was identified as a potent allelochemical lure for both sexes of codling moth (CM), <i>Cydia pomonella</i> (L.). Studies conducted from 2020 to 2022 in Washington State (USA) examined factors which could impact the lure's relative performance. The CM4K lure was effective across a range of mating disruption programs and was equally attractive in monitoring wild and sterile CM. The lure remained attractive for at least 10 weeks. Total catch in traps baited with the CM4K was significantly less impacted than a sex pheromone lure located near mating disruption dispensers and female catches were largely unaffected. Traps with the CM4K lure caught significantly more females and fewer males when placed near clusters of fruits in a trellised orchard. Two factors were found to significantly impact the relative performance of the CM4K to sex pheromone lures: the CM4K lure was only equivalent to sex pheromone lures in pear MD orchards, and apple and pear orchards with vigorous weed growth. This is the first report of a monitoring lure for a tortricid moth being negatively impacted by the background odor of non-host weed species present within an orchard.</p>","PeriodicalId":13642,"journal":{"name":"Insects","volume":"16 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11856869/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143500427","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
InsectsPub Date : 2025-02-06DOI: 10.3390/insects16020171
Luis Vázquez, Carlota Reyero, Raúl Hurtado-Ribeira, David Villanueva-Bermejo, Alejandro Belinchón, José Palomar, Tiziana Fornari, Diana Martín
{"title":"Assessment of Scalable Fractionation Methodologies to Produce Concentrated Lauric Acid from Black Soldier Fly (<i>Hermetia illucens</i>) Larvae Fat.","authors":"Luis Vázquez, Carlota Reyero, Raúl Hurtado-Ribeira, David Villanueva-Bermejo, Alejandro Belinchón, José Palomar, Tiziana Fornari, Diana Martín","doi":"10.3390/insects16020171","DOIUrl":"10.3390/insects16020171","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In the present study, different methodologies with potential scalability and environmental friendliness, such as winterization, supercritical fluid extraction, and multistage distillation, were evaluated for lauric acid concentration. In all cases, to facilitate fractionation, the transformation of triacylglycerols into free fatty acids or fatty acid ethyl esters was required as a previous step. For the winterization experimental assays, the amount and type of solvent was studied, resulting in a product containing ~65% lauric acid with a recovery of ~81% using a 1:10 oil-to-solvent ratio with hexane. On the other hand, the experimental extraction with supercritical carbon dioxide in a counter current packed column at 55 °C, 115 bar, and 70 g CO<sub>2</sub>/min, resulted in a product composed of ~80% lauric acid as ethyl ester with a recovery of ~85%. Finally, flash and multistage distillation were analysed using process simulation (Aspen Plus V14), demonstrating that this methodology can achieve 80% recovery with high purity (lauric acid: 96.7%; ethyl laurate: 97.4%), but a high vacuum is required to prevent thermal degradation of the product (lauric acid: 0.2 mbar; ethyl laurate: 1.1 mbar). Overall, the employed methodologies proved highly efficient in concentrating lauric acid, yielding a product of commercial interest and high added value.</p>","PeriodicalId":13642,"journal":{"name":"Insects","volume":"16 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11857038/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143500704","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}