Microbial survey of insect-pests on refuse in five major towns of Ondo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Eight insects were identified as pests of the refuse in the five major towns in Ondo State, Nigeria. The insects are: ant (Psilocephala aldrichi conquillet), lady bird beetle (Hyppodamia convergen), honey bee (Apis mellifera), woodroach (Parcoblatasp), cockroach (Blatta orientallis), housefly (Musca domestica), dung beetle (Canthon pilularis) and wood cricket (Nemobius sylverstris). From these Insects, fourteen bacteria and thirteen fungi species were recovered and identified. The internal part (gut) of the insect-pests were found to contain more bacterial load than the external part while fungal load was more on the external parts than the internal. Among the identified insect-pests, Canthon Pilularis was found to be more implicated of harbouring bacteria while Nemobius sythestris harbored more fungal load than other. Musca domestica had the highest population of 61.5% while Hypodamia convergen had the least of 0.6%. However, the recovery of microorganisms from the insects in the surveyed refuse, highlights microbial presence and species in the environment where they were collected. There is of course the tendency of these insects contaminating foods and other materials to effect transmission of disease(s) to man, animal and plants.

Keywords: microbial, insect-pests, refuse, towns, survey

Global Journal of Environmental Sciences Vol. 4(2) 2005: 131-134