Insect fibres

Protein fibres are grouped into animal fibres (wool and other animal hairs, known also as a-keratin fibres) and insect fibres (silk, a fibroin fibre). Both... 

Lists of the principal types of insect that lay their eggs in wool are available [11,517]. Damage to the fibre is caused by the larvae that emerge from these eggs. Hence any... 

Acrylic fibres have good resistance to stains, chemicals, insects and Jungi... 

The first detailed experiments to be reported which involved the use of synchrotron radiation on insect flight muscle fibres were concerned with an examination of the effects of ATP-analogues on their structure (Goody et al., 1975). This work was done... 

Chemicals have been an important means of controlling forest insect pests in Canada for the past four decades. They have been used to limit the impact of some of the most destructive forest pests, such as spruce budworms (Chovistoneuva spp.), on forest resources essential to the production of fibre and other forestry products. With growing demand for these products, pest control... 

Special, Grade A and Grade B are awarded to dry tamarind under Agmark rules based on the percentage of rind, fibre, moisture and insect damage. For tamarind seed, there are only two grades, e.g. Special and Grade A (Table 20.7). Quality specifications are listed for undecorticated and decorticated tamarind seeds, as well as tamarind powder. 

Although pheromone traps are now widely used for monitoring insect populations, the use of synthetic pheromones in control of insect pests by disruption of pheromone-mediated communication has been much slower to develop, at least in part because of the difficulties of formulation. There are three main types of formulation currently available - hollow fibres, plastic laminates and microcapsules. For several years, the UK Overseas... 

Insect resist finishes are most commonly applied during dyeing. The best light fastness and wet fasmess properties are obtained when the finish is able to fully penetrate the fibres. When applying insect resist finishes to wool/nylon blends, care must be taken in the choice of the particular finish used. Chlorphenylid derivatives exhaust preferentially to nylon, leaving the wool fibres unprotected, whereas permethrin-based products distribute themselves more uniformly between the two fibre types. 

The efficiency of insect resist finishes can be determined by tests that measure the weight loss of the treated fabrics and/or the weight of insect excrement after exposure to insects under controlled conditions. The direct examination of exposed fabrics by microscopic methods to observe fibre damage is also useful. The typical half round bite traces of the moth larvae are observable. Standard methods for evaluating fabrics with insect resist finishes are given in AATCC Test Method 24. Procedures for cultivating the test insects are included in this method. 

Silk is a fibrous protein produced by several insect species. Commercially, silk is produced from the cocoon stage larvae of the moth caterpillar Bombyx mori, as it has been, in China, for some 4500 years. A single cocoon produces a continuous thread up to 1 km in length, and the protein fibroin contains large amounts of glycine, alanine, tyrosine, proline and serine The peptide chains are arranged in anti-parallel P-sheets which make up the hierarchical structure of the crystalline silk fibres. A number of spiders also produce silk webs, although the fibroin structure is rather different to that from silk worms. 

Despite the hick of use of PBO on food and fibre crops, evidence is accumulating for effects me dialed by PBO alone, that may have a significant role in the control of insects, particularly ones that have developed resistance to conventional insecticides. This chapter reviews such effects and summarizes research into the potential use of PBO in controlling the cotton whitefly, llemisiti rabaci. Results of this work will be published formally in due course. 

Cull-Candy, S.G. Miledi, R. "Factors affecting the channel kinetics of glutamate receptors in locust muscle fibres" Sattelle, D.B., Hall, L.M., Hildebrand, J.G. Eds. Receptors for neurotransmitters, hormones and pherhomones in insects, Elsevier, New York 1980, p.161-173. 

---