Ecology of Little Green Bee Eater (Merops Orientalis) From Nagpur Area (India)

Abstract

The ability of the biosurfactant producing Kocuria turfanesis to mineralize monocrotophos was investigated through an experimental set up using different treatments of soil with carrier based bioaugmentation package of egg shell coated with biosurfactant and biosurfactant producing microbial isolates BS-J cells. Dual capabilities of biosurfactant production and degradation of monocrotophos are the two main attributes of strain BS-J which was isolated from lube oil and distillery spent wash contaminated soil collected from a distillery unit. On the basis of the cellular morphology, physiological and chemotaxonomic characteristics and phylogenetic similarity of 16S rDNA gene sequences, the strain BS-J was identified as a Kocuria turfanesis. Present study has shown that degradation of monocrotophos in contaminated soil was facilitated after using carrier based bioaugmentation package of egg shell coated with biosurfactant producing microbial isolate BS-J cells and its biosurfactant resulted 86-89 % degradation of monocrotophos after 7-days of treatment. Without biosurfactant producing microbial cells the degradation of pesticide was comparatively lower indicating the need of live biosurfactant producing microbial cells and their surfactants for efficient degradation of pesticide. Results indicate that Kocuria turfanesis strain BS-J has great potential utility for the bioremediation of soil contaminated with monocrotophos.

First record of the African green bee-eater Merops viridissimus (Swainson, 1837) in Southern Algeria.

“…Known for their diet consisting primarily of flying insects, bee-eaters exhibit foraging behaviour by darting out from open perches. Among their prey, they commonly consume Hymenoptera, such as ants, small halictine bees, ichneumons, many species of honeybees, and various families of wasps, in addition to numerous beetles, dragonflies, termites, Microlepidoptera, butterflies, and various small bugs and flies (Fry and Fry, 1992;Wasnik et al, 2014).…”

“…The green bee-eater Merops orientalis is characterized by its vibrant plumage, slender body, and elongated central tail feathers. It is prevalent in Africa and Asia, with additional species found in southern Europe, Australia, and New Guinea (Wasnik et al, 2014). It has been divided into three separate species: African (M. viridissimus), Arabian (M. cyanophrys, and Asian (M. orientalis) bee-eaters.…”