Hanna Piekarska-Boniecka

Celem badań było określenie składu gatunkowego i liczebności parazytoidów z podrodzin Pimplinae (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) i Aphidiinae (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) występujących w różnych siedliskach na terenach zieleni miejskiej oraz wykazanie zależności pomiędzy różnorodnością gatunkową roślin, a strukturą gatunkową zgrupowań parazytoidów. Stwierdzono, że tylko w przypadku pod­rodziny Aphidiinae stwierdzono istotny wpływ siedliska na liczebności poszczególnych zgrupowań oraz również wpływ lat na łączną liczebność zgrupowań. Wykazano pozytywny związek pomiędzy zróżnicowaniem roślinności, a liczebnością i różnorodnością gatunkową parazytoidów z podrodziny Aphidiinae oraz podobieństwem struktury jakościowo-ilościowej zgrupowań Pimplinae występujących na poszczególnych stanowiskach. Wykazano pozytywne oddziaływanie drzew: Betula pendula, Tilia tomentosa, Salix alba i Salix caprea, krzewów: Berberis julianae, Berberis vulgaris i Spiraea japonica oraz roślin zielnych: Elymus repens, Festuca rubra i Hypochoeris radicata, na strukturę jakościowo-ilościową zgrupowań parazytoidów z podrodziny Pimplinae poprzez tworzenie odpowiedniej bazy pokarmowej dla imagines tych entomofagów. The study aimed to determine the species composition and abundance of parasitoids from the subfamilies Pimplinae (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) and Aphidiinae (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) found in various habitats in urban greenery and to demonstrate the rela­tionship between plant species diversity and the species structure of parasitoid assemblages. It was found that only for the subfamily Aphidiinae was there a significant effect of habitats on the abundance of individual assemblages and the effect of years on the total abundance of assemblages. A positive relationship was observed between vegetation diversity and the abundance and species diversity of parasitoids of the subfamily Aphidiinae, as well as similarity in the qualitative-quantitative structure of Pimplinae assemblages present in a given habitat. Positive effects of trees: Betula pendula, Tilia tomentosa, Salix alba and Salix caprea, shrubs: Berberis julianae, Ber­beris vulgaris and Spiraea japonica, and herbaceous plants: Elymus repens, Festuca rubra and Hypochoeris radicata on the qualitative­-quantitative structure of parasitoid assemblages of the subfamily Pimplinae by creating a suitable food base for these entomophagous imagines were noted.

W terenach zieleni miejskiej powstają sprzyjające warunki dla rozwoju gatunków fitofagicznych, które żerując, zmniejszają walory es­tetyczne rosnących tam roślin. Liczebność szkodników roślin może być ograniczana przez parazytoidy z podrodziny Pimplinae. Celem badań było ustalenie wpływu małej, średniej i dużej presji antropogenicznej na strukturę jakościową i ilościową zgrupowań Pimpli­nae zasiedlających tereny zieleni miejskiej oraz określenie wpływu presji na odławianie owadów. Badania prowadzono w ogródkach działkowych miasta Poznania, w Ogrodzie Botanicznym i w Ogrodzie Zoologicznym w latach 2014–2016, stosując metodę odłowuowadów dorosłych do żółtych pułapek Moericke’go. Badania wykazały, że największy wpływ na strukturę jakościową i ilościową zgrupowań Pimplinae miało bogactwo gatunkowe roślin, a w mniejszym stopniu wielkość terenu, odległość od centrum miasta i wielkość zanieczyszczenia powietrza. Urban green areas have favourable conditions for the development of phytophagous species, which feed on plants and thus reduce their aesthetic value. The population of plant pests can be limited by parasitoids of the Pimplinae subfamily. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of low, medium, and high anthropogenic pressure on the qualitative and quantitative structure of Pimplinae communities inhabiting urban green areas and to determine the influence of this pressure on the catchability of insects. The research was conducted between 2014 and 2016 in allotment gardens, Botanical Garden and Zoological Garden in the city of Poznań, using the method of catching adult insects in yellow Moericke traps. The research showed that the richness of plant species had the greatestinfluence on the qualitative and quantitative structure of Pimplinae communities, whereas the size of the area, distance from the city centre, and the intensity of air pollution exerted lesser influence.

Urban greenery is defined by the high density and species diversity of plants. As such, it is a habitat for various groups of insects, including pests and insectivores. This study aims to determine the species composition and abundance of parasitoids of the subfamily Pimplinae in urban green spaces. The study was conducted between 2009 and 2016 in Gdynia. Sweep-net sampling and collecting dead insects from the beach were used. A total of 442 specimens belonging to 45 species of Pimplinae were collected. They represented 66.18% of the species listed in this habitat and 32.61% of the species found in Poland. The dominant species included Tromatobia lineatoria (14.26%), Scambus inanis (10.41%), Zaglyptus varipes (7.92%), Tromatobia ovivora (7.70%), Acropimpla pictipes (6.57%), Scambus calobatus (5.43%) and Gregopimpla inquisitor (5.21%). Three trophic groups were distinguished among the parasitoids, including parasitoids of phytophagous insects, i.e. Arachnida and Aculeata. Parasitoids of phytophagous insects were the most abundant [34 species (75.55%)].

The rose tortrix is a polyphagous species, which is dominant in the leafroller complex (Tortricidae) in orchards, including apple orchards and fruit-bearing shrubs in western and southeastern Poland. Rose tortrixes massively feed on leaf rosettes, developing leaves, buds, flowers and fruit buds in orchards. The population of this phytophage is regulated by environmental factors such as its natural enemies, e.g. parasitoids. The aim of the study was to determine the degree of parasitisation of rose tortrix pupae and to determine the role of individual families of parasitoids in reducing their population. The study showed that parasitoids from the Ichneumonidae, Chalcididae, Tachinidae, Euliphidae and Pteromalidae families reduced the rose tortrix population. The parasitoids of the Ichneumonidae family were the most effective entomophages. The degree of total parasitisation of rose tortrixes in individual years of the research was similar. The effectiveness of these entomophagous parasitoids is influenced by environmental factors – above all by weather conditions, the number of crop protection treatments and the ecological infrastructure of orchards.

The paper covers the problem of determination of defects and contamination in malting barley grains. The analysis of the problem indicated that although several attempts have been made, there are still no effective methods of identification of the quality of barley grains, such as the use of information technology, including intelligent sensors (currently, quality assessment of grain is performed manually). The aim of the study was the construction of a reduced set of the most important graphic descriptors from machine-collected digital images, important in the process of neural evaluation of the quality of BOJOS variety malting barley. Grains were sorted into three size fractions and seed images were collected. As a large number of graphic descriptors implied difficulties in the development and operation of neural classifiers, a PCA (Principal Component Analysis) statistical method of reducing empirical data contained in the analyzed set was applied. The grain quality expressed by an optimal set of transformed descriptors was modelled using artificial neural networks (ANN). The input layer consisted of eight neurons with a linear Postsynaptic Function (PSP) and a linear activation function. The one hidden layer was composed of sigmoid neurons having a linear PSP function and a logistic activation function. One sigmoid neuron was the output of the network. The results obtained show that neural identification of digital images with application of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) combined with neural classification is an effective tool supporting the process of rapid and reliable quality assessment of BOJOS malting barley grains.

Quality evaluation of products is a critical stage in the process of production. It also applies to the production of beer and its main ingredients, i.e., hops, yeast, malting barley and other components. The research described in this paper deals with the multifaceted quality evaluation of malting barley needed for the production of malt. The project aims to elaborate on the original methodology used for identifying grain varieties, grain contamination degree and other visual characteristics of malting barley employing new computer technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI) and neural image analysis. The neural modelling and digital image analysis assist in identifying the quality of barley varieties. According to the study, information concerning the colour of barley varieties presented in digital images is sufficient for this purpose. The multi-layer perceptron (MLP)-type neural network generated using a data set describing the colour of kernels presented in digital images was the best model for recognising the analysed malting barley varieties. The proposed procedure may bring specific benefits to malthouses, influencing the beer production quality in the future.

Some aphid species are important agricultural pests, sometimes also found on plants growing in urban areas. In this work, we set out to identify the plant species, communities or habitats that are more attractive to aphids in order to limit their spread into new green areas. The aim of the study was to determine and compare plant communities and the assemblages of aphids associated with them in different urban park habitats. The research hypothesis assumed that the differences between aphid assemblages depend on plant diversity and hence reflect urban park habitat environmental conditions, in particular the plant communities and the floral structure. The study was carried out in Bydgoszcz (northern Poland), and four parks were taken into consideration. Herein, floristic lists were used to calculate ecological indicator values for each park. The aphid species richness was determined, as well as the relative abundance and dominance structure similarities of the aphid assemblages. Our results demonstrated that Prunus spp. were strongly infested by Hyalopterus pruni, similarly as Philadelphus inodorus by Aphis fabae, Sambucus nigra by Aphis sambuci, and Acerplatanoides and A. pseudoplatanus by Periphyllus testudinaceus. Park plantations of Robinia pseudoacacia were not very attractive to aphids. The most attractive plant communities to aphids were syntaxonomically identifiable as alluvial alder forests in the layer of trees and Cornus sanguinea in the layer of shrubs.

In this paper, the classification capabilities of perceptron and radial neural networks are compared using the identification of selected pests feeding in apple tree orchards in Poland as an example. The goal of the study was the neural separation of five selected apple tree orchard pests. The classification was based on graphical information coded as selected characteristic features of the pests, presented in digital images. In the paper, MLP (MultiLayer Perceptrons), RBF (Radial Basis Function) and DNN (Deep Neural Networks) neural classification models are compared, generated using learning files acquired on the basis of information contained in digital photographs of five selected pests. In order to classify the pests, neural modeling methods were used, including digital image analysis techniques. The qualitative analysis of the neural models enabled the selection of optimal neuron topology that was characterized by the highest classification capability. As representative graphic features were selected five selected coefficients of shape and two defined graphical features of the classified objects. The created neuron model is dedicated as a core for computer systems supporting the decision processes occurring during apple production, particularly in the context of apple tree orchard pest protection automation.

Controlling the abundance of the rose tortrix moth [Archips rosana (L.)] by parasitoids in apple orchards in Wielkopolska, Poland | Hanna Piekarska-Boniecka, Marta Rzanska-Wieczorek, Idzi Siatkowski, Joanna Zyprych-Walczak | Agricultural Journals

The aim of this work was a neural identification of selected apple tree orchard pests in Poland. The classification was conducted on the basis of graphical information coded in the form of selected geometric characteristics of agrofags, presented on digital images. A neural classification model is presented in this paper, optimized using learning files acquired on the basis of information contained in digital photographs of pests. There has been identified 6 selected apple pests, the most commonly encountered in Polish orchards, has been addressed. In order to classify the chosen agrofags, neural networks type Self-Organizing Feature Map (SOFM) methods supported Learned Vector Quantization (LVQ) algorithm were utilized, using by digital analysis of image techniques.