Gall inducing pest fauna of Willow trees and measurement of similarity indices among different sites in West Azerbaijan province

Gall forming is one of the various damage forms of insects and mites on plants. This study carried out in collecting and identification of willow pests and their natural enemy’s fauna in West Azerbaijan province in a research project during 2010 -2014. The fauna of willow gall makers were evaluated at 15 day intervals starting in May to October. In order to sampling, 4 branches of each tree were studied in four geographical directions. All statistical procedures were performed using the SPSS 19 software. Susceptibility and resistance of willow species to two important gall pests were determined in Saatloo station. A total of 10 species of gall inducing pests on willow trees were collected. The results showed that Salix excelsa S. G. Gmel and Salix triandra Linnaeus were susceptible species to Pontania vesicator Bremi-Wolf and Rabdophaga heterobia Loew., respectively. The highest similarity indexes (Sorensen and Jacard) of gall inducing factors of willow trees were recorded between Salmas and Darre Khan (Urmia – Ghasemloo).