زهرا مجیب حق قدم

Amblyseius swirskii Athias-Henriot predatory mite is one of the most common biological control agents for two-spotted spider mite, greenhouse whitefly and onion thrips in greenhouses, which is widely used in greenhouse crops around the world. The importance of this study is to facilitate the mass rearing of this predatory mite. To evaluate the mass rearing of this predator, its life table on eggs, nymphal stages and adult mites of Carpoglyphus lactis Linnaeus under conditions  of 25 °C, 70 ±5% RH, 16:8 (L:D) was examined. Demographic parameters of A. swirskii including: r, λ and R0 when feeding eggs, nymphal stages and adult were estimated. Therefore, r parameter for feeding at different growth stages of dried fruit mite was estimated in mass production part. In addition, 20 treatments with different compounds with presence and 20 treatments without presence of dried fruit mite with three replications in a completely randomized block design with mass rearing method and intrinsic rate of increase (r) for all treatments were estimated and analyzed. Survey of egg life table, nymphal and adult stages of dried fruit mite showed that A. swirskii has the ability to mass rearing on all three developmental stages of dried fruit mite. Life table parameters, A. swirskii including: r, λ and R0 when feeding on dried fruit eggs were estimated to be 0.165 d-1, 1.173 d-1, and 12.95 eggs/individual, respectively. The results of life table parameters, especially r, showed that dried fruit mite has the potential to be a suitable intermediate host. Furthermore, the artificial diet of treatment number 20 without the presence of dried fruit mites is suitable for mass breeding of this predatory mite as an alternative method.

Flea beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae, Galerucinae) are important pests of Canola, which the adult feedings on cotyledon cause severe damage to the crop. In this paper, Psylliodes Latreille species collected by sticky or pan traps during 2018–2020 from canola farms of Gilan province, Iran, have been studied and an identification key of the following species, Psylliodes anatolica Gök & Cilbiroglu, 2004; P. chalcomera (Illiger, 1807); P. chrysocephala (Linnaeus, 1758); P. circumdata (Redtenbacher, 1842); P. cuprea (Koch, 1803) and P. persica Allard, 1866 with photos of their habitus and genitalia are provided. Also some taxonomic comments on the species are presented. Psylliodes anatolica is new record for the Iranian fauna.

The effect of new formulations of Neem, Neemarin® and metaldehyde on slug, A. agrestis was evaluated in laboratory and greenhouse conditions. In bioassay experiments, the leaves of the ornamental plant (Spathiphyllum wallisii Regel) were dipped in different concentrations of neem and Neemarin®, and then same-age immature slugs were released on the leaves and their mortality and feeding were determined up to 14 days. The LC50 values for Neem and Neemarin® were estimated 34.1 and 22.5 ml/lit, respectively, and relative toxicity of Neemarin® was 1.59 times of /more than Neem. The greenhouse experiments were conducted in RCD with 4 treatments, and the maximum effect of the treatments was obtained for metaldehyde with a mean of 95.75% after 15 days compared to the Neem and Neemarin® with 47.85% and 51.63% mean mortality, respectively. Also, the effect of Neem and Neemarin® on the nutrition was 1.72 g and 1.9 g, respectively, in comparison with control (9 g) and the percentage of egg hatching significantly decreased compared to the control. According to the results, Neem and Neemarin® compounds in the concentrations 34.1 and 22.5 per thousand, respectively, and up to ten times on leaves of S. wallisii had a negative effect on the nutrition of A. agrestis and reduced the damage in greenhouse conditions. This effect with increasing age and body size of the slug and subsequent increase in concentration was maintained. However, they were less lethal than methaldehyde.

The lady beetle Adalia decempunctata L. (Col.: Coccinellidae) is known as the ten-spotted ladybeetle, whose larvae and adults are active hunters. These insects have been reported from several stone-fruit trees, seed-fruit trees, broad leaved forest trees and coniferous forest trees infested with pests like aphids, mealybugs and psyllid from several countries on the world. The culture of this predator was maintained in laboratory condition (25 ± 2 ºC, 75 ± 5% RH and 16:8h L:D). In this research, the bioassays of pyriproxyfen was performed through topical application method. The concentration of IC10, IC30, IC50 and IC90 were estimated 18.6, 33.1, 49.3 and 130.6 µg/ml, respectively. Also, in order to have a better understanding, some of the most important biochemical parameters were evaluated in the 4th instar larvae treated with sublethal concentrations of pyriproxyfen. The results showed that lipid and protein amount were relatively increased compared to control, while the glycogen amount was reduced in treated larvae. The activity of detoxifying enzymes (Glutathione S-transferase and general esterases) in treated larvae were significantly increased compared to control. The activity of peroxidase was also increase significantly compared to controls. As the pyriproxyfen is a juvenile hormone analogue, therefore the growing stages of this predator is affected. While adults that have surpassed this stage are no longer dependent to growth hormones and are less affected. Hence, supplementary evaluation of the use of pyriproxyfen and this predator at the same time under field conditions is needed.