نشریه نامه انجمن حشره شناسی ایران
سال چهل و سوم شماره 1 (پیاپی 93، بهار 1402)

In some Trichogramma species, parthenogenesis is mostly induced by intracellular symbiotic Wolbachia bacteria. Populations of this egg parasitoid wasp that produce more female progeny can potentially have higher fitness. After finding a thelytokous Wolbachia-infected native strain of Trichogramma brassicae, a study was conducted to evaluate its parasitism rate and foraging efficiency in the greenhouse and field conditions. Treatments included a Wolbachia-associated thelytokous T. brassicae strain (A), an uninfected natural bisexual population (B), and an antibiotic-cured bisexual population (CB). Results of the equal female wasps’ releases revealed no significant difference among the three populations regarding their dispersal ability, mean parasitized eggs (PE) and parasitized bait cards (PBC) per female on forage corn (SC704) in greenhouse condition. However, when equal wasp individuals were released (e.g. 100 individual wasps including males in the bisexual populations), the number of mean parasitized egg batches by asexual line (7.57 PBC) was significantly higher compared with that in B and CB bisexual populations (4.50 and 4.97 PBC, respectively). Similarly, in the corn field condition, the highest number of parasitized bait cards and parasitized egg numbers belonged to asexual wasp (A) (1.94±0.21 PBC and 7.26±1.2 PE/female) compared with those in B (1.56±0.39 PBC and 5.46±1.99 PE/female), and CB (1.6±0.3 PBC and 5.82 ± 1.96 PE/female) bisexual populations. In general, it can be concluded that the use of an asexual Wolbachia- associated line of T. brassicae can increase the efficiency of this biological control agent at the field level in addition to reducing mass production costs.

Aphis gossypii Glover is considered as the most important and damaging pest with wide host range and distribution on plants in fields and greenhouses. Common cotton aphid management in fields depends on the use of chemical insecticides in order to prevent economic damage. In the present study, lethal and sub-lethal concentrations of flonicamid and dichlorvos insecticides were assessed through bioassays and the effect of sub-lethal concentrations (LC10 and LC25) of each of them was investigated on life table parameters of cotton aphid on pinto beans under greenhouse conditions. Considering the contact effect of these insecticides, the insecticide spraying method was used on leaves containing aphids. According to the results, the female lifespan/longevity was significantly reduced by sub-lethal concentration, compared to the control and its lowest value (7.42 days) was recorded in LC25 concentration of flonicamid. The average number of nymphs produced per female aphid was significantly reduced in the treatments compared to the control. The highest and the lowest values of intrinsic rate of increase (r) were 0.38 per day in control and 0.21 per day in LC25 of flonicamid, respectively. A significant decrease was observed in sub-lethal concentrations of insecticides compared to the control in net reproductive rate (R0) and finite rate of increase (). The mean generation time (T) was significantly increased in flonicamid treatment compared to the control. Based on the findings of the present study, flonicamid had a better and more efficiency in controlling and reducing the population of aphids compared to dichlorvos.

Walnut (Juglans regia L.) is known as one of the most important dried fruits of the world. Chaharmahal & Bakhtiari Province, with approximately 7400 hectares, is one of the most important cultivation areas in Iran. Considering the rich fauna of ants in walnut orchards and their relation with walnut pests (such as Leopard Moth and aphids), this study was conducted in Shahrekord and Saman orchards during 2021-2022. Totally, 13 species belonging to 10 genera and three subfamilies, were collected and identified. Among them, Messor muticus (Nylander, 1849) and Tetramorium indocile Santschi, 1927 belonging to the subfamily Myrmicinae are reported for the first time from Iran, and Chaharmahal & Bakhtiari Province, respectively. Furthermore, this study revealed that Tapinoma karavaievi Emery, 1925, Lasius neglectus Van Loon, Boomsma & Andrasfalvy, 1990, and Crematogaster subdentata Mayr, 1877 have symbiotic relationships with walnut aphids and lecanium scales and are probably effective in the distribution and damage of these pests.

Simultaneous with the entrance of the Box Tree Moth (BTM), Cydalima perspectalis to Iran and its report from northern regions of the country, researchers began to explore the pest with its management approach before a further infestation occurs. Accordingly, the current research was carried out to study the effectiveness of some pesticides, belonging to the biological, IGR, and botanical pesticide groups under laboratory and field conditions. Based on the results, among 12 examined pesticides, the efficacy of 2 Bacillus thuringiensis- based microbial pesticides, those produced by CBC and Problete Co. were confirmed under both experimental conditions. Moreover, Lufenuron (EC 5%) (Match®), which belongs to the IGR group, has also been successful in controlling this pest. Accordingly, using the mentioned insecticides is recommended to control the Box Tree Moth.

In the present study, the effect of 15 food diets was studied on the biological parameters of black soldier fly, Hermetia illucensi ncluding chicken starter powder (CSP) (A), CSP (90%) + Cannabis seeds (10%) (B), CSP (90%) + flax seeds (10%) (C), chicken waste powder (CWP) (D), CSP (90%) + CWP (10%) (E), CSP (90%) + meat waste powder (10%) (F), CSP (90%) + fish waste powder (10% ) (G), apple waste (H), banana waste (I), bread waste (J), biscuit waste (K), pasta waste (L), tomato leaves (M), fish waste powder (N) and meat waste powder (O). Experiments were carried out under 28 ± 2 ˚C, 60 ± 10 % R.H. and 16:8 L: D conditions. There was a significant difference in the larval developmental time among different treatments. The highest and lowest larval development time was in diet H (21.902 ±0.206 days) and A (15.098 ± 0.126 days), respectively. Because the mortality was extremely high (100%) in treatments K, J, L, N and O none of the larvae could complete their larval stage. The highest pupa development time was seen in diet H (24.922 ± 0.185 days), which had a considerable difference with all treatments while the lowest pupa developmental time was in diet D (22.216 ± 0.256 days). Furthermore, in the case of longevity, the longest adult life span of the female and male was obtained on treatment D (17.632 ±0.191 and 18.438 ± 0.215 days, respectively) which was significantly more than other diets. The highest larval weight was in treatment I (banana waste) (0.080 ±0.001 gr) but in contrast, the lowest pupal weight was observed in this diet (0.036 ± 0.006 gr). Also, the total fecundity of female flies was in treatment B (554.8 ± 49.4 eggs) which was significantly more than others. It seems that the mixed chicken starter diet with Cannabis seeds has a high potential for mass rearing of this insect since it causes positive effects on the biological characteristics, especially on producing more offspring rather than other food diets.

Following previous detection of Hepatozoon canis and Cercopithifilaria bainae in dogs from Iran, this study aimed to identify potential tick vectors collected from dogs from five provinces of Iran. From October 2018 to September 2021, a total of 222 owned and 541 sheltered dogs from Hamedan (n=305), Kermanshah (n = 227), Yazd (n =80), Khouzestan (n =71), and Mazandaran (n =80) were examined for ticks. Collected ticks (n =3339) were identified morphologically, and adults were screened for the detection of Hepatozoon and Cercopithifilaria either with conventional PCR (n=119 ticks), tick dissection (n=106), or microscopical examination after fixation in formalin (n =102). A total of 169 dogs (22.1%) were infested with ticks. Tick infestation rate varied in different provinces (i.e., 32.4% in Hamedan, 27.3% in Kermanshah, 10.0% in Yazd), but no ticks were collected in dogs from Mazandaran and Khouzestan. The majority of male ticks were identified as Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato (89.3%) and Rhipicephalus turanicus, but one dog from Kermanshah was infested with Hyalomma asiaticum (1 male and 1 female) and Hyalomma excavatum (1 male). At the molecular examination, Cercopithifilaria was detected in 14.28%, Hepatozoon in 6.7% ticks, and both parasites in 1.68% of Rhipicephalus ticks. Parasites were not observed at tick dissection and histological examinations. Nucleotide sequencing and phylogenetic analyses revealed C. bainae and H. canis in R. sanguineus sensu lato and R. turanicus ticks. Data suggests that both tick species above may play a role in the epidemiology of Cercopithifilaria and Hepatozoon in Iran.

The use of artificial diet provides the possibility of continuous mass- rearing of insects throughout the year. In current research, life- table parameters of Cydia pomonella (L.) (Lep.: Tortricidae) on six different diets under laboratory condition (temperature 25 ± 1 °C, 60±5% RH, and 16:8 hours (light: dark) were investigated. Diets include 1) modified version of the diet of Brinton et al. (1969), 2 and 3) modified versions of the diet of Bathon (1981), 4) diet of Fukova et al. (2005), 5) apple, and 6) apple leaf. The results showed that development time of codling moth were longest (51.17 days) with diet one and shortest (48.01 days) with diet six, respectively. The results of the tests also showed that the larval duration, the pupal duration on male, and the adult longevity in both, female and male, had significant differences. The longest pre-oviposition (2.01d) and oviposition (7.21d) periods were found on diet six and five, respectively. The females that fed on diet four (141.2 egg/female) and six (91.3 egg/female) in the larval period produced the highest and lowest eggs, respectively. The highest growth index of all life stages of codling moth was obtained by feeding the diet four. The population parameters indicated that all diets will display growth under the studied conditions, being the mean generation time (T) significantly shorter when using diet four (46.14 days) than others. Based on the preadult and adult results pointing to diet four being a more efficient diet, as well as the fecundity values provided by this diet, suggest that diet four could be improved and used as an alternative to a natural diet shortly.

A microemulsion is a stable, homogeneous pesticide formulation, based on an aqueous solvent, which is considered a suitable alternative to emulsion formulations. In this study, microemulsion formulations of cypermethrin insecticide were designed to control Aphis gossypii Glover (Hemiptera: Aphididae), one of the important pests of many crops and ornamental plants.  Xylene was selected as a suitable solvent based on the higher solubility of cypermethrin. Pseudo-ternary phase diagrams were constructed by the water titration method. The microemulsion system using mixtures composed of cypermethrin, Kenon 10+SDS surfactants, and 1-butanol cosurfactant had the highest microemulsion surface, and the ratio of 50:30:20 was chosen for further experiments. The physical and chemical properties of the obtained microemulsions were also evaluated. Microemulsion formulations were synthesized with 150 and 250 g/L a.i. (active ingredient) of the cypermethrin. The appearance of the microemulsion compounds was transparent and the droplet size of all samples was less than 35 nm. Foliar spraying of compounds including cypermethrin technical material (150 g a.i./L), cypermethrin technical material (250 g a.i./L), cypermethrin microemulsion (150 g a.i./L), and cypermethrin microemulsion (250 g/L a.i.), under greenspace conditions on Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L. (Malvaceae) caused 25.05, 37.54, 60.74, and 83.94% mortality on third instar nymphs 48 hours after treatment, respectively. Therefore, microemulsion formulations had significantly more insecticidal activity against A. gossypii compared to the technical material. In this study, an environment-friendly microemulsion system was designed to improve the efficacy of cypermethrin for controlling populations of A. gossypii. However, further research could be performed to assess the behavior and ultimate fate in the environment prior to commercialization.