نشریه نامه انجمن حشره شناسی ایران
سال چهل و چهارم شماره 1 (پیاپی 97، زمستان 1402)

The greenhouse whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Westwood), is one of the harmful pests of vegetables and ornamental plants. The high damage caused by this pest has made it necessary to design an integrated pest management (IPM) programs based on biology and its symbiotic relationships. Since the symbionts of greenhouse whiteflies are less known so far in Iran, their diversity in different pest populations has been investigated in the upcoming research. For this purpose, sampling was done from contaminated greenhouses and fields of Isfahan province. Then, DNA extraction and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were performed to assess the presence/absence of symbionts, sequencing of target genes, and molecular identification of the whitefly species. Also, the cotton whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius), was used as a control in different stages. The target species was identified as T. vaporariorum based on the morphology and cytochrome oxidase one (COI) gene sequence. Examining the diversity of symbionts showed the presence of Portiera sp. and Arsenophonus sp. in all collected populations. Hamiltonella sp. and Rickettsia sp. were detected in all populations except Kholenjan and Bagh Abrisham. Cardinium sp. has been observed in the population of Yafran and Fritschea sp. was detected in the populations of Khomeini Shahr, Nasim Abad, Kholenjan, Bagh Abrisham, and Yafran, while Wolbachia was not detected in any of the populations. Considering the lack of information about the symbiotic diversity of the greenhouse whitefly and also the lack of studies in Iran, this research can be a basis for further studies in the field of symbiosis and to recognize the role of symbionts.

Potato tuber moth (PTM), Phthorimaea operculella Zeller (Lep.: Gelechiidae), is one of the key pests of potato in the fields and warehouses of this product. Considering that potato is one of the important sources of human food, the control of this pest by different and especially non-chemical methods is of interest to researchers. Therefore, in this research, the effect of UV-C radiation on the population parameters of PTM was examined in laboratory conditions at 0, 4, 6 and 8 minutes on one- and three- day- old eggs. Based on the results, the intrinsic rate of population increase (r) and the finite rate of population increase (λ) under the influence of different times of UV-C radiation in one and three-day-old eggs with an increase in the duration of radiation yield decreased, and this decrease was more in three-day-old eggs than one-day-old eggs. The longest length of immature period was obtained in three-day-old eggs irradiated with UV-C radiation (37.67 days) in 8 minutes treatment. The shortest lifespan of adult female in one-day-old and three-day-old eggs was estimated 8.58 and 8.38 days at the time of 8 minutes of irradiation, respectively. The lowest net reproductive rate (R0) in three-day-old eggs at 0, 4, 6, and 8 minutes of irradiation was obtained 4.54, 3.28, 0.98, and 0.28 (female offspring), respectively. The maximum mean generation time (T) in three-day-old eggs was recorded as 42.86 days in the treatment of 8 minutes of irradiation. The obtained results show the negative effects of ultraviolet radiation on biological parameters and population growth of PTM. Therefore, UV-C irradiation may be considered in the integrated management of this pest in the storage stage.

The greenhouse whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum Westwood, is one of the most destructive greenhouse pest in the world. In this study, the lethal and sublethal effects of Mentha piperita L. essential oil and its nanoformulation were investigated on the T. vaporariorum by considering the biological and population growth parameters. Extraction of essential oil was done by steam distillation using clevenger, and the chemical components of M. piperita were evaluated by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The results showed that monoterpenoids including carvone (%57.13) and limonene (%26.90) were the main characterized components of pipermint essential oil. The characterization of nanoformulation was done using dynamic light scattering (DLS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results showed that the nanoemolsion was spherical in shape with the average sizes of 179.74 nm. The leaf dipping was used for the bioassays. The bioassay results showed that, the nanoformulation of eesential oil (LC50: 3375.411 ppm) was more toxic than the pipermint (LC50: 4536.118 ppm) on the T. vaporariorum adults. The life table data were analyzed based on the age-stage, two-sex life table theory. Also, the sublethal concentration (LC25) of pipermint nanoformulation affected life table parameters of T. vaporariorum by prolonging the developmental time of T. vaporariorum, decreasing the female longevity and fecundity compared with essential oil. Also, the population growth parameters such as intrinsic rate of increase and finite rate of increase treated by nanoemolsion of essential oil (0.076±0.006 day -1) and (1.079±0.007 day -1) were lower than the essential oil (0.084±0.006 day -1) and (1.087±0.006 day -1), significantly. The total results showed that pipermint,s nanoformulation has the most lethal and sublethal effects on greenhouse whitefly compared with the pured form of essential oil which can be consider in integrated pest management program (IPM) of this pest.

Harpalini (Coleoptera: Carabidae) is the largest tribe of carabid beetles. This tribe includes over 240 genera and subgenera and approximately 2000 species. In order to study Harpalini, ground beetles were collected by hand, pitfall trapping, turning logs and stones, sifting the leaf litter and sweeping the vegetation in five stations of Taleghan Watershed, Alborz Province during 2021–2022, by systematic random sampling technique. 22 species belonged to four tribes and seven genera were identified. Three species Dixus infans (Abeille, 1909), Harpalus laevipes Zetterstedt, 1828 and Harpalus punctatostriatus Dejean, 1829 are new records for Iran. Among 22 collected species, about 41% of the total species belonged to the genus Harpalus (with nine species) and 18% belonged to the genus Dixus (with four species). Each of the genera Ophonus and Stenolophus with three species included 14% of total species

The olive fruit fly, Bactrocera oleae Rossi, is an important monophagous and multigenerational pest of olive fruit. Considering the damage caused by this pest, in this research, the effect of some plant hormones to reduce the pest population on Fishmi variety was investigated in the form of a complete randomized block design during the years 2021 and 2022. Trees were sprayed with jasmonic acid (1 and 2 mg/liter), salicylic (1 and 2 mM) two times before flowering and fruit growth. The results of investigating the density of different immature growth stages of this pest (eggs, first-instar, second-instar, third-instar larvae and pupae) in two years of the experiment showed that the effect of the year was significant only in the egg trait, and the effect of the treatment in other traits with significant differences (except the eggs and larvae of the first ages) were at the probability level of one percent. Examining the morphological characteristics of the fruit showed that the effect of the treatment on the length, weight, volume, density and weight of the flesh of the fruit; And the effect of the treatment in the year, only in the length and width of the fruit and kernel, and the kernel weight were significant at the probability level of 1%. Therefore, jasmonic acid and salicylic acid compounds can disrupt the life cycle and reduce pest damage by affecting some morphological traits and increasing the amounts of secondary metabolites of the fruit, by creating antibiosis resistance.

In this study, the pests of palms on Kish Island landscape, and the possible damages caused by palm borers and dominant termite species during 2019-2021 were identified. They include: two phytophagous mites, Raoiella indica Hirst (Acari: Tenuipalpidae) and Oligonychus washingtoniae Mushtaq et al. (Tetranychidae), three Hemipteren, Parlatoria blanchardi (Targioni Tozzetti) (Diaspididae), Phoenicoccus marlatti Cockerell (Phoenicoccidae) and Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley (Pseudococcidae), four termite species, Amitermes stephensoni Harris, Microcerotermes brettikeri Chhotani &. Bose, Microcerotermes sp. (Isoptera: Termitidae), and Anacanthotermes vagans (Hagen) (Hodotermitidae) were collected for the first time from Kish Island. The A. stephensoni was the predominant species over the other species. Furthermore, two types of plam borers including, Jebusaea hammerschmidti Reiche (Col.: Cerambycidae) and Oryctes agamemnon matthiesseni Reitter (Col.: Scarabaeidae) were detected on date palm and Washingtonia palm. In this study, O. washingtoniae is reported for the first time from Iran and Washingtonia filifera (Linden ex André) H. Wendl. is reported for the first time as a host of J. hammerschmidti in the world. The study on the activity of borer pests showed that 87% of palm trees on the Island were infested with termites and 38% with wood borer beetles.

Iranian false spider mite, Cenopalpus irani is one of main pests on apple trees and some fruit trees in Iran. The life table parameters of C. irani were determined on four apple cultivars (Kohanz Golab, Imperial Gala, Lebanon Red, and Granny Smith) under laboratory conditions at 25±1ºC, 60±5% RH, and a photoperiod of 16: 8 h (L: D). The longest and shortest developmental time of immature stages was observed in Kohanz Golab (46.02 days), and Granny Smith (22.60 days), respectively. The lowest and highest survival rate for whole immature stages was 82.85% and 90.00% on Kohanz Golab, and Granny Smith, respectively. The intrinsic rate of increase (r) ranged from 0.041 day-1 on Kohanz Golab to 0.089 day-1 on Granny Smith. The mean generation time (T) on the above-mentioned cultivars was 66.04, 55.28, 48.10, and 34.99 days, respectively. The fecundity was also affected by the cultivars; it was the lowest on Kohanz Golab (29.55 eggs/female) and highest on Granny Smith (37.93 eggs/female). The results of the data analysis of different apple cultivars based on some demographic parameters of C. irani mite showed that Granny Smith and Kohenz Gulab cultivars are the most sensitive and resistant hosts to this pest, respectively. The findings of the present study provide new information to design a more comprehensive IPM program for this pest in apple orchards.

The control of rice striped stem borer in paddy fields requires the use of all components of integrated pest management. The implementation of these methods is effective if the rice field is in natural conditions in terms of water resources, but in case of drought stress, which one of the methods will be more effective for pest control? In order to answer this question, the present research was carried out in the Rice Research Institute of Iran (Rasht) in 2019 and 2020. In this research, different irrigation methods as the main factor include permanent flooding (every day) and irrigation with intervals of 5, 10 and 15 days and the secondary factor is different control methods including granule application with G10% diazinon insecticide, spraying with fipronil SC5% insecticide, biological control (release of Trichogramma wasp + use of commercial formulation of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki), a combination of methods (chemical control and biological control) and control (only water spraying) were used. The results of this research showed that the least damage by the rice striped stem pest in the vegetative and reproductive stages of rice plants was in the daily and five-day irrigation treatments with the combined use of methods as well as the granule spraying method in the experimental field. Also, the results of the investigations during the two years of the experiment showed that the highest yield was related to irrigation every day and five days, related to two methods, a combination of methods and a granulation method. In 10- and 15-days’ irrigation, the highest yield was observed in foliar spraying and biological control treatments. Therefore, according to the obtained results, it is recommended to use biological control and foliar spraying with one of the confirmed liquid insecticides to control the rice striped stem borer pest in water stress conditions

During the monitoring of some corn fields in the Orzuiye region, Kerman Province, in October 2023, several moths’ larvae were observed while feeding on leaves, spikes and seeds of the host plant. The collected larvae were reared under laboratory conditions until emerging the adults. After examining the reared specimens and the collected adult moths, they were identified as Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) which is known as fall armyworm. This species which was previously being considered as an external quarantine pest in Iran, is being reported from the country for the first time.