فصلنامه تحقیقات حشره شناسی
سال چهارم شماره 4 (پیاپی 16، زمستان 1391)

Iranellinae Mishchenko 1951 is a new subfamily raised from Iranellini. Characters of Iranelliniand the species, recorded in Iran are listed. Taxonomic position of, Iraniola elbursiana (Ramme, 1929) which was classified in the genera Iranella and Iranobia is clarified. Synonymy and keys are given to identify valid genera and species recorded in Iran.

Cottony camellia scale, Pulvinaria floccifera Westwood is almost cosmopolitan having beenspread widely by the plant trade. This soft scale is one of the most important scales of citrus orchards in Mazandaran and Guilan provinces. The biology and seasonal fluctuation of pest was studied in natural conditions in the West of Mazandaran. Furthermore, the biology of this soft scale was studied in laboratory condition. To study population dynamics, 10 leaves from each five Thomson navel orange trees, Citrus sinensis L. were taken every two weeks. P. floccifera completed one generation per year, hibernating as an adult insect. The last overwintering females were observed in early June and Middle May in 2009 and 2010, respectively. First instar nymphs appeared in middle July and late June. Second instar nymphs were first observed in early August and middle July, peaked in last August and last July in 2009 and 2010, respectively, whereas the third instar nymphs peaked in late September and late August. The complete life cycle of females required 58.2±2.1 days in the laboratory conditions, 25±10ºC, 70-80% RH, and 14:10 (L:D). Number of eggs in egg sac ranged from 445 to 680. Data showed that the ladybirds Cryptolaemus montrouzieri Mulsant and Chilocorus bipustulatus Gordon feed on P. floccifera. This study revealed that P. floccifera is present in all citrus plants sampled in the area of study in Mazandaran and Guilan provinces.

Nanotechnology has become one of the most promising new approaches for pest control in recent years. In our screening program, laboratory trials were conducted to determine the effectiveness of silica nanoparticles (SNP) and silver nanoparticles (AgNP) on larval stage and adults of Callosobruchus maculatus on cowpea seed. Nanoparticles of silica and silver were synthesized through a solvothermal method and different concentrations (1, 1.5, 2 and 2.5 g kg-1) of them were tested on C. maculatus. In the experiments, the LC50 value for SiO2 and Ag nanoparticles were calculated 0.68 and 2.06 g kg-1 cowpeas on adults and 1.03 and 1.00 g kg-1 on larvae, respectively. Result showed that, the both nanoparticles (silica and silver) were highly effective on adults and larvae with 100% and 83% mortality, respectively. The result also showed that SiO2 nanoparticles can be used as a valuable tool in pest management programs of C. maculatus.

Five species of Ichneumonidae are recorded from Sistan and Baluchestan province including Cryptus inculcator (Linnaeus, 1758), Dichrogaster saharator (Aubert, 1964) and Stilpnus gagates (Gravenhorst, 1807) from the subfamily Cryptinae and Cratichneumon sp. and Thyraeella collaris (Gravenhorst, 1829) from the subfamily Ichneumoninae. S. gagates and T. collaris species noted here, are reported for the first time from Iran. Both species are representing the first record of two respective genera. Morphological characters of two newly recorded species are briefly described along with brief diagnostic comments and discussion about their distribution.

In order to study on Syrphidae faunistic in the eastern part of Zanjan province in the years of 2008 and 2009, some adult specimens were collected and identified. In total, 31 species belong to 16 genus from 2 subfamilies were collected. Among the specimens, 28 species as follow are new records for Zanjan province and the species marked with an asterisk is the first record from Iran. Subfamily: Syrphinae Spazigaster ambulans (Fabricius,1798)*, Melanostoma mellinum (Linnaeus, 1758), Platycheirus sp., Paragus albifrons (Fallen, 1817), Paragus bicolor (Fabricius, 1794), Paragus abrogans Goeldlin de Tiefenau, 1971, Sphaerophoria rueppelli (Wiedemann,1830), Sphaerophoria scripta (Linnaeus, 1758), Sphaerophoria turkmenica Bankowska, 1964, Ischiodon scutellaris (Fabricius, 1805), Scaeva pyrastri (Linnaeus,1758), Scaeva albomaculata (Macquart, 1842),Episyrphus balteatus (DeGeer, 1776), Eupeodes nuba (Wiedemann, 1830), Meliscaeva auricollis (Meigen, 1822).Subfamily: MilesiinaeEumerus strigatus (Fallen, 1817), Eumerus sogdianus Stackelberg, 1952, Helophilus continuus Loew, 1854, Eristalis tenax (Linnaeus, 1758), Eristalis arbustorum (Linnaeus, 1758), Eristalis similis Fallen, 1817, Eristalinus taeniops (Wiedemann, 1818), Eristalinus megacephalus (Rossi, 1794), Eristalinus sepulchralis (Linnaeus, 1758), Eristalinus aeneus (Scopoli, 1763), Pipizella divicoi (Goeldlin de Tiefenau, 1974), Neoascia podagrica (Fabricius, 1775), Syritta pipiens (Linnaeus, 1758).

The oribatid mites of south of Iran was studied during 2008-2009. Six genera belonging to six families were collected which, three genera and two species that marked by an asterisk are recorded for the first time from Iran. The species Hypozetes translamellatus has the most abundant in sampling sites. The family of Scheloribatidae (Scheloribates sp.) has the highest total identified species. According to sampling data the families of Scheloribatidae, Tegoribatidae and Oribatulidae have the highest distribution in sampling sites respectively. These species are: Heptacarus* sp., (Lohmanniidae); Damaeolus asperatus* (Berlese, 1904), (Damaeolidae); Oribatula (Zygoribatula) undulata Berlese, 1916, (Oribatulidae); Scheloribates fimbriatus Thor, 1930. S. praeincisus (Berlese, 1910), (Scheloribatidae); Hypozetes* translamellatus* Wallwork, 1965, (Tegoribatidae); Lamellobates* sp., (Mycobatidae).

The family Hypogastruidae is one of the most common Collembola in the world. This familyincludes approximately 659 world species in about 40 genera (Park & Park, 2006). The genus Ceratophysella also is one of the largest genera of Hypogastruridae, with more than 108 known species (Bellinger et al., 2006). This study was carried out in Kermanshah region from March to September 2011. Samples were collected from the leaf litter and upper soil layer of fruit orchard in Kermanshah region. Thespecies were extracted by Berlese Funnel and stored in 75% ethanol. After cleaning andpreparing, specimen slides were sent to Dr. Dariusz Sharzynski (Zoological Institute of Wroclaw University) for identification. The specimens identified as Ceratophysella stercoraria which this species was new for Iran fauna.DiagnosisThe body (0.8 to 0.9 mm) is spotted brownish-violet, paler ventrally. On two last abdominal terga Granulation is stronger than the other segments. Body hairs moderately long, finely serrated, macrochaetae well differentiated, sensilla comparatively long. Ocelli 8+8, Post antennal organ is about 3 times larger than ocellous. Ventral tube with 4+4 setae. Retinaculum with 4+4 teeth. Furca fully developed. Dens with 7 setae and two times longer than mucro. Mucro typical for the denticulata group (Skarynski, 2000). Most Ceratophysella have a small eversible sac between the third and fourth antennal segments (Bernard, 2006) that help them adhere to the substrate when they land after a jump to stabilize themselves (Hopkin, 2002).Distribution and EcologySo far this species has been reported in some countries including Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan,Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, Afghanistan, Ethiopia (Babenko et al., 1994), Poland and Bulgaria. Most species of Ceratophysella genus are found in forest litter, flood debris, composts and gardens (Skarynski, 2000) and recently two troglophile species of the Ceratophysella were described from the cave (Skarzynski et al., 2001; Kaprus et al., 2002)AcknowledgementsThe author wishes to thank The Islamic Azad University, Kermanshah Branch for supporting projects. I am also grateful to Dr. Dariusz Sharzynski Zoological Institute of Wroclaw University for identification.

Dactylochelifer spasskyi Redikorzev 1949 is the rare Pseudoscorpion that existed in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. This is a new report of this species collected from leaf litter habitats in Iran.