Introduction of pests and evaluation of density and damage of some species on different willow species (Salix spp.) in West Azarbaijan Province

The project of studying pests of different Salix species in West Azarbaijan Province was started in 2011 for five years. Samplings were carried out at 15–30 day intervals in growing seasons in seven natural selected sites, and willow collection design in Saatloo Research Station. Pest arthropods were collected using hand picking, collecting of infected tree branches, as well as rearing immature stages of some pests inside jars in the controlled conditions. The density of population and also damage of six important pests were surveyed in randomized complete designe in Saatloo Research Station for two years. The data were analysed by the SPSS 19 software and comparison of means conducted by Tukey ̓ s test.Totally, 40 species of harmful arthropods, belonging to26 families, were collected and identified, among them, Monosteira unicostata, Pontania sp.1, Chaitophorus niger, Tuberolachnus salignus,Melanophila picta and Tetranychus urticae were recognized as the important pests.Among the willow species, S.excelsa and S. alba were considered as the important hosts of many pests, on which the densities of pests were higher during the samling period.Moreover, S. aegyptiacahad the lowest density of the above-mentioned pests.