نشریه نامه انجمن حشره شناسی ایران
سال سی و چهارم شماره 3 (پیاپی 61، پاییز 1393)

The study was conducted in nine different peach orchards in Central district، Lapseki and Bayramiç districts of Çanakkale Province. In this study، adult population change of Oriental fruit moth، (Grapholita molesta Busck، 1916، Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) was determined with pheromone traps. At the end of the study it was observed that G. Molesta is abundant in all sampling orchards in both two years. Even though adult emergence changes at different years، it was started at mid April and continued until the end of November. Four-five flight periods were determined at the months of April، June، July، August and October throughout the season. When adult population development curves were examined، it was determined that the pest could generate four-five generation per year related to daily temperature values of early spring. It was concluded that late cultivars would be more affected because of the high amounts of adults in August and September.

The cucumber moth, Diaphania indica (Saunders), is a tropical and sub-tropical pest on cucurbits and a key pest of greenhouse crops in Jiroft region of Iran. The effect of temperature on life table parameters of this pest was investigated in a growth chamber at four constant temperatures i.e. 20, 25, 30 and 35 ºC on Cucumis sativus L. The net reproductive rates (R0) were found to be 68.19, 120.977, 64.05 and 21.23, respectively. The intrinsic rates of increase (rm) were 0.0619, 0.1746, 0.1934 and 0.1491, and mean generation times (T) were 69.063, 27.45, 21.49 and 20.44, respectively. According to the results, for the intrinsic rate of increase (rm), finite rate of increase (λ) and intrinsic birth rate (b), the optimum temperature was 30 ºC and the least suitable temperature was 20 ºC.

The fumigant toxicity of volatile fractions of peel essential oils of the Rutaceae species of Citrus reticulata Blanco, C. limon L. and C. aurantium L. was studied against eggs, larvae and adults of Callosobruchus maculatus (F.) at 27 ± 1 ºC and 65 ± 5% RH in darkness. The oils were extracted from the fruit peels using water steam distillation. The essential oils were characterized by a combination of GC and GC/MS analyses. Limonene was the major constituent of the three essential oils. The effect of different concentrations of the essential oil vapors on egg hatchability as well as larval and adult mortality was found to be significant. Citrus reticulata and C. aurantium oils were more toxic on egg hatchability than C. limon extract and caused higher mortality on larvae as well. There was no significant difference between essential oils in terms of adult mortality. The adult beetles were also exposed to the concentrations of 18.5, 37, 55.5 and 74 μl/l air. At the highest concentration (74 μl/l air), C. aurantium oil caused 100% mortality after a 6 h exposure, but the oils from C. reticulata and C. limon caused 38% and 62% mortality, at the identical exposure time, respectively. The results suggest that citrus peel oils can be effectively used as botanical fumigants against various life stages of Ca. maculatus.

The starting of foraging is likely the most important phenomenon in the age based division of labor in honeybees. It also prepare one of the most complicated phenotypic trait in biological system since the intercourse of different external, social and personage factors. Pollination effect is related to foraging behavior and forager's population, so this research aims to determine foraging initiation and foraging behavior of worker bees in high and low performance colonies. There is a significant correlation between foraging behavior and honey production in different colonies and in various regions. Early foraging leads to higher production of honey in a colony. Also‚ based on the results obtained, the peak of foraging initiation in high performance colony was longer (age of 16-23 day) and in low performance colony was shorter (age of 17-21day). The results indicate that the retuned bees (P < 0.05) and returned bees with pollen load (P < 0.05) in high production colonies are more than low production colonies. Results have shown differences in the age of first foraging (AFF) comparing to previous studies‚ in which represented AFF starts 21 days after birthday of worker foragers. Obtained results have shown that the number of forager bees has positive correlation with honey production in honeybee colonies and also AFF of high production colonies was started in earlier age that can due to higher production in these colonies.

The elm leaf beetle, Xanthogaleruca luteola Müll., is the most important pest of elm trees in Iranian cities. Insect growth regulators (IGRs) such as hexaflumuron are recommended to use in urban areas for their low toxicity to human and environment. In this study, the impact of the chitin synthesis inhibitor, hexaflumuron, was evaluated on some biochemical and biological characteristics of the elm leaf beetle under laboratory conditions. The toxicity of this insecticide investigated on the last instar larvae of X. luteola using leaf dip method (25 ± 2 ºC, 75 ± 10% relative humidity, 16 h (light): 8 h (dark)). LC30 and LC50 values were calculated at 53.45 and 122.02 ppm, 72 h post treatment, respectively. Biological and biochemical characteristics were evaluated for 3rd instar larvae, following 72 h feeding on the elm leaves treated with LC50 and LC30 concentrations of hexaflumuron. The LC30 and LC50 concentrations of hexaflumuron increased the duration of larval stage, 10.04 ± 0.24 and 9.27 ± 0.43 days, respectively, compared with the control, 7.07 ± 0.413 days. There were no significant differences in the duration of pupal stage for LC30 and LC50 concentrations and control group. Hexaflumuron significantly decreased adult longevity compared with the control. Several morphological abnormalities were also observed in treated larvae and pupae. The results showed significant reductions of carbohydrate, protein, glycogen and lipid contents at the LC30 and LC50 concentrations of hexaflumuron. The activities of the detoxifying enzyme glutathione S-transferase, general esterases (α-esterases and β-esterases) and the immunological enzyme phenoloxidase were significantly affected by hexaflumuron. Although the results are clearly indicative of the adverse effects of sublethal concentrations of hexaflumuron on the beetle pest, further investigations are required to improve the efficiency of the chemical for being viably used in integrated pest management programs against the elm leaf beetle.

Pulse beetle, Callosobruchus chinensis L., is an important pest of stored chickpea and widely distributed in the world. Chemical insecticides and fumigants are common control tactics against pulse beetle, even though they have caused serious drawbacks. As an alternative control method, botanical compounds and their constituents have been successfully used against this pest. We tested the protective efficacy of 18 edible and non-edible oils in storage in ambient room condition. The efficacy was evaluated considering oviposition, adult emergence, seed infestation and seed weight loss caused by pulse beetle. All the tested oils effectively checked the oviposition, adult emergence, seed infestation and weight loss compared to control. However, the oils of neem, castor, karanja, and sesame at 4.0 to 8.0 ml/kg seed showed significant reduction of oviposition, and completely inhibited adult emergence, seed infestation and weight loss of chickpea seeds. The mustard oil could reduce the oviposition, adult emergence, seed infestation and seed weight loss at 8.0 ml/kg. Tested oils did not show any adverse effects on seed germination up to three months of storage. Therefore, neem, castor, karanja, and sesame oils can be used as environmentally safe management tactic for C. chinensis in protecting pulse seeds in store.

The new mealybug species, Paracoccus ficus Moghaddam sp. n., collected on Ficus carica (Moraceae) in Iran, is described and illustrated based on the adult female. An identification key is presented to distinguish this new species from other mealybug species, reported on Ficus spp., in Iran.