ali mehrvar

To identify eriophyoid mites, sampling was done on dominant plants of Hesar village in Meshginshahr region of the Ardabil province during summer 2020. Two families, five subfamilies, five tribes, 12 genera and 27 species were identified among which Cecidophyopsis hesariensis Lotfollahi & Hemmatzadeh sp. nov. collected on the host plant Lonicera iberica M. Bieb. (Caprifoliaceae) was new to science and the second Cecidophyopsis species found on plants of the family Caprifoliaceae. Three species including Aculus salicisincanae (Nalepa, 1925), Aceria peucedani (Canestrini, 1892) and Aculus eurynotus (Nalepa, 1894) were new reports for Iran. A list of identified taxa is provided with comments and 22 species were reported for the first time in Ardabil province.

Actinobacteria are very important in the world in terms of the production of metabolites with various biological effects. This study was conducted with the aim of investigating the toxicity of the fermented extract obtained from Actinobacteria isolated from some biological resources of Iran on Artemia urmiana. These isolates were deposited in University of Tehran Microorganisms Collection (UTMC).

Forty-eight -76°C actinobacterial isolates were revived using ISP2 agar culture medium. Two bacterial discs were inoculated in ISP2 broth medium as a pre-cultivation medium. After 48 hours, 10 ml of the liquid was inoculated into the fermentation culture medium and heated for 7 days in a shaker incubator with 180 rpm, temperature of 28°C and pH of 7.2 ± 0.2. The fermentation broth was extracted using ethyl acetate, the solvent was evaporated using a low-pressure rotary evaporator. The toxicity of fermentation broth extracts was assayed against    40-hour Artemia urmiana nauplii.

According to the toxicity classification, among the all 48 isolates, 64.58% were highly toxic, 22.91% were moderate toxic, and 12.5% were in the low toxicity compounds group.

The results showed that more than half of the tested extracts had very high lethality on Artemia urmiana in a short time. Comparing the LC50 and LT50 values of the extracts with  similar studies, it was found that these extracts have a significant biological activity and can be used as a rich source in the production of metabolites with proper biological effects.

Using Ephestia kuehniella larvae as hosts, invert emulsion (IE) and an aqueous suspension (AS) of Beauveria bassiana (isolate IR34-JS2) and Metarhizium anisopliae (isolate IR41-TT1) formulations were compared when stored for three months at either 3 °C or 25 °C. Initially, IE formulations of isolates JS2 and TT1 were 13- and 14-fold more virulent than AS formulations, based on their LC50 values. JS2 LC50 values increased 1.3- and 5.6-fold for the AS and IE formulations, respectively, after 3 months storage at 3 °C, and 1.6 and 7.3-fold after 3 months at 25 °C, whereas values for TT1 increased 2.1- and 6.8-fold for these formulations at 3 °C, and 3.9- and 15.7-fold at 25 °C. Formulation and storage temperature interacted significantly to affect conidial production post-storage. Vegetative growth, conidiogenesis, and conidial germination of both isolates were better preserved at 3 °C than at 25 °C in vitro. The IE formulation preserved vegetative growth capacity better than the AS formulation at both temperatures, and better preserved conidiogenesis at 3 °C, a temperature that also improved TT1 conidial germination in the IE formulation. At 3 °C, the IE formulation yielded a relative speed of kill that was 3.5- and 1.3-fold faster for the JS2 and TT1 isolates, respectively, than the AS formulation. It can be concluded that IE formulations were superior to AS formulations, and that storage at 3 °C will help preserve the biological activity and pathogenicity of these fungi.

Nucleic acid-based diagnostic approaches are significant methods in detection and identification of viruses due to their small genome structures and minimal nucleotide differences among virus isolates or strains. In this study, dead or diseased larvae of Helicoverpa sp. were collected from tomato fields in distinct geographic areas in Iran and baculovirus infection was assayed by occlusion body extraction using an optimized Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate method. Two sets of specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primer pairs (Pol-a and Pol-b) were designed based on the conserved polyhedrin gene region of 26 fully sequenced HearSNPV/HzNPV isolates. Accordingly, infection by HearSNPV was confirmed in 28 out of 34 tested larvae by PCR amplification of monomorphic fragments of about 370 and 790 nucleotides, respectively. Cloning and sequencing of fragments showed that they belong to the corresponding polyhedron gene from nucleopolyhedriviruses of H. arimegra and H. zea species with 99.6% sequence identity. The phylogeny trees developed for Iranian isolates based on their polyhedron gene sequences showed that they all belong to the Group II Alphabaculovirus and formed one clade with other HearSNPV isolates. This, further confirmed the efficiency of the developed method for baculovirus detection and characterization. To our knowledge, this is the first report of introduction and molecular characterization of some HearSNPV isolates, circulating in these pests in Iran, using a robust DNA-based approach. The excellent efficacy of this method in virus detection makes it a valuable tool for rapid screening of insect cadavers for HearNPV infection, phylogenic studies and virus monitoring in bioinsecticides application.

An isolate of entomopathogenic fungus was isolated from the soil samples by using the Galleria bait method. Species identification was carried out using morphology and phylogenetic analysis of ITS-rDNA region and ß-tubulin gene sequences by Maximum parsimony (MP) method. Based on the both morphological and molecular characterization, the isolate KJ3 was identified as Cordyceps farinosa. The isolates showed an ellipsoidal conidial shape with overall dimensions of 3.83 × 1.98 µm (length ×width). The phialide of the isolate was characterized by a wide globose basal portion and overall dimensions of 4.98 × 2.21 µm. The PCR-amplified ITS and ß-tubulin regions were 615and 355 bp, respectively. In all constructed phylogenetic trees, C. farinosa isolate KJ3 grouped together with C. farinosa CBS 541.81 as a monophyletic group. Based on the ITS-rDNA sequence, in reconstructed phylogenetic tree, a group including C. albocitrina and C. coccidioperitheciata appeared as sister group of C. farinose. Cordyceps confrogasa was the genealogically closest species to I. farinosa based on the ß-Tubulin sequence. With the aim of comparing the efficiencies of ITS-rDNA and ß-Tubulin sequences for Cordyceps spp. genealogic studies, MP phylogenetic trees with the similar sets of species were reconstructed based on the both genomic regions in combination and alone and then compared in terms of consistency index, retention index and topology. The results showed that phylogenetic analysis based on the ß-Tubulin sequence is more efficient way for genealogical studies in Cordyceps spp..

The seed-eater wasp, Bruchophagus verbasci (Erdös, 1969) comb. nov. (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea, Eurytomidae) is newly quoted from Iran. This species was originally described in the genus Eurytoma Illiger, 1807. Considering its morphological characters and the new finding of its biological association with some fabaceous plants, it was transferred to the genus, Bruchophagus Ashmead, 1888. It was redescribed and illustrated. Two fabaceous plant species, Astragalus brachydonatus Boiss. and Trigonella montana C. A. Mey. are revealed as host plants of B. verbasci for the first time. It is a new record for France, Morocco, and Turkey.

Small walnut aphid (SWA) Chromaphis juglandicola is an economic pest of walnut trees. Population fluctuation of SWA was studied in Mamaghan walnut orchards (East Azarbaijan Province, Iran).Three factors affecting population density of SWA, including vertical divisions of canopy (upper and lower half), geographical orientations of canopy (at four levels) and elongation of branch (basal and distal ends), were investigated. Sampling unit was a cluster of five leaves. Totally 128 samples were taken weekly from all strata upon eight chosen trees, repeating 30 times during the season. Natural enemies also were counted. The first SWA individuals were observed early May, consisting of first instar larvae and alate females. A sudden population increase occurred in mid-May. Maximum 40 aphids/leaf were observed in early June with first and second instars dominant, followed by a sudden decline in late June. A small peak was observed at early October. A partial tendency was observed toward north of canopy, at basal half of downward branches. Positive linear correlation between natural enemie's and SWA populations suggests density dependence. Moreover 2-4 week delay was present between them. Trioxys pallidus (Holliday) was dominant natural enemy in the region. Contrary to previous works, overwintering stages of the SWA in the region were predominantly developed stages (third and fourth instars as well as pre-reproductive winged females).

The Evanioidea wasp fauna of Iran is reviewed. The study is based on literature as well as collecting research carried out during 2007-2015 in the East and West-Azarbaijan provinces. The total number of species recorded from Iran is 34 including: Aulacidae (Pristaulacus, 4 species), Evaniidae (Evania, 2 species and Brachygaster, one species) and Gasteruptiidae (Gasteruption, 27 species). Four new records from Iran are added: Brachygaster minutus (Olivier) (Evaniidae); Gasteruption goberti (Tournier), G. henseni van Achterberg and G. undulatum (AbeilledePerrin) (Gasteruptiidae).

Entomopathogenic fungi may be affected by pesticides used to protect crop plants. The in vitro compatibility of Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae with three fungicides and 16 insecticides was evaluated. The formulations of pesticides were tested in three concentrations (mean concentration (MC), half MC and twice the MC). All tested fungicides, at three concentrations, were incompatible with these two fungi and significantly inhibited fungal development, germination of spores and spore production. Insecticides, except for spinosad, deltametrin, imidachloprid and abamectin, were incompatible with these two fungi at high concentration and caused complete or strong inhibition of fungal development. The compatible insecticide with B. bassiana and M. anisopliae, at three concentrations, found to be spinosad. Abamectin, imidachloprid and deltametrin, however at half MC and MC were compatible with B. bassiana. Deltametrin, abamectin and hexafloron at half MC were compatible with M. anisopliae. We conclude that these pesticides with the defined formulations could be used with the entomopathogenic fungi in integrated pest management programs.

In this study, the adult wasps were exposed to fresh residuces of the insecticide. The LC50 value of pyridalil were 2451 ppm. Sublethal effects of pyridalil on life table, reproduction parameters and survivorship of H. hebetor were studied. The survivorship was affected by the insecticide. Life expectancy and Mortality rate were not significantly affected but reproduction parameters of H. hebetor was affected by the insecticide. Mortality of egg and larval stages was significantly affected by the insecticide, but the adult emergence rate was not significantly affected by the pyridalil. Results showed that pyridalil insecticide had less adverse effects on the parasitoid. Field studies aiming to assess efficacy of combined use of insecticide and H. hebetor is needed to obtain more applicable results.