rangeland

Rangeland and forest ecosystems in Kerman province are vital to sustaining arid and semi-arid environments. Plant parasitic nematodes, despite being present in all ecosystems, they are often overlooked due to their hidden nature. Among them, root endoparasitic nematodes of the family Pratylenchidae are particularly important. In this study, 32 nematode species of the superfamily Tylenchoidea, including five species of Pratylenchidae, were collected and identified in the rhizosphere of rangeland and forest plants in Kerman Province. The identified species include Hirschmanniella gracilis from meadow-grasses; Zygotylenchus guevarai from Cynodon dactylon and Mentha longifolia; Pratylenchus neglectus from wild almond, meadow-grasses and alhagi; and P. thornei from barberry, meadow-grasses, tamarisk, wild chamomile and reed. Additionally, P. dakotaensis was identified in one soil sample from the rhizosphere of meadow-grass, based on morphometric and morphological characteristics. This species is characterized by a head with three annuli, areolated outer bands of the lateral field (mainly at the anterior and posterior ends of the body), a conical tail with a blunt end and irregular annulation, and the presence of males. This is the first report of P. dakotaensis from Iran. Among the identified species of the family, P. thornei was the most widespread and diverse host rang species, and the most common habitat for root lesion nematodes and H. gracilis was meadow-grass. This study highlights root-lesion nematodes as significant contributors to vegetation damage in Kerman province’s rangeland and forest ecosystems, with potential risk to neighboring agricultural lands.

The were studied fauna of ladybirds (Col:Coccinellidae) on pastures Astragalus adscendes (Boiss. & Hausskn 1903), (Fabaceae) meantime with practical collection and releasing psyllid Gazangabin Cyamophila astragalicola (Gegechkori 1977), (Hom.: Psyllidae) insects on Astragalus adscendens during 2007 to 2010 in Lorestan province. ladybirds collected are as follows: Henosepilachna argus (Geoffroy, 1762)*, Chilocorus bipustulatus (Linnaeus, 1758), Exochomus flavipes (Thunberg, 1781), E. quadripustulatus (Linnaeus, 1758), Scymnus apetzi (Mulsant, 1846), Hyperaspis reppensis (Herbst, 1783)**, Coccinnula sinuatomarginata (Faldermann, 1837*, Coccinella septempunctata (Linnaeus, 1758), Hippodamia variegata (Goeze, 1777), Oenopia conglobata (Linnaeus, 1758), O. oncina (Olivier, 1808), Species marked with symbol (*) are new for Lorestan province and specie that marked with (**) is new for Iranian fauna. In this survey from total of 11 species ladybird were collected, 9 genus directly were busy feeding from nymphs and adults Cyamophila astragalicola and were collected 2 genus Scymnus and Henosepilachnas in position hibernation on shrubs Astragalus adscendens. Only one species Henosepilachna argus was phytophagous. Species that is new for the fauna of Iran and Lorestan province have been confirmed by Dr. Fursch from Germany.

During 2006– 2007 studies were carried out to collect and identify the moths of family Sphingidae in some regions of Fars Province. A total of 16 species were collected and identified. Four forestlands including Arsanjan district with dominant Pistachio mutica, Firouz Abad district with dominant Amygdalus scopariae and Ziziphus spinachristi, Kazeroun and Nour Abad district with dominant Quercus brantii, Sepidan district with dominant Pyrus glabra and one rangeland (Shiraz) were selected and 271 specimens of Sphingidae were collected by the insect net and the light trap. Collected insects were identified systematically according to their morphological characteristics by second author and confirmed by Ian J. Kitching (Natural History Museum, London, UK). Moths found in this study are as follows: Acherontia styx styx (Westwood, 1847)Agrius convolvuli (Linnaeus, 1758) Akbesia davidi (Oberthür, 1884) Clarina kotschyi kotschyi (Kollar, 1849)Daphnis nerii (Linnaeus, 1758) Hippotion celerio (Linnaeus, 1758) Hyles hippophaes (Esper, 1793) Hyles livornica (Esper, 1780) Hyles nicaea sheljuzkoi (de Prunner, 1798)Laothoe populi populeti (Bienert, 1870)Marumba quercus (Denis & Schiffermüller,1775) Macroglossum stellatarum (Linnaeus, 1758)Rethera brandti euteletes (Jordan, 1937)Rethera komarovi manifica (Brandt, 1938) Smerinthus kindermanni (Lederer, 1853) Theretra alecto (Linnaeus, 1758)Amoung them Acherontia stxy is a new record for Fars province (Iran) and Marumba quercuswas found in the most region of this province.