Infestation rates and natural enemies of Mercetaspis halli 1 J. Ent. Res. Soc. 8(2):1-5, 2006 ISSN:1302-0250 Infestation Rates and Natural Enemies of Mercetaspis halli (Green) (Homoptera: Diaspididae) with New Records from Turkey Halil BOLU* Lütfiye GENÇER** Ýnanç ÖZGEN*** *Dicle University, Faculty of Agriculture, Plant Protection Department, 21280 Diyarbakýr, TURKEY, e-mail: besni@dicle.edu.tr **Cumhuriyet University, Faculty of Arts and Science, Department of Biology, 58140 Sivas, TURKEY ***Plant Protection Research Institute, 21120 Diyarbakýr, TURKEY ABSTRACT The present study carried out in Diyarbakýr, Elazýð and Mardin during 2002-2004 on almond trees infested with the diaspidid Mercetaspis halli (Green). M. halli is considered an important pest and is in the domestic quarantine list of Turkey. The infestation level is described as low level in almond orchard. One parasitoid species and eleven predator species were recorded as natural enemies of M. halli. The parasitoid Thysanus ater Walker (Hymenoptera: Signiphoridae) are first records of M. halli from Turkey. Among these predators, Scymnus araraticus Khrzorian (%34.26 of the adult), Oenopia conglabata (L.) (%25.56 of adults) and Adalia fasciatopunctata revelierei Muls. (%12.62 of adults) were found to be the most common predators of N. halli. Key words: Mercetaspis halli, pest quarantine, Thysanus ater, almond, new record, Turkey INTRODUCTION Almond culture is considered as having a great economic importance in Turkey. Approximately 13% of total almond production of Turkey is obtained from Diyarbakýr, Elazýð and Mardin (Anonymous, 1999). Although most species belonging to superfamily Coccoidea have a large host range, they are widespread and harmful on trees and bushes. Instars of adult and preadult are feeding on the stem, branch, leaf, fruit, sucker and root of plants. Armoured scale insects are important agricultural, horticultural and forestry pests. Therefore, their harm on fruit-trees is significant. Even though, there have been some studies on the M. halli there is none on their natural enemies (Archangelskaya, 1937; Green, 1934; Hosbrook & Hogden, 1955;
2 BOLU, H., GENÇER, L., ÖZGEN, I. Mckenzie, 1956; Borchsenius, 1966). M. halli is considered an important pest and is in the domestic quarantine list of Turkey (Anonymous, 2001). They are reported in Turkey: unknown provinces Alkan (1962) and Kozar et al., (1979); Eskiþehir, Ýzmir (Emiralem) (Bodenheimer, 1941-1949-1952); Ýzmir (Bornova) (Aysu, 1950); West Anatolia (Alkan, 1963); Ýzmir (Bornova) (Nizamlioðlu, 1963; Gül-Zümreoðlu, 1972); Adana (Kozan) (Tuatay et al., 1972); Ankara (Akyurt, Kalecik); Kýrýkkale (Keskin) (Çobanoðlu & Düzgüneþ, 1986); Muðla (Yaþar, 1995) and Antalya (Erler, 2004). MATERIAL AND METHODS Surveys were carried out between March and October in the years 2002-2004 in various district of Diyarbakýr, Elazýð and Mardin provinces which are located in the southeastern and eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. Samples were taken over a 15 day period in the warm seasons of the year and monthly during the winter months. About 23461 almond trees were examined during the survey. Chemical insecticides were not applied during the period of the study. The survey plan is given in the table 1. Distribution areas of M. halli were determined by the Lazarov & Grigorov (1961) sampling method. Infestation rates of M. halli were determined using the sampling method of Erkam (1981). The population density level of M. halli is described as low, middle and high. The level is mentioned as low, if the harmful species is seen over the growth of a tree one by one; middle if it is seen as a couple of sets; and finally high if they are covering all parts of the tree. Scale insect-infested plant parts were examined visually for predators, and adult predators were collected using an aspirator and fine forceps and then dropped into a killing jar. Infested twigs and branches were cut into approximately 35-cm pieces and placed in polyethylene bags containing sheets of paper. Infested leaves, fruits and pieces of bark were collected in the same way. The emerging parasitoids were transferred into the glass vials containing 60% ethyl alcohol using a fine brush. Parasitoid was recognised by Assist. Prof. Dr. Lütfiye GENÇER. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Results of the survey are given in the Table 2. As seen in the Table 2, the pest is described mostly as low infestants in almond orchard.
Infestation rates and natural enemies of Mercetaspis halli 3 One parasitoid species and eleven predator species were recorded as a natural enemy of M. halli. The parasitoid species is Thysanus ater (Hymenoptera: Signiphoridae). The parasitoid T. ater was recorded for the first time from M. halli in this study. Although T. ater has been reported on various hosts belonging to Diaspididae, Coccididae, Aphelinidae and Encyrtidae M. halli is not determined as host (Peck et al., 1964; Noyes 2002). These hosts are summarized below. Hosts: Aphytis mytilaspidis (Le Baron) (Aphelinidae), Pulvinaria maxima Green, Sphaerolecanium prunastri (Boyer de Fonscolombe) (Coccididae), Chionaspis lepineyi Balachowsky, C. salicis Linnaeus, Leucaspis pini Hartig, Melanaspis obscura (Comstock), Parlatoria olea (Colvee), Pseudaulacaspis pentagona (Targioni Tozzetti), Quadraspidiotus ostreaeformis (Curtis), Q. perniciosus (Comstock) (Diaspididae), Metaphycus nadius (Walker), Trichomasthus dissimilis (Chumakova) (Encyrtidae). The lifestyle of Thysanus ater which is determined as a primer parasite or hyperparasite in various diaspid was not determined in this study. Predator species and their percentage are given in Table 3. As seen in Table 3, Scymnus araraticus Khrzorian (%34.26 of adults), Oenopia conglabata (L.) (%25.56 of adults) and Adalia fasciatopunctata revelierei Muls. (%12.62 of adults) were found to be the most common predators. The predators were found to be most predators in diverse species of diaspidids and were reported to be most efficient predators of prey scale in various parts of Turkey (Altay et. al., 1972; Gül-Zümreoðlu, 1972; Soydanbay-Tunçyürek, 1976; Soylu &Urel, 1977; Uygun, 1981; Düzgüneþ et. al., 1982; Öncüer, 1991; Erler &Tunç, 2004). These diaspids are Adiscodiaspis tamaricicola Malenotti, Aonidiella aurantii (Maskell), Aspidiotus nerri Bouche, Ceroplastes rusci (L.), Coccus hesperidum L., C. pseudomagnoliarum (Kuw.), Cornuaspis beckii (Newman), Lepidosaphes ulmi (Linnaeus), Lineaspis striata (Newstead), Melanaspis inopinata (Leonardi), Parlatoria olea (Colvee), Pseudaulacaspis pentagona (Targioni Tozzetti), Pulvinaria floccifera Westwood, Quadraspidiotus perniciosus (Comstock), Saissetia oleae (Olivier) and Sphaerolecanium prunastri Fonsc. However, these predators have not been reported for M. halli until now. The conclusions are important for M. halli, because the parasitoids and predators of this species are not determined. This study shows that detailed investigation is needed on parasitoids and predators of M. halli.
4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS BOLU, H., GENÇER, L., ÖZGEN, I. The authors are thankful to the following experts for identification of the insect: the Mercetaspis halli, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lerzan ERKILIÇ; the coccinellids, Prof. Dr. Nedim UYGUN. This study was supported by the Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey (TÜBÝTAK-Project No: TOGTAG-2886). REFERENCES Archangelskaya, A. D., 1937, The Coccidae of Middle Asia. Izdatelstvo Komiteta Nauk UZSSR, Tashkent. 158 (in Russian). Alkan, B., 1962, Türkiye de Ziraat Bitkilerinin Genel Zararlýlarý Üzerine Ýncelemeler. Ankara Üniversitesi, Ziraat Fakültesi Yayýnlarý, No: 197, Ankara, 32. Alkan, B., 1963, Mandelbaumschellinge, ihre Verbreitung und Bekampfung in der Türkei. Ankara Üniversitesi, Ziraat Fakültesi Yýllýðý, Ankara, 12. Altay, M., Gürses, A., Uyar, K., 1972, Marmara Bölgesinde Kabuklubitler Üzerinde Çalýþmalar. T. C. Tarým ve Köyiþleri Bakanlýðý,Tarýmsal Araþtýrmalar Genel Müdürlüðü, Bitki Koruma Araþtýrma Dairesi Baþkanlýðý, Zirai Mücadele Araþtýrma Yýllýðý, Ankara, 6: 29. Anonymous, 1999, Tarýmsal Yapý ve Üretim. T.C. Baþbakanlýk Devlet Ýstatistik Enstitüsü Yayýnlarý No: 2457, Ankara, 7: 103, 199. Anonymous, 2001, T. C. Tarým ve Köyiþleri Bakanlýðý, Koruma Kontrol Genel Müdürlüðü, Teknik Bülteni, No: 1995, Ankara, 3. Aysu, R., 1950, Türkiye Koþnilleri. I. Mahsul Hekimi, 3(3): 59-61. Bodenheimer, F. S., 1941, Anadolu da yedi adet yeni koþnil nevileri. Ýstanbul Üniversitesi, Fen Fakültesi Mecmuasý, 6, B, 65-84. Bodenheimer, F. S., 1949, Türkiye nin Coccoideasý. Cilt 1 Diaspididae Monografik Bir Etüt. Neþriyat Md., 670: 264. Bodenheimer, F. S., 1952, Türkiye nin Coccoideasý. Ýstanbul Üniversitesi, Fen Fakültesi Mecmuasý, Seri B. 17(4): 315-351. Borchsenius, N. S., 1966, A catalogue of the armoured scale insects (Diaspidoidea) of the world. Nauka, Moscow, Leningrad, Russia, 449 (in Russian). Çobanoðlu, S., Düzgüneþ, Z., 1986, Ankara Ýlinde Meyve Aðaçlarýnda Tespit Edilen Kabuklubitler (Homoptera: Diaspididae). Bitki Koruma Bülteni, 26(3-4): 135-158. Düzgüneþ, Z., Toros, S., Kilinçer, N., Kovanci, B., 1982, Ankara Ýlindeki Aphidoidea Türlerinin Parazit ve Predatörleri. Koruma Kontrol Genel Müdürlüðü, Ankara, 251. Erkam, B., 1981, Marmara Bölgesi Yumuþak Çekirdekli Meyve Aðaçlarýnda Zarar Yapan Parlatoria oleae Colv. (Homoptera: Diaspididae) nin Tanýnmasý, Biyolojisi, Yayýlýþý, Konukçularý, Zararý ve Doðal Düþmanlarý Üzerinde Araþtýrmalar. T. C. Tarým ve Orman Bakanlýðý, Ýstanbul Zirai Mücadele Araþtýrma Enstitüsü Md. Araþtýrma Eserleri Serisi, Ankara, 17:94.
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