| Report of Chalcidoidea on cotton mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley, 1898 (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) in Khuzestan province |
| Paper ID : 1029-3IICE (R1) |
| Authors: |
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Ebrahim Tamoli Torfi *1, Arash Rasekh2, Seyed Abbas Moravvej2, Mohammad Saeed Mossadegh2, Ali Rajabpour3 1Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Shahid Chamran university, Ahvaz, Iran. 2Department of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran 3Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University of Khuzestan, Mollasani, Ahvaz, Iran |
| Abstract: |
| The cotton mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley, 1898 (Hemiptera, Pseudococcidae), is a phytophagous insect with high populations causing serious damage to numerous plants including economically important crops. This pest has been reported from the New World, Afrotropical, Australia, Oriental and the Middle East including Iran. Chemical control of cotton mealybug is difficult especially because of the protection created by the waxy materials around the body and the encapsulated eggs, and also overlapping generations. Biological control of the pest especially by using parasitoid wasps is very effective and practical method. During 2017-2018, samplings were performed from Chinese hibiscus shrubs infested with cotton mealybug in Ahvaz (31o19′N, 48o42′E), Abadan (30o21′N, 48o16′E), Mollasani (31°35´N, 48°53´E) and Baghe-Malek (31°31´N, 49°53´E) in Khuzestan province in southwest of Iran by cutting off the infested leaves. These leaves were then placed in a ventilated container and transferred to the laboratory where it was maintained for four weeks at room condition (temperature: 25 ± 5oC, relative humidity: 45–60%, 16:8 h Light:Dark). The containers were visited daily, and the emerged wasps from each container were recorded and stored in 75% ethanol for identification. Totally, eleven species of wasps, all chalcid (superfamily Chalcidoidea) and listed below, were collected and determined by the third author, belonging to four families including Encyrtidae, Aphelinidae, Eriaporidae and Signiphoridae with 8, 1, 1 and 1 species, respectively: Encyrtidae: Aenasius arizonensis (Girault, 1915) (parasitoid); Anagyrus aligarhensis Agarwal & Alam, 1959 (parasitoid); Bothriothorax serratellus (Dalman, 1820) (hyperparasitoid); Homalotylus flaminius (Dalman, 1820) (parasitoid of larvae of Coccinellidae); Leptomastix dactylopii Howard, 1885 (parasitoid); Leptomastix mayri Özdikmen, 2011 (parasitoid); Prochiloneurus aegyptiacus (Mercet, 1929) (hyperparasitoid); Prochiloneurus rex (Girault, 1920) (hyperparasitoid). Aphelinidae: Marieta picta (André, 1878) (hyperparasitoid). Eriaporidae: Promuscidea unfasciativentris Girault, 1917 (hyperparasitoid). Signiphoridae: Chartocerus kurdjumovi (Nikolskaya, 1950) (hyperparasitoid). The specimens are preserved at the Insect Collection of Department of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz. |
| Keywords: |
| Cotton mealybug, Chinese hibiscus, natural enemies, parasitoid, hyperparasitoid, Iran, Khuzestan. |
| Status : Paper Accepted (Poster Presentation) |
