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Trissolcus vassilievi (Mayr) (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) is one of the most important egg parasitoids of the common sunn pest (CSP), Eurygaster integriceps Puton (Hemiptera: Scutelleridae) in Iran. In this study, the fitness of two populations of T. vassilievi was studied on two populations of hosts in terms of life history parameters. Two populations of T. vassilievi were selected: 1/ Tabriz (as a temperate area), and 2/ Varamin (as a subtropical area), as well as for CSP. Moreover, regarding that outcrossing between populations can produce progeny with superior characteristics, the progeny of reciprocal crosses between original populations also were examined on a single host. The crosses between the two populations caused 13.9-18.5% higher net fecundity than maternal populations which suggests fecundity to be a function of maternal phenotype. The intrinsic rate of increase showed minor differences among treatments which varied between 0.291±0.003 to 0.305±0.003. The partial advantage of the Varamin wasps over the Tabriz ones and the crosses over the original populations was obvious. Such differences may be used to obtain more efficient parasitoids in augmentation programs.
 

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Based on specimens collected from East Azarbaijan province during 2016–2017 as well as specimens which already had been collected during 2007–2015 and deposited at ICHMM, overall 18 species of the genus Tabanus were recognized which among them, Tabanus armenicus (Krober, 1928), Tabanus maculicornis Zettersted, 1842 and Tabanus nemoralis Meigen, 1820 are new records to the Iranian Tabanidae fauna. Diagnostic characters as well as their informative photos are given.

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  Abstract: Colorado potato beetle (CPB), Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say),is the most important insect pest of potato in Iran. If local potato varieties vary in susceptibility to the pest, host plant resistance may provide management benefits to potato growers. A life table study was carried out to determine the relative suitability of four common potato varieties (Agria, Marfona, Savalan and Satina) for CPB development and reproduction in northwest Iran under laboratory conditions at 23 ± 3 ºC, 62 ± 10% RH, and natural photoperiod. Developmenttime and hence generation time was longest on Savalan (31.07 ± 0.48 d and 42.72 ± 0.71 d respectively) and shortest on Agria (27.8 ± 0.65 d and 35.99 ± 0.8 d respectively). Juvenile mortality was highest (47.5%) on Satina and lowest (22.5%) on Marfona. Intrinsic rates of increase (r) were 0.129 ± 0.005, 0.127 ± 0.005, 0.129 ± 0.006 and 0.104 ± 0.004, on Agria, Marfona, Satina and Savalan, respectively, that on Savalan being significantly lower than the others.The highest net reproductive rate was 145.26 ± 25.23 on Marfona and the lowest was 81.18 ± 2.71 on Savalan which was not significantly different among the cultivars. It seems that, among the four tested cultivars, the Savalan cultivar is less suitable to CPB, resulting in the poorest overall biological performance of the beetle, but the level of resistance did not appear sufficient to negate the need for other control methods.

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The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of some insecticides with novel modes of action on Liriomyza sativae Blanchard and their sublethal effects on pupal mortality, pupal weight and sex ratio in adult insects. The effects of hexaflumuron, chromafenozide, chlorfluazuron, cyromazine, lufenuron + fenoxycarb and azadirachtin and chlorantraniliprole were evaluated on 1^st instar larvae of L. sativae using a leaf dip method. Dose - response lines were constructed for insecticides which caused higher mortality of the larvae at field recommended doses. LC₅₀ values for chlorantraniliprole, cyromazine, azadirachtin and hexaflumuron were 0.24, 0.49, 8.51 and 67.6 mg ai/l, respectively. A significant reduction in pupal weight and adult emergence was observed in all of the treatments except chromafenozide; but the adult sex ratio did not change significantly compared with control. Most of the insecticides used in this study are fairly new compounds with unique modes of action and had considerable lethal and sublethal effects on L. sativae. If these results also hold true in the field and commercial greenhouse conditions, these compounds could be suitable candidates in management of vegetable leafminer.
 

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Demographic parameters such as intrinsic rate of increase estimates are of main interest in a wide range of ecological researches. Two widely used uncertainty estimate techniques are bootstrap and jackknife methods. Bootstrap estimates are time-consuming processes that are impossible to use without a computer program. Unfortunately few programs, if any, have been developed for this task. In this study a guideline was offered to prepare a program in Microsoft Excel environment to carry out time-consuming calculations of reproductive life table data in a minute or two by repeatedly pressing a shortcut key. 
 

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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 enemies' 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).

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Functional response is an important behavioral characteristic of prey-predator interactions that can be utilized for assessing impact of natural enemies. In this research, the functional response of Nabis pseudoferus Remane females was examined to the third-instar larvae of Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) which were exposed to LC₃₀ (2.03 × 10⁴ conidia/ml) values of Metarhizium anisopliae (Metschnikoff) Sorokin isolate DEMI 001. Six densities of the prey (1, 2, 4, 8, 10 and 16) were exposed to the predator (0, 24, 48 and 72 h) after inoculation. N. pseudoferus exhibited a type II functional response to prey density in all treatments, indicating that predation increases asymptotically to a satiation level. The highest and the lowest attack rates (a) were 0.1052 ± 0.0440 and 0.0509 ± 0.0133h^-1 for 48h and 72h post-infection treatments, respectively. Maximum theoretical predation rate (T/T_h) was estimated 10.96 in control. Our results suggest that M. anisopliae and N. pseudoferus, can be a useful combination in pest management of tomato leaf miner, although it must be confirmed in field condition.
 
 

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The subfamily Pangoniinae including the species Pangonius pyritosus Loew, 1859 as well as the species Chrysops hamatuus Loew, 1858 (Chrysopsinae) are recorded for the first time for Iranian fauna. Diagnostic characters besides supplementary photos of the new records are provided. 

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 Ooencyrtus fecundus Ferriere and Voegele (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) is a gregarious egg parasitoid of sunn pest Eurygaster integriceps Puton. Superparasitism enables a female to produce multiple progeny per host and thus reduces the time spent searching for hosts, but results in progressively smaller progeny as more individuals compete for limited resources within hosts. In this study, we tested whether gregarious development would affect the functional response of O. fecundus reared under laboratory condition (26 ± 2 ºC, 50 ± 10% RH and 16: 8 L: D h). Various host densities (1, 2, 4, 8, 16 and 32 eggs) were offered to females that had developed either as single, or as twins, triplets or quadruplets within host eggs. To resolve the functional responses of these females, a total exposure time of five hours was chosen, based on direct observations of handling time and the maximum daily number of host attacks/female. Functional response of the parasitoid was type III in singleton and twin parents, and type II in triplet and quadruplet ones. However, host mortality rate was 100% in host densities ≤ 8, suggesting density independence at lower densities as expected from a type I functional response. In such circumstances, handling time is expected to be zero, but was observed to be 11.4 to 14.3 minutes in different treatments. These results suggest that when enough time was available to find and handle all hosts, a type II functional response resembles Type I one. Searching efficiency increased and handling time decreased with body size of the parasitoid of four categories.
 

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Baryscapus evonymellae (Bouché, 1834) (Hymenoptera, Eulophidae) was rediscovered on Leucoma wiltshirei Collenette, 1938 (Lepidoptera, Erebidae) attacked by different parasitoids. This species had already been reported under different names; therefore, its inaccurate identifications were corrected. It was reared as a larval and pupal hyperparasitoid of two important primary parasitoids of L. wiltshirei including Brachymeria tibialis Steffan, 1958 (Hymenoptera, Chalcididae), and Dolichogenidea persica Abdoli, Mohammadi, Sedaratian-Jahromi & Farahani, 2023 (Hymenoptera, Braconidae). The last parasitoid-hyperparasitoid association is new. Its morphological characters were illustrated and its biological data and main characteristics were discussed.
 

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A few species of aphids are widespread and economically important in Iran's apple orchards. In this study, we looked for economical, environmentally friendly, and efficient management of aphids with particular emphasis on green apple aphid (GAA) Aphis pomi (de Geer). We aimed to avoid early-season pesticide applications, avoiding specific applications for aphid control and managing them via applications done against codling moth (CM), Cydia pomonella L., choosing suitable insecticide and dose to minimize side effects on prevalent natural enemies. Thus, CM was monitored by pheromone traps from mid-March in an apple orchard of the Agricultural Research Station of the University of Tabriz to determine the time of application based on degree days accumulated from a biofix. The number of GAA, rosy apple aphid (RAA), Dysaphis plantaginea Passerini, and their natural enemies were counted separately. It is known that GAA is the predominant aphid, and two species of ladybirds, Coccinella septempunctata (L.), and Hippodamia variegata (Goeze), are dominant species of the region. Acetamiprid was chosen as an effective insecticide against both CM and aphids. The lethal effects of this compound were studied on different stages of H. variegata and the last instar GAA. The orchard was divided into four plots, and each plot was assigned to a treatment including control, label dose (LD), ½ LD, and ¼ LD. Although LD killed 10% more GAA than ¼ LD, the damage intensity was 12-16% higher in the former. Considering economic benefits and reducing side effects on natural enemies, we recommend using ¼ LD of acetamiprid.




 

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Trissolcus grandis (Thomson) (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) is the most important egg parasitoid of the common sunn pest, Eurygaster integriceps Puton (Hemiptera: Scutelleridae) in Iran. Demographic characteristics may be used for preliminary screening of parasitoid species or populations as well as for predicting their efficiency under different physical conditions in the field. In this study, the demography of two northwestern populations of T. grandis was studied under five constant temperatures including 20, 23, 26, 29, and 32±1°C, at 50±5% RH and 16:8 h (L: D) photoperiod. The two populations responded differently to the temperatures, thus, many life history parameters were significantly affected not only by temperature itself but also in interaction with population. The highest value of intrinsic rate of increase for the Marand population was 0.344±0.057 females/female/day that occurred at 26°C. The same rate for the Tabriz population increased regularly with temperature increase and the maximum value (0.368±0.063) was obtained at 29°C. Further increase in temperature led to a negligible change in the value of this parameter. As a whole, the Marand population seemed to be adapted to cooler conditions compared to the Tabriz population