First report of the exotic weevil Stenopelmus rufinasus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) occurrence in Iran

The water fern weevil, Stenopelmus rufinasus Gyllenhal (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), is considered as the most important biological control agent of Azolla spp. in the world. Azolla spp. was introduced in Iran in 1986. In August 2017, two specimens of S. rufinasus were collected on Azolla spp. in waterways near Anzali lagoon and Rice Research Institute of Iran (RRII) in Guilan province for the first time. Identification was based on molecular sequencing. This is the first record of S. rufinasus from Iran

Diasemiopsis ramburialis (Duponchel) (Lepidoptera, Pyralidaes. l., Spilomelinae) in Iran: first record for the country and first host plant report on water fern (Azolla filiculoides Lam., Azollaceae)

During a survey at the Rice Research Institute of Iran (RRII, Rasht, Guilan) for potential biocontrol agents of water fern, Azolla filiculoides Lam. (Pteridophyta: Azollaceae), larvae of Diasemiopsis ramburialis (Duponchel) (Pyralidaes. l., Spilomelinae) were discovered feeding on water fern. Larvae were found to cause serious feeding damage on leaves of water fern in the laboratory. The biology, life cycle, and the morphology of all stages of this species are described and illustrated for the first time. This is also the first record of this cosmopolitan species in Iran. We report water fern as a host for Diasemiopsis ramburialis; until now the host plant of D. ramburialis was unknown

Water ferns Azolla spp. (Azollaceae) as new host plants for the small China-mark moth, Cataclysta lemnata (Linnaeus, 1758) (Lepidoptera, Crambidae, Acentropinae)

Water ferns (Azolla spp., Azollaceae) are reported for the first time as host plants for the larvae of the small China-mark moth Cataclysta lemnata (Linnaeus) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae: Acentropinae) in rice fields and waterways of northern Iran. Cataclysta lemnata is a semi-aquatic species that has been recorded to feed on Lemnaceae and a few other aquatic plants. However, it has not been reported before on Azolla spp. Larvae use water fern as food source and shelter and, at high population density in the laboratory, they completely wiped water fern from the water surface. Feeding was confirmed after rearing more than eight continual generations of C. lemnata on water fern in the laboratory. Adults obtained this way are darker and have darker fuscous markings in both sexes compared with specimens previously reported and the pattern remains unchanged after several generations