The first report of an aphid species, Cinara pini (Hem.: Lachnidae), from Iran

The aphid, Cinara pini (Linnaeus), is newly recorded from Iran. It was collected during a survey on pinus mugo Turra pests in Mashhad, Iran in April 2010. The aphid, which belongs to the subfamily Cinarinae, was identified by Dr. Olivera Petrovic-Obradovic from Serbia

First report of Lepinotus reticulatus and Ectopsocus vishnyakovae (Insecta: Psocoptera) from Iran

طی مطالعات انجام‌شده در اردیبهشت 1393 روی فون بندپایان درخت زبان گنجشک در شهرستان مشهد و حومه، نمونه‏هایی از شپش‏های چوب و کتاب جمع‌آوری گردید. نمونه‌ها نزد دکتر Charles Lienhard در موزه تاریخ طبیعی سوئیس ارسال گردید که با نام‌های Lepinotus reticulatus Enderlein (Psocoptera: Trogiidae) و Ectopsocus vishnyakovae Schmidt (Psocoptera: Ectopsocidae) شناسایی شد. هر دو گونه برای فون ایران گزارش جدید محسوب می‌شوند

First report of the aphid species, Cinara pinihabitans (Hem: Lachnidae) on Pinus mugo from Iran

The aphid species, Cinara pinihabitans (Mordvilko 1894), is newly recorded from Iran. It was collected from mountain pine, Pinus mugo,during a survey on the insect fauna of urban green landscapes of the city of Mashhad, Iran from June 2014 to July 2015

The responses of the pea aphid Acyrhosiphon to the nitrogen status of its host plant with reference to insecticide susceptibility

Available from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN048711 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

Pathogenicity of the fungus Lecanicillium longisporum against Sipha maydis and Metopolophium dirhodum in laboratory conditions

This study aimed to evaluate the susceptibility of two cereal aphids, Sipha maydis (Passerini) and Metopolophium dirhodum (Walker), to the entomopathogenic fungus, Lecanicillium longisporum (Zimm.) Zare and Gams strain LRC 190, under controlled conditions. The conidial suspension of the fungus was administered using a sprayer on the whole plant over apterous adult aphids. The results indicated that both aphid species were susceptible to L. longisporum and that aphid populations were significantly reduced, compared to the control. Nine days after treatment, the LC50 value of the fungus was obtained as 5.9 × 105 and 3.2 × 106 conidia/ml for S. maydis and M. dirhodum, respectively. The LT50 value of the fungus at a concentration of 108 conidia/ml was obtained as 2.9 and 4.4 days for S. maydis and M. dirhodum, respectively. The results demonstrated that there was a varying susceptibility to the fungus between aphid species. The estimated LC50 and LT50 indicated that L. longisporum was more virulent to S. maydis than to M. dirhodum. The LT50 and R0 decreased as the conidial concentration increased. This is the first study to demonstrate the susceptibility of S. maydis to the entomopathogenic fungi. The present study suggests that L. longisporum has high virulence against the aphids S. maydis and M. dirhodum. Further research with an emphasis on greenhouse and field tests are required, however, before making any decision about using the fungus in a control program

The Lethal Effects of Microwave Radiation on the Adults of Cowpea Seed Beetle, Callosobruchus maculatus Fabricius (Coleoptera: Bruchidae)

Introduction: The cowpea seed beetle (Callosobruchus maculatus F.) is one of the most injurious insects infesting a wide range of leguminous stored seeds such as Lens culinaris, Vigna radiata, Vicia faba and Vigna unguiculata (1). This insect also causes secondary infestation during pulse storage, and may cause total loss within three months. The bruchids can cause heavy losses in terms of both quantity and quality (4). Heavy infestations of bruchids can cause heating of commodity, which results in quality loss, and mould growth. Currently, the control strategies of stored product insect pests have exclusively relied upon application of fumigants and protectant synthetic insecticides. Chemical control of pests has led to insecticide residues in stored products and insecticide-resistant insect populations (3, 6). Therefore, there is a need for the ecologically benign methods to control cowpea weevil on chickpea. High temperature application has been used to satisfactorily disinfest stored commodities by various technologies. Microwave radiation is one of the most promising biorational pest management tools for farm stored grain and grain processing industries (29). Microwave is a type of electromagnetic energy that provides rapid heating. It appears that high temperatures in a short time period may be lethal to many stored product pests. The present study aimed to assess the lethal effects of microwave radiation on adults of cowpea seed beetle in stored pulses. Materials and Methods: The population of C. maculatus was originally collected from Laboratory of Entomology at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran. The cowpea weevils were reared on chickpea, in a growth chamber at temperature of 28 ± 2 ºC, relative humidity of 60 ± 5 % in the dark. Male and female beetles were treated separately with 2450 MHz at power levels of 90-900 W over a range of irradiation periods from 20 to 960 seconds. Corrected mortality data were subjected to two-way factorial analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) in which the microwave power and insects’ sex were regarded as independent categorial factors and irradiation period as covariate using SPSS Version 16 software. Prior to the ANCOVA test, Levene's test for equality of variances was performed to examine the assumptions for ANCOVA. Moreover, at each radiation power, the values of median lethal time (LT50), i.e., microwave irradiation period needed for the death of 50% insect population, and 90% lethal time (LT90) with 95% confidence limits were estimated separately for male and female beetles by subjecting mortality data to the maximum likelihood program of probit regression analysis using POLO-PC software. This program has a provision for control mortality. Results and Discussion: The results indicated that the mortality rates of both male and female adults increased as the exposure period and/or the power of radiation increased. When microwave power levels increased, the time elapsed to achieve maximum lethal effect decreased; this was implied by the results showing maximum mortality achievement in 960 and 80 seconds at 90 W and 900 W, respectively. Male beetles were more susceptible than females, but this difference was not significant based on the LT50 ratio. The LT50 values for the power levels between 90-900 W varied between 674.8 - 41.40 seconds for males and 741.5 - 47.2 seconds for females. The probit analysis showed that the slope values of mortality - exposure time regression lines were in the range of 3.23 - 5.51. According to the likelihood ratio test of parallelism, the slopes of probit mortality regressions differed significantly among various microwave power levels. However, further likelihood ratio test between the paired combinations concerned revealed that the slopes of probit mortality lines differed significantly only between those of 90 and 900W levels. The present results are in agreement with those of Singh et al. (2012) who worked on Callosobruchus chinensis (26). Also, Sadeghi Nasab et al (2004) working on the effect of microwave radiation on three stored product pests, found similar results (25). Conclusion: The results from our study showed that microwave radiation has a potential to kill insects in stored beans. It was observed that at certain constant power levels, the mortality of beetles increased as the microwave exposure time elongated and vice-versa. Although this strategy can control insect population in stored beans in a short time whilst deserting no chemical residue on food products, the adverse effects of microwave radiation on nutritional quality of food products and seed germination should be investigated. Further research is also recommended to improve methodology for practical disinfection of stored pulses

Isolation and characterization of metarhizium isolates from the soil of Afghanistan and their mycoinsecticide effects against subterranean termite (anacanthotermes vagans)

The entomopathogenic fungi are widely used as a biocontrol agent against many insect pests. In the present study, strains of Metarhizium were isolated and identified from Badakhshan province of Afghanistan. The taxonomic identity of the isolates was confirmed by molecular data, using (ITS) rDNA gene sequence, and morphology: Metarhizium robertsii and Metarhizium anisopliae. The virulence and the mass conidial production of these strains were compared with two Iranian isolates of Beauveria (B. bassiana and B. varroae) using four different raw substrates (broken rice, broken wheat, green gram, and saw dust) by solid-state fermentation. The M. robertsii strain had the highest total conidial yields obtained after 18 days on broken rice and the least conidial growth was observed on saw dust. For B. bassiana, the highest conidial yields were obtained after 18 days on green gram, and also like to M. robertsii, the least conidial growth was observed on saw dust. The conidia suspension was applied against subterranean termite, Anacanthotermes vagans, at four different concentrations (1×105, 1×106, 1×107, 1×108 conidia/ml-1). The highest mortality rate was obtained from 1×108 conidia/ml-1 for both M. robertsii and B. bassiana. In general, the indigenous isolate of M. robertsii was more virulent than B. bassiana while B. varroae had not effect on termites