Turkey is the world's largest producer of sweet cherries. The European cherry fruit fly, Rhagoletis cerasi L. (Diptera: Tephritidae), is a major pest of sweet cherry crops in Europe and Turkey. The detection of only one larva in the fruit by the processor can result in the rejection of the entire crop of that orchard and/or farm as "wormy" and unmarketable. The main control tactic for R. cerasi is to prevent the females from laying eggs in the fruit. Currently, only a few insecticides are being used, and their application is debatable due to problems with residual ecotoxicity for humans and beneficial organisms. As an alternative to using insecticides for the reduction of adult populations, 4 indigenous entomopathogenic nematode species, Steinernema carpocapsae (Anamur isolate), S. feltiae (Rize isolate), Heterorhabditis bacteriophora (Ekecik isolate), and H. marelatus (Ankara isolate), were bioassayed against last-instar R. cerasi larvae at different temperatures (10, 15, and 25 °C) and nematode concentrations (0, 100, 500, and 1000 IJs/larva). Temperature and nematode concentration had a significant effect on the efficacy of nematode species. S. feltiae was the most virulent species at all temperatures and nematode concentrations. Only S. feltiae showed higher than 40% mortality at low temperatures (10 and 15 °C). At 25 °C, S. feltiae caused 95% mortality, followed by H. marelatus (82%) and H. bacteriophora (76%), at 1000 IJs/larva concentration. Our results indicate that R. cerasi larvae are highly susceptible to entomopathogenic nematode infection. In particular, S. feltiae has high potential for reducing last-instar larval populations, thus decreasing the adult population in the spring.

Background The codling moth (CM), Cydia pomonella (L). (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), is an important pest of apple in Turkey and other apple producing countries in the world. Several control methods are available for reducing the pest populations. Entomopathogenic nematode (EPNs), for example, can be used as a potential alternative to chemical insecticides to control codling moth larvae in the soil as eco-friendly management their hosts that can actively find them in cryptic locations. Results Efficacy of 4 EPN isolates, Steinernema carpocapsae (Bakışlı), S. feltiae (ES-3), Heterorhabditis bacteriophora (TOK-20) and H. bacteriophora (11-KG) for controlling the 1st instar larvae of the codling moth (Cydia pomonella L.) was investigated under controlled laboratory conditions. Codling moth was susceptible to different rates to all the 4 EPN isolates. All nematode trials were more effective than the control (water). The overall mortality caused by S. carpocapsae (Bakışlı 05) was significantly higher than the other EPN species. S. carpocapsae was the most effective with the highest tested concentration (100 IJs/larva), killing 82.63% of codling moth larvae, followed by S. feltilae (ES-3), with a mortality rate of 71.5%. H. bacteriophora (TOK-20) exhibited the least mortality at 25 IJs/larva concentration in all experiments. Conclusion The study proved that these nematodes were very efficient and could be used to control codling moth in biological control programs.

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A b s t r a c t Many varieties of sweet cherry are self-incompatible. Therefore, sweet cherry orchards require a huge population of pollinator bees to carry out an adequate amount of pollen transfer between the different varieties. Our study was conducted to evaluate the differences in the richness and diversity of these pollinators within very closely located sweet cherry orchards, and to understand the underlying effects causing these differences. The study was conducted in the Sultandağı Reservoir (Turkey) which covers the towns of Sultandağı (Afyonkarahisar) and Akşehir (Konya). In order to avoid a sampling bias, Malaise traps were used to collect bee samples. Sampling collections were repeated for three years; from 2007 to 2009, between April and May. The traps were set in the bud-swell period and lifted in the green-fruit period. Climatic data were taken from meteorology stations near the orchards. Vegetation in the surrounding areas was also inspected. The composition of pollinator bee species was determined and compared between orchards. In total, 83 bee species and 38 plant species were recorded. It was found that Halictidae is the most abundant and richest group among the pollinator bees. The effects of the quantity of the Malaise traps on bee sampling success were also tested. It was found that one trap per 325 trees is enough for an adequate sampling. Apart from the annual fluctuations of bee richness in the orchards, general differences in the bee diversity among orchards might be affected by the surrounding vegetation and especially from different agricultural practices such as tilling the ground.Keywords: Apoidea, bee diversity, Malaise trap, sweet cherry, tillage, weed control. (Bosch and Kemp, 1999;Delaplane and Mayer, 2000). The honeybee is frequently used for the pollen transfer from the polliniser variety to the target variety, to set fruit in marketable quantities (Delaplane and Mayer, 2000). In sweet cherry's blooming time, in a temperate climate (including the orchards located on lowland of Turkey), the pollination activities of the honeybee can be limited because of rainy weather conditions and lower temperatures (Roversi and Ughini, 1996;Huang, 2003). However, in such regions some native bee species can continue their pollination activities under these conditions (Vicens and Bosch, 2000;Güler and Dikmen, 2013). Therefore, conservation of native bee pollinators in the vicinity of cherry orchards helps assure continuing pollination. However, pollination service is also under threat as a result of intensification of farming practices. It is known that many pollinator bees have declined dramatically in recent decades in continental Europe and in North America (Goulson, 2003). Özbek and Zanden (1996) reported that pollinator bee populations have been declining in Turkey because of habitat destruction 14 Bee diversity within sweet cherry orchards and overuse of pesticides. The data to quantitatively prove these stated declines in Turkey is not yet available. The research studies which would b...

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