Euseius stipulatus (Athias-Henriot) is a predatory mite widespread in the Mediterranean region considered to be important for the biological control of spider mites in citrus orchards. Development, survival and reproduction of this phytoseiid mite feeding on seven commercially obtained pollen were studied under constant laboratory conditions (20 +/- 1 degrees C, RH 65 +/- 5%, photoperiod 16L: 8D h). Mites were kept individually at rearing units with ample quantity of almond (Prunus amygdalus Batch), apple (Malus domestica Borkh), apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.), cherry (Prunus avium L.), pear (Pyrus communis L.), plum (Prunus domestica L.) and walnut (Juglans regia L.) pollen as food source. Developmental time from egg to adult varied between the several pollen tested from 8.38 +/-0.08 to 9.58 +/- 0.11 days for females and from 8.23 +/-0.12 and 9.07 +/-0.12 days for males. Female longevity varied from 11.53 +/- 1.22 to 51.38 +/- 2.45 days, while fecundity ranged from 22.84 +/- 2.30 to 43.61 +/- 3.78 eggs/female. The predator was unable to reproduce when feeding on walnut pollen. Data were submitted to life table analysis and values of the intrinsic rate of increase were derived, ranging from 0.079 to 0.146 (day(-1)). The cumulative Weibull function that was used to describe the age specific survival of females produced excellent fits to the survival data. Results show that almond, plum, cherry and apricot pollen possess higher nutritional value for E. stipulatus than pear and apple pollen and thus may contribute in sustaining and increasing the predator population in field conditions. Walnut pollen can be utilized by the predator only to survive during short periods of time when principal or alternative food sources are scarce.
The role of the self-sown shrubs Dittrichia viscosa (L.) W. Greuter and Rubus ulmifolius Schott as reservoirs of aphid parasitoids was investigated. In the field studies conducted, D. viscosa grew adjacent to crops of durum wheat and barley and R. ulmifolius grew adjacent to cotton. The relative abundance of the parasitoids of (a) Capitophorus inulae (Passerini) on D. viscosa, (b) Rhopalosiphum padi (Linnaeus) on durum wheat and barley, (c) Aphis ruborum (Börner) on R. ulmifolius, and (d) Aphis gossypii Glover on cotton in various parts of Greece, was assessed during the years 1996-2000. In 2000, the fluctuation of parasitization of the above four aphid species was recorded and the action of the aphidophagous predators of the family Coccinellidae was studied. It was observed that Aphidius matricariae Haliday predominated on C. inulae and R. padi in all sampling cases. In contrast, Lysiphlebus fabarum (Marshall) was the dominant species parasitizing A. ruborum on R. ulmifolius and A. gossypii on cotton in Thessaly (central Greece) and Macedonia (northern Greece), whereas Lysiphlebus confusus Tremblay et Eady and Binodoxys acalephae (Marshall) were the dominant parasitoid species in Thrace (northern Greece). Coccinella septempunctata Linnaeus was the most abundant coccinellid species on durum wheat, whereas Adonia variegata (Goeze) predominated on cotton. However, coccinellid individuals were scarce on both D. viscosa and R. ulmifolius. The present study indicated that these two shrubs can be regarded as useful reservoirs of aphid parasitoids.
The adult female and male of a new phytoseiid species, Typhlodromus rodopiensis, which belongs to the simplex species group, are described and illustrated. This species was collected from Quereus sp. at Rodopi Mountain, Co. Drama, Makedonia and Phylakti, Co. Karditsa, Thessalia of Greece.
A nationwide survey on Phytoseiid mites in Greeee revealed the occurrence of 19 species belonging to the Genus Amblyseius. A key and illustrations of all these species are given along with the synonyms, habitats and distribution data. A new species, A. makedonicus, found on Oryza saliva, is described.
The genus Physokermes Targioni Tozzetti includes species that are distributed in the Holarctic region and feed on conifers. The recently described scale Physokermes hellenicus (Kozár and Gounari) (Hemiptera: Coccidae) is an endemic species of Greece whose host plants are fir trees of the genus Abies (Pinales: Pinaceae). It is considered as beneficial scale insect species since its honeydew secretions are exploited by honeybees leading to the production of a special honey with important physicochemical characteristics. Since there are no previous data on the natural enemies of P. hellenicus, an investigation was carried out during 2013 in forested areas of eight mountains in south and central Greece aiming to correlate the presence of P. hellenicus with certain parasitoids and predators. Seven species of Encyrtidae, Eulophidae, Pteromalidae, and Eurytomidae (Hymenoptera); five species of Anthribidae and Coccinellidae (Coleoptera); and four species of Dictinidae, Linyphiidae, and Theridiidae (Araneae) were identified. Twelve of them were identified at the species level while four at the genus level. Among them Microterys lunatus (Dalman) (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), Pseudorhopus testaceus (Ratzeburg) (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), and Anthribus fasciatus Forster (Coleoptera: Anthribidae) were the most abundant natural enemies of P. hellenicus adult female while Metaphycus unicolor Hoffer (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) and Trichomasthus sp. (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) were found to parasitize P. hellenicus male nymph. Cinetata gradata (Simon) (Araneae: Linyphiidae) is reported for first time in the Greek arachnofauna. Our results suggest that the abundance of the fir scale P. hellenicus could be affected by a complex of parasitoid and predator species of different taxa. Future long-term research on these species in relation with abiotic factors would help to understand possible fluctuation of the scale's population.
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