Field surveys were conducted in date palm orchards of five Iraqi provinces to study patterns of borers infestation on identity species presence during season of 2008-2013. Results indicated that larvae infest different parts of palm trees: Rizospherre, Turnk and Crown area. Identification of specimens done by specialist depicted first record of Arabian Rhinoceros Bettle, Orycetes Agamemnon arabicus Fairmaire infested date palm trees in Iraq.
Laboratory and field studies were conducted to investigate the population density of Fruit stalk borer Oryctes elegans Prell in date palm orchards grown in Al-madain region about 30km south of Baghdad in 2009.The susceptibility of some date palm varieties, ( Braim, Ustaomran, Zahdi, Berhee, Khadhrawi, Khastawi, and Oueedi), to borer infestation was also tested. Results indicated that the mean density for borer larvae was 5.75 individual/tree. The Brim variety showed the highest susceptibility with an average of larvae population reached to 13 individual/tree. found in the part of the tree which was under annual management for bruning and removal of old fronds used to done during March and April. As for the adult density, results obtained by solar light trap showed that the mean number for adults catch was 29 insect /trap for the period of July to October while the highest trap catch was 37 adult /trap occurred during September. Results of the morphological studies had also indicated the presence of some differences in term of width, depth, weight of frond bases. Therefore, results of this study could be of benefit for orchards owners when applying an integrated program for controlling date palm pests.
Virulence of entomopathogenic fungi <em>Metarhizium anisopliae</em> and <em>Beauveria bassiana</em> were tested against Arabian Rhinoceros Beetle, <em>Oryctes agamemnon arabicus</em> larvae. Four concentrations (1×10<sup>5</sup>, 1×10<sup>7</sup>, 1×10<sup>9</sup> and 1×10<sup>11</sup> conidia/mL<sup>–1</sup>) of two locally isolated entomopathogenic fungi spore suspensions were used in this study via larval direct spraying. Results revealed that both isolates can cause high mortality rate reaching 100% after 29 days. However, <em>Beauveria bassiana</em> scored higher mortality rate in short time especially at the concentration of 1×10<sup>11</sup> conidia/ mL<sup>–1</sup> with lethal time (LT)<sub>50</sub> 12.75 and LT<sub>90</sub> 20.00; while, <em>Metarhizium anisopliae</em> caused the higher percentage of malformed adults. Moreover, both isolates affected insect’s life cycle particularly in the pupal stage which was reduced remarkably by almost 50% in comparison with the control treatment.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.