No abstract

In this present study, airborne pollen in Çeşme was investigated between February 17, 2012 and February 17, 2014 using the volumetric method. Çeşme, one of Turkey's most important tourism centers, which attracts numerous local and foreign tourists each year, is a district of Izmir, a province in the western part of Turkey. During the 2-year study, 12,905 pollen grains belonging to 64 taxa (33 arboreal, 31 non-arboreal plants) were detected. However, the 2-year data results revealed that the taxa with the pollen concentration more than 4% in the atmosphere were Cupressaceae/Taxaceae (4268 pollen, 33.07%), Olea europaea (1614 pollen grains, 12.51%), Pinaceae (1085 pollen grains, 8.41%), Quercus spp. (1081 pollen grains, 8.38%), Pistacia spp. (743 pollen grains, 5.76%), and Poaceae (557 pollen grains, 4.32%), all of which comprised 72.44% of the total count. The relationship between the daily pollen counts belonging to these six taxa and the hourly average temperature (°C), daily precipitation (mm), relative humidity (%), and wind speed (km/h) was assessed using the Spearman correlation test, and significant results were determined. During the study, the intradiurnal distribution of the aforementioned pollen varied. The highest pollen concentration was detected between 11:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. (first year 30.3%; second year 30.1%).

IntroductionAllergic diseases affect 20%-30% of Turkish population and constitute an important disease group due to the labor and financial losses they cause (Bıçakçı et al., 2009). In some countries, the rates of diseases causing allergy in humans are as follows: 14% in Finland, 5.9%-

No abstract

Influence of leaf portion and plant species on the egg-laying behaviour of the predatory ladybird Serangium parcesetosum Sicard (Col., Coccinellidae) in the presence of a natural enemy Abstract The effectiveness of natural enemies against arthropod herbivores can depend on the characteristics of the plant on which they are found. The influence of the plant on the egg-laying behaviour of the promising whitefly predator, Serangium parcesetosum Sicard (Col., Coccinellidae) was examined in order to be able to use it effectively in biological control programs. The present work investigated the possible influence of the portion of the leaf on the number of eggs laid as well as the effect of plant species on the way in which eggs are deposited by S. parcesetosum. The experiments were conducted on cucumber and cotton leaves with Bemisia tabaci (Genn .) (Hom., Aleyrodidae) as prey in the absence and presence of a natural enemy, the lacewing, Chrysoperla carnea (Stephens) (Neur., Chrysopidae) at two different temperatures. The results showed that at 18°C, S. parcesetosum females significantly preferred to lay their eggs between the veins and close to the veins of cucumber leaves, mean of 10.1 and 7.5 eggs, in the absence of C. carnea, respectively, while in its presence significantly more eggs were deposited close to the veins and close to the petiole. On cotton leaves, close to the petiole, a mean of 8.4 eggs in the absence of the lacewing, as well as close to the veins, mean of 6.3 eggs in the presence of the lacewing, were found to be the most suitable leaf portions for egg-laying. At 30°C, the females laid their eggs preferentially close to the veins of cucumber leaves in the absence and presence of C. carnea. On cotton leaves, S. parcesetosum females significantly preferred to lay their eggs close to the petiole, mean of 7.6 and 6.1 eggs, as well as close to the veins, mean of 6.2 and 8.7 eggs, in the absence and presence of the lacewing, respectively. At both temperatures, the ladybird females laid their eggs singly on cucumber leaves in the absence and presence of C. carnea. While on cotton leaves, the females had a tendency to deposit their eggs together in the absence and presence of the lacewing, except at 30°C in its absence. Within the same plant species, significant differences were found in the total number of eggs laid by S. parcesetosum females on cotton leaves at 18°C as well as on cucumber leaves at 30°C in the absence and presence of the natural enemy. In addition to the effects of presence and absence of C. carnea, and where eggs were laid, some significant differences due to plant species was found at both temperatures.

The chemical compositions of the hydrodistilled essential oils of ripen and unripen berries of Juniperus macrocarpa Sibth. & Sm. (Jom) were analysed by GC-MS. Thirty eight compounds were identified from unripe berries, accounting for approximately 0.03% oil yield (v/w dried weight) and 16 compounds from ripe berries with 0.003% oil yield (v/w dried weight). While the major compounds in the essential oils of unripe berries were α-cedrol (30.04%), α-pinene (18.81%), germacrene-D (14.58%), δ-cadinene (3.80%), γ-cadinene (2.29%), α-humulene (2.29%), γ-muurolene (2.27%), epi-bicyclosesquiphellandrene (1.69%), transcaryophyllene (1.68%), valencen (1.53 %) and α-cedrol (49.87%), β- caryophyllene (29.57%), α-cedrene (4.75%), γ-muurolene (2.54%), carvacrol methyl ether (1.4%), trans-pinocarveol (1.2%), α-pinene (1.13%), α-muurolene (1.04%) were identified from ripe berries and their mean percentage varied according to their phenological stage. Both qualitative and quantitative differences between ripe and unripe berries of the plant were observed.

Pittosporum tobira L. (Family Pittosporaceae) is an important plant species grown in parks and gardens in Turkey. The cottony cushion scale, Icerya purchasi Maskell (Homoptera: Coccina, Margarodidae), is an important pest of P. tobira, and causes damage mainly to the leaves, branches and stems of the host plant. In spite of the great economic importance of I. purchasi to its host plant P. tobira, information has been limited on some basic anatomical parameters of the nature of the damage to leaves and branches. The present study was, therefore, initiated to investigate the insertion and penetration of stylets into the leaves and branches of P. tobira, the length of stylets and depth of penetration in both of these tissues, and penetration of stylets into the cortex, xylem and phloem tissues and into the secretory and nonsecretory canals of the leaves and branches. The results showed great variations between the leaves and branches in all the criteria observed in I. purchasi infesting P. tobira. The study found 20 whole and 23 broken mouthparts in the leaves as compared to 3 whole mouthparts and 1 broken in the branches. Length of the stylets inserted into the leaves ranged from 33.83 lm to 540.93 lm and into the branches from 202.85 lm to 340.8 lm. The stylets reached greater depths in the leaves, at 540.93 lm, as compared to 498.67 lm in the branches. The stylets in the leaves were associated with 12 secretory canals, but with none in the branches. It was found that three stylets reached xylem in the leaves as compared to one in the branches. Similarly, 17 stylets in the leaves reached to the phloem, but only 2 in the branches. No stylets were found in the cortex of the leaves, but one was found in the branches. In the leaves, 11 stylets reached and remained in the non-secretory canals, but none in the case of the branches.

Airborne pollen grains in Aydın, an important city for agriculture and tourism in the western part of Turkey, were studied for 2 years (2014 and 2015) using the volumetric method. During a 2-year study conducted in the city center, an average of 19,226 pollen grains belonging to 46 taxa were detected. Among these detected taxa, 29 (average 73.97%) belonged to arboreal plants and 17 (average 24.95%) to nonarboreal plants. The highest pollen concentrations belonged to Olea europaea (21.02%), Quercus (15.23%), Poaceae (11.89%), Pinaceae (11.47%), Cupressaceae/Taxaceae (11.11%), Platanus(4.12%), Morus (3.83%), and Urticaceae (3.58%), which were considered to be the dominant species. We used the Spearman correlation test to assess the relationship between the daily pollen concentrations belonging to these 8 taxa and the mean average temperature (°C), daily precipitation (mm), mean average relative humidity (%), and mean average wind speed (m/sec), which yielded significant results. A negative correlation was found between the average temperature and the pollen concentrations of Poaceae, Pinaceae, Cupressaceae/Taxaceae, Morus, and Urtica in both years. Furthermore, while the average wind speed only had a negative effect on the pollen concentrations of some taxa, the effects of relative humidity and precipitation on the pollen concentrations of dominant taxa varied from one taxon to another and between the 2 years. The results obtained in this study indicated that the top 3 dominant airborne pollen types (Olea europaea, Quercus, and Poaceae) in the atmosphere of Aydın generally had allergenic effects at high levels, and the highest pollen concentration during the study period was detected in May.