An investigation onLecanicillium muscariumas a biocontrol agent of stem borer pests ofRosa damascenain Kerman Province of Iran

Abstract

The Rosa damascena has organic production and this plant is the most important economic crop in Kerman province. Roses have been used since the earliest times in rituals, cosmetics, perfumes, medicines and aromatherapy. The rose stem sawfly (Hartigia trimaculata) and rose stem girdler (Agrilus aurichalceus) are new and major pests of R. damascena in the Lalehzar region of Kerman province. These pests cause severe damage to plants by feeding stems and new management strategies for their control are continually being investigated. To investigate appropriate biological control agent in the region during 2005-2007, 184 isolates of fungi were collected from these pests. Isolation of fungi was achieved using standard methods. In this study, H. trimaculata and A. aurichalceus from R. damascena for the first time were recorded in Iran. Lecnicillium muscarium from H. trimaculata, L. muscarium from A. aurichalceus, Acremonium kiliense from H. trimaculata, and A. egyptiacum from A. aurichalceus have for the first time been recorded, and L. muscarium has been introduced as a suitable biological agent for control of these pests.

The identity of a stem sawfly recorded as a pest ofRosa damascenain Iran

“…A more well-known cephid pest of roses, including Rosa damascena, is Syrista parreyssii (Scheibelreiter 1969), which is distributed throughout the Mediterranean Region, reaching into the Caucasus, and is already recorded in Iran (Wei and Smith 2010). Most of the behavioural traits recorded by Aminaee et al (2010) correspond quite closely to those described by Scheibelreiter (1969Scheibelreiter ( , 1973 for S. parreyssii [misspelled ''parreysii'']: e.g. egg inserted deep in pith of stem, extensive wounding of host using ovipositor before and after oviposition, and a ''respiration hole'' (Scheibelreiter) gnawed in the stem by the larva near where the cocoon is spun.…”

“…Scheibelreiter (1973) found that while the Hartigia causes rather minor damage to apical shoots of the host, attack by Syrista often leads to death of the whole, or large parts, of shoots up to a diameter of 10 mm. Based on the foregoing facts, it seems more likely that the cephid encountered by Aminaee et al (2010) was Syrista parreyssii rather than a Hartigia species.…”

“…The work by Middlekauff (1969) [author's name incorrectly given by Aminaee et al (2010) as ''Middlfxam''] on Californian Cephidae is not suitable for identification of Palaearctic specimens. Although partly obsolete, only the keys by Gussakovskij (1935) can be recommended for initial identification of Palaearctic Cephidae.…”

“…The paper in this journal by Aminaee et al (2010) stated that the rose stem sawfly, Hartigia trimaculata, is a new and important pest of cultivated roses in Iran. In fact, although not commented on by these authors, H. trimaculata was previously not recorded outside North America, where it has a wide range in the east, from Florida to Quebec and Ontario (Smith 1986).…”

The Protean Acremonium. A. sclerotigenum/egyptiacum: Revision, Food Contaminant, and Human Disease

“…Barcode type 1 isolates, listed as Acremonium sp., were obtained in Korea as an endophyte of the medicinal Chinese boxwood, Lycium chinense [ 34 ]. A. egyptiacum was a moderately prevalent isolate from diseased or dead larvae of the rose stem girdler beetle Agrilus aurichalcenus in the Kerman Province of south-eastern Iran [ 35 ]. Here, the identifications were not stated as having been confirmed by sequencing, but a photograph shows the recognisable pale greyish green of catenulate isolates of A. egyptiacum , and the authors were aware of our as yet unpublished findings about this name.…”