Phytophagous insects and their predators in woody plant taxa in urban landscapes in Burdur City center

Abstract

Field studies were carried out during the April-November period of 2018-2019 in order to determine the phytophagous and predatory insect species living on ornamental trees and shrubs in Burdur city center parks. 15 parks located in the city center were chosen as the study area. The parks were visited three-four times throughout the year and specimens of insects and host plants were collected and brought to the laboratory for preparation and diagnosis. A total of 34 plant taxa were examined throughout the study. As a result, totally 55 phytophagous insect species were identified from three orders and 19 families [Pseudococcidae 1, Diaspididae 4, Marchalinidae 1, Tingidae 3, Psyllidae 2, Cicadellidae 3, Miridae 7, Lygaeidae 6, Coreidae 2, Rhapolidae 2, Pentatomidae 4, Cixidae 1 (Hemiptera), Apionidae 3, Chrysomelidae 4, Curculionidae 8, Malachiidae 1, Elateridae 1 (Coleoptera), Tortricidae 1, and Notodontidae 1 (Lepidoptera)]. Among them, the most common and abundant species was Marchalina hellenica (Gennadius, 1883) from the Marchalinidae family. We report Anthocomus equestris (Fabricius, 1781) from the Malachiidae family as a new record from Turkey. Totally 18 predator species were identified from seven families [Nabidae 1, Miridae 1, Anthocoridae 2, Coccinellidae 10, Cantharidae 2, Srypidae 1, and Forficulidae 1]. We identified 83 interactions between phytophagous insects and host plants, and 26 interactions among phytophagous insects, host plants, and predator species.