Abstract The harlequin ladybird, Harmonia axyridis (Pallas, 1773), is native to Asia but has been introduced to many countries, both intentionally and unintentionally. In the Middle East region, H. axyridis was so far only known from Iran and Turkey. This study reports H. axyridis for the first time from a country with a hot desert climate, Saudi Arabia. The single specimen that was found is most likely the result of unintentional release. Successful spreading of H. axyridis in Saudi Arabia will be limited because of high temperatures during summer and scarcity of prey (aphids). New records from Iran and Turkey suggest fast spreading of H. axyridis in these parts of the Middle East. In addition, we also present new records from Iran and Turkey for H. quadripunctata (Pontoppidan, 1763), the other species in the genus that occurs in the Middle East region. A key and illustrations are provided for both species.

In the present study, the natural enemies of aphids (Hemiptera: Aphididae) and their host plants including herbaceous plants, shrubs and trees were analysed to reveal their biodiversity and disclose tritrophic associations in different habitats of the South Marmara region of northwest Turkey. As a result of field surveys, 58 natural enemy species associated with 43 aphids on 58 different host plants were identified in the region between March of 2017 and November of 2018. In 173 tritrophic natural enemy-aphid-host plant interactions including association records new for Europe and Turkey, there were 21 representatives of the family Coccinellidae (Coleoptera), 14 of the family Syrphidae (Diptera) and 15 of the subfamily Aphidiinae (Hymenoptera), as well as eight other generalist natural enemies. In these interactions, a total of 37 aphid-natural enemy associations-including 19 associations of Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris) with natural enemies, 16 associations of Therioaphis trifolii (Monell) with natural enemies and two associations of Aphis craccivora Koch with natural enemies-were detected on Medicago sativa L. during the sampling period. Similarly, 12 associations of Myzus cerasi (Fabricius) with natural enemies were revealed on Prunus avium (L.), along with five associations of Brevicoryne brassicae (Linnaeus) with natural enemies (including mostly parasitoid individuals) on Brassica oleracea L. Also in the study, reduviids of the species Zelus renardii (Kolenati) are reported for the first time as new potential aphid biocontrol agents in Turkey. The results of field surveys show that the natural enemies of aphids have high biodiversity, which should be considered in the management of biological pest control.

No abstract

Coccinellids sampled in this study were collected from the Taurus cedar (Cedrus libani A. Rich.) at Gölcük Natural Park in Isparta and Crimean pine (Pinus nigra Arnold.) in Bilecik Şeyh Edebali University Campus. Anatis ocellata (Linnaeus, 1758) was found among the collected coccinellids and is reported for the first time in Turkish coccinellid fauna, after the identification of samples. Morphological features and taxonomic characters of this species are given with distribution and habitat notes.

No abstract