No abstract

Halyomorpha halys (Stål) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) is an endemic species of East Asia; it was introduced into Europe in 2007. It has a wide range of hosts as it feeds on over 170 host plant species and significantly impacts crop production. In Greece, H. halys causes significant losses in the production of kiwi, peaches, and green beans; thus, control of this species (including biological control) is essential. Here, we focus on the potential impact of native natural enemies of H. halys in Greece. From June to October 2020, we sampled naturally field-laid H. halys egg masses to recover native parasitoids. A total of 20 egg masses of H. halys were collected from infested fields from different locations in northern Greece. Out of 529 eggs, 45 parasitoids managed to hatch successfully. The overall parasitism rate was 8.5%. We found two species of Hymenopteran egg parasitoids attacking H. halys eggs—Anastatus bifasciatus (Geoffrey) (Hymenoptera: Eupelmidae) and Ooencyrtus telenomicida (Vassiliev) (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), with the former comprising 58% of all parasitoids that were recovered. These results contribute to the knowledge about the natural enemy community that attacks H. halys in Greece, and the use of these native egg parasitoids in biological control programs may be a viable H. halys management strategy.

Pomegranate, Punica granatum L., is a deciduous fruit tree cultivated in Greece since ancient times for both nutritional and medicinal purposes. The main regions where pomegranates are cultivated include the Aegean Islands, Crete, the Peloponnese, Central Greece, and Central Macedonia (Pontikis, 1987). Traditionally, pomegranates were cultivated more for household use than commercial use. However, in recent years cultivation of pomegranates has gained more and more importance in terms of economic significance. In recent years, new plantations have been established in several areas, mainly in the regions of East and Central Macedonia, covering a total area of more than 1500 ha (Drogoudi et al., 2012). Nevertheless, relatively little is known about the pests of pomegranates in Greece (Tsagkarakis, 2012).Within a pomegranate orchard in the area of Vrontou (42°11′N, 22°26′E) of Central Macedonia (northern Greece) (Figure 1), we observed in April 2011 several unhealthy trees with most of their branches having red discolored leaves. Moreover, round holes (about 0.3-0.4 cm in diameter) and packed frass or bore dust were visible at the base of these branches near the buds (Figure 2A). Samples of these branches were collected and placed in plastic bags (50 × 50 cm), which were afterwards shipped or carried to the laboratory within 2 h. In order to avoid exposure to high temperatures, plastic bags were carried in a cooler (approximately 15 °C). A layer of newspaper was used to prevent direct contact of the plastic bags with the ice packs at the bottom of the cooler. As soon as they were transferred to the laboratory, they were placed into ventilated wooden cages (30 × 30 × 30 cm) at 25 ± 1 °C and 70 ± 10% relative humidity, with a photoperiod of 16:8 h (L:D). Examination of the branches under a microscope revealed that the branches were infested by adults of an unrecognized beetle species forming galleries inside the bark. These specimens were subsequently identified, based on morphological characteristics, as the grape cane borer, Amphicerus bimaculatus (Olivier, 1790). This is the first record of A. bimaculatus attacking pomegranate trees in Greece. So far A. bimaculatus was reported only on grapes in Greece (Navrozidis and Andreadis, 2012).The grape cane borer is a univoltine species. Adults are 1.1-1.8 cm long, cylindrical, and uniformly black or brownish black, with the antennae, palpi, and tarsi brownish or brownish yellow (Figures 2B and 2C) (Navrozidis and Andreadis, 2012). The head is relatively small and completely covered by the large pronotum. The basal half of the pronotal lateral margins are covered with Abstract: Discoloration of the leaves of unhealthy pomegranate trees, caused by the Coleopteran species Amphicerus bimaculatus (Olivier, 1790), was found in a newly planted pomegranate orchard in April 2011 in northern Greece (Vrontou area). Identification of the species was based on morphological characteristics. This report is the first record of A. bimaculatus in Greece infesting pomegranate trees.

No abstract

In this study, the effects of using three different sampling methods (yellow sticky traps, beating tray, organdy bags) on estimating the distribution through the canopy of the summer-form adults of the pistachio psyllid (Agonoscena targionii (Licht.)) was investigated throughout the vegetative period. The traps or bags were hung at two heights in the tree canopy, 3.5 m above ground and 2 m above ground. Psyllids were counted weekly, and their sex determined. adult abundance varied during the study, but all three sampling methods indicated that densities were higher in the upper canopy than the lower canopy. The percentage of females having mature eggs was lowest in late May, and highest in June and September. Sex ratios were highly variable among sampling dates and among sampling methods, at both canopy heights. Sex ratios in bags tended to be more female-biased in the lower canopy than in the upper canopy. Sticky trap counts were significantly male biased, more so in the upper canopy than in the lower canopy. Mean sex ratios differed significantly between bag and sticky trap samples at both heights, but did not differ significantly between tray and bag samples at either height. In addition, for a given tray or bag count, sticky trap catch of males was larger than catch of females, and was larger in the upper canopy than in the lower canopy. Bag counts (psyllids per leaflet) strongly increased with tray count. Z07005; Online publication date 19 September 2007 Received 24 February 2007; accepted 13 August 2007Of the three sampling methods described here, the bag samples provided direct estimates of psyllid numbers per leaflet, but this method is extremely time consuming. Bag counts (psyllids per leaflet) increased with tray count, suggesting that beat trays can be used to estimate absolute densities.