Natural enemies of the latania scale, Hemiberlesia lataniae (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) in Egypt

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Plant Protection Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Dokki, Giza, Egypt

Abstract

The latania scale, Hemiberlesia
lataniae
(Signoret) (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) is a dangerous pest in different locations in Egypt.
During the present work, 17 species of natural enemies were collected from
samples of H. latania. These are: Aphytis aonidiae (Mercet), Aphytis
chilensis
Howard, Aphytis 
lingnanensis
Comepre, Aphytis mytilaspidis (Le Baron) (Hymenoptera:
Aphelinidae), Chilocorus bipustulatus L. (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), Chrysoperlla
carnae
Steph. (Neuroptera:
Chrysopidae), Coccinella undecimpunctata L (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), Encarsia aurantii  (Howard), Encarsia  lounsburyi (Berlese and Paoli) (Hymenoptera:
Aphelinidae), Exochomus flavipes Thunb. (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)and  Habrolepis aspidioti Compere and
Annecke (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), Marietta leopardina Motschulsky  (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae), Orius laevigatus Fieb. (Hemiptera:
Anthocoridae), Pharoscymnus various Kirsch.,  Rodalia cardinals Muls (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), Scymnus syriacus Mars. (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) and Syrphus corollae Fabricius
(Diptera: Syrphidae). Abundance of the latania scale, H. lataniae natural
enemies were evaluated in different locations in Egypt, representing various
bioclimatic regions during two successive years 2009-2010. The results indicated that the parasitoid, H.aspidioti the most abundant species associated with H. lataniae infested mango trees in Giza. The maximum rate of parasitism reached
9.1 and 7.3% in October, 2009 and 2010, respectively. The percentage of
parasitism ranged from 0.1 to 9.1% in the first year and from 0.3 to 7.3% in
the second year. The predator C.
carnae
was the most abundant species and occurred all
over the years under investigation on H. lataniae  on  olive trees inAlexandria and the
maximum number was 25 individuals /60 leaves and 15 twigs in July in the first
year and 17 individuals/60 leaves and 15 twigs in June in the second year. Keys for parasitoids and predatorsassociated
with the latania scale, H. lataniae are included.

Keywords