12.3.2.10 The Rosaceae Longhorned Beetle, Osphranteria coerulescens
Redtenbacher, 1850 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)
A serious and economically important pest that causes extensive damage to rosaceous trees in Iran, is the Rosaceae longhorned beetle, Osphranteria coerulescens
Redtenbacher, 1850 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). Adult beetles lay a single egg into
the upper part of tree twigs. When larva emerges, it bores into the cambium and later
penetrates to hardwood, the center of branches and trunks where feeds for a year.
Due to drought in the country in recent years, some fruit trees, such as almonds, have
been more susceptible to this pest. As similar to Z. pyrina, in several area,
O. coerulescens damage led to the destruction of many almonds orchards. Efforts
to control this pest are insufficient because of the cryptic behavior of larvae. The
limited movement of O. coerulescens larvae, as well as the moist protected environment within their galleries, suggest that EPNs have ability to find and kill larvae
in their habitat. So, Sharifi et al. (2014) evaluated the efficacy of H. bacteriophora
and S. carpocapsae, against the larvae of this longhorned beetle. The plate assay
showed that the larvae were susceptible to both EPN species but were more
susceptible to S. carpocapsae (65–97% mortality) than H. bacteriophora (42–88%
mortality). Efficacy of the EPN application against O. coerulescens depends, among
other factors, on the ability of the nematodes to find pest in galleries; so these
researchers in the next step, designed laboratory experiments on an infested branch
of apricot, 15–17 cm in length. The tip of the branch, where the larva of
O. coerulescens deposits its frass, was placed into a 45 cm
3 sponge piece with a
hole inside it. The EPN suspension at a concentration of 10,000 IJs/ml was inoculated into each sponge piece. The result showed that the EPN species located and
killed the larvae within galleries in the branches. These findings highlighted the
ability of EPNs as a potential biocontrol agent of cryptic pests in the IPM program.
Like the other wood borer pest, the leopard moth borer, the method using
nematodes against O. coerulescens is challenging due to complexity of application
method. Although, further field experiments are needed to evaluate their efficacy
under the wide environmental condition.
12.4 The Occurrence and Application of Entomoparasitic
Nematodes in Iran
The first attempt for the application of entomoparasitic nematodes against an insect
pest in the country was done by Zaim et al. (1988). They investigated the efficacy of
the parasitic nematode Romanomermis culcivorax (Nematoda: Mermithidae) in
controlling anopheline larvae, including malaria vectors, in Fars and Baluchistan
provinces. They did not observe any correlation between the level of parasitism and
the density of mosquito larvae present in a site. However, R. culcivorax was
496
J. Karimi and M. Hassani-Kakhki
Redtenbacher, 1850 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)
A serious and economically important pest that causes extensive damage to rosaceous trees in Iran, is the Rosaceae longhorned beetle, Osphranteria coerulescens
Redtenbacher, 1850 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). Adult beetles lay a single egg into
the upper part of tree twigs. When larva emerges, it bores into the cambium and later
penetrates to hardwood, the center of branches and trunks where feeds for a year.
Due to drought in the country in recent years, some fruit trees, such as almonds, have
been more susceptible to this pest. As similar to Z. pyrina, in several area,
O. coerulescens damage led to the destruction of many almonds orchards. Efforts
to control this pest are insufficient because of the cryptic behavior of larvae. The
limited movement of O. coerulescens larvae, as well as the moist protected environment within their galleries, suggest that EPNs have ability to find and kill larvae
in their habitat. So, Sharifi et al. (2014) evaluated the efficacy of H. bacteriophora
and S. carpocapsae, against the larvae of this longhorned beetle. The plate assay
showed that the larvae were susceptible to both EPN species but were more
susceptible to S. carpocapsae (65–97% mortality) than H. bacteriophora (42–88%
mortality). Efficacy of the EPN application against O. coerulescens depends, among
other factors, on the ability of the nematodes to find pest in galleries; so these
researchers in the next step, designed laboratory experiments on an infested branch
of apricot, 15–17 cm in length. The tip of the branch, where the larva of
O. coerulescens deposits its frass, was placed into a 45 cm
3 sponge piece with a
hole inside it. The EPN suspension at a concentration of 10,000 IJs/ml was inoculated into each sponge piece. The result showed that the EPN species located and
killed the larvae within galleries in the branches. These findings highlighted the
ability of EPNs as a potential biocontrol agent of cryptic pests in the IPM program.
Like the other wood borer pest, the leopard moth borer, the method using
nematodes against O. coerulescens is challenging due to complexity of application
method. Although, further field experiments are needed to evaluate their efficacy
under the wide environmental condition.
12.4 The Occurrence and Application of Entomoparasitic
Nematodes in Iran
The first attempt for the application of entomoparasitic nematodes against an insect
pest in the country was done by Zaim et al. (1988). They investigated the efficacy of
the parasitic nematode Romanomermis culcivorax (Nematoda: Mermithidae) in
controlling anopheline larvae, including malaria vectors, in Fars and Baluchistan
provinces. They did not observe any correlation between the level of parasitism and
the density of mosquito larvae present in a site. However, R. culcivorax was
496
J. Karimi and M. Hassani-Kakhki