شناسايي فون شته هاي درختان بادام، پراكنش و دشمنان طبيعي آنها در استان آذربايجان شرقي

Identification of Aphid Fauna on Almond Trees, Their Distribution and Natural Enemies in East Azerbaijan Province

East Azerbaijan Province of Iran is regarded as an important almond plantation regions and almond commerce zone. Almond trees are attacked by many pests, especially by aphids, during their lifetime. Aphids weaken their hosts severely by feeding the plant phloem sap and act as transmitting vectors of some viral diseases. The present study was conducted in order to identify the aphid fauna of almond trees, their natural enemies and the population density of dominant aphid species, as an important step for IPM programs in almond orchards. The required information was gathered weekly at the beginning of April to the beginning of July for two years (2006- 2007). The results indicated that in the almond plantation of East Azerbaijan Province, four different aphid species, namely Hyalopterus amygdali Blanch. Brachycaudus amygdalinus Schout, Pterochloroides persicae Cho1, and Myzus persicae Sulz., were found. The H. amygdali caused the greatest losses of almond trees and was considered to be very important in the province. The highest population density of H. amygdali was seen late in May. The active natural enemies of these important pests were collected as 16 predator species of insect families including Coccinellidae, Syrphidae, Chrysopidae, Anthocoridae and Chaemomyiidae and three parasitoid species from Braconidae and Encyrtidae families.