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This study evaluated the efficacy of entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) as biocontrol agents against aphids, whiteflies and western flower thrips. The research employed a leaf disc bioassay with various conidia concentrations to determine lethal concentration (LC) and time (LT) for pest eradication. Additionally, the study assessed the activity of cuticle-degrading enzymes produced by EPF (Chitinase, Protease, and Lipase) to understand their pathogenic mechanisms. Molecular identification using ITS region of 18S rDNA identified virulent isolates. Results indicated that four isolates, ENPF-16, 24, 41, and 60, achieved significant mortality rates (95% to 100%) at a concentration of 1x10⁸ conidia/mL after nine days. Akanthomyces sp. (ENPF-41) exhibited the highest enzyme activity, followed by Beauveria sp. (ENPF-60). The virulent fungal isolates were identified as Beauveria bassiana and Akanthomyces lecanii. Among EPFs, Akanthomyces lecanii (MT997935) displayed greater virulence against all three test insects with lower LC₅₀ and LT₅₀ values compared to other EPFs. In summary, all fungal isolates induced mortality in the tested pests, but their effectiveness varied. Akanthomyces lecanii (MT997935) emerged as a promising biocontrol candidate due to its broad host range and strong virulence.
 

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The aphidiine parasitoids (Hym., Braconidae) attacking the pest aphids on various pome and stone fruit trees in different parts of Iranwere studied. A total of 13 species belonging to seven genera of aphid parasitoids were identified in association with 17 aphid species on 10 different species of fruit trees. Sixty nine tritrophic associations were detected from the studied area of which 25 associations are newly recorded from Iran. An illustrated key is prepared for identification of the species. The parasitoids were categorized based on their potential impacts in biocontrol of pest aphids into the less important species and the key-stones. The first group of parasitoids includes the broadly oligophagous species, and even an occasional opportunistic species, Lysiphlebus fabarum (Marshall), while the second group includes the specific associations like Aphidius transcaspicus Telenga on Hyalopterus spp. and Pauesia antennata (Mukerji) on Pterochloroides persicae (Cholodkovsky). A probable occurrence of the univoltine aphid parasitoid, Pseudopauesia prunicola Halme in association with Ovatus insitus (Walker) is discussed.  

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A survey was conducted in fields of cucumber and watermelon in Bengaluru, India during April 2014 for dertermination of the common parasitoids (Hym.,Braconidae, Aphidiinae) attacking melon aphid, Aphis gossypii Glover (Hemi., Aphididae). Three species of Aphidiinae, including Aphidius platensis Brethes, 1913; Binodoxy sacalephae (Marshall, 1896) and Lipolexis oregmae(Gahan, 1931) were collected and identified, from which Aphidius platensis is newly recorded from India. The early evidence of Aphidius colemani in India can also be contributed to A. platensis. Diagnostic characters of three species with closely related species are briefly discussed.

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Soybean, Glycine max, is susceptible to a large number of disease agents such as seedling and root pathogens that cause serious damages to this crop plant. One of these soil-borne pathogens is Macrophomina phaseolina, the causal agent of charcoal root rot. In this study, two bacteria, Pantoea agglomerans and Bacillus sp. BIN, and a fungus, Trichoderma harzianum T100, as potential biocontrol agents, and maneb fungicide, were evaluated against soybean charcoal rot disease in In Vitro and greenhouse conditions. All antagonists inhibited growth of the pathogen in dual culture test by 73.8, 63.3 and 55.3 %, respectively. Data from greenhouse experiments showed that in the presence of pathogen all antagonists increased the growth indices of soybean in both pasteurized and non-pasteurized soil. Reductions of microsclerotia coverage on soybean root and stem by P. agglomerans, Bacillus sp. and T. harzianum were up to 62.5, 87.6 and 62.5 %, respectively and for maneb fungicide was 87.6 % in pasteurized soil. The overall results of this study show high capability of used antagonists in reduction of initial inoculums for next season of this monocyclic disease.

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In a taxonomic study of the subfamily Phasiinae (Diptera: Tachinidae), seven species and the three genera Opesia Robineau-Desvoidy, Subclytia Pandellé and Xysta Meigen are recorded for the first time from Iran. The diagnostic characters, distributional data along with the photographs of species are presented. Taxonomical positions of the genera and species are discussed.

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The present paper provides the updated checklist of the genera and species in the subfamily Alysiinae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) from Iran. A total of 55 species belonging to 13 genera have been listed, that had been recorded from 15 provinces. The recorded species belong to the genera Alloea Haliday, 1833 (one species), Aphaereta Foerster, 1862 (two species), Aspilota Foerster, 1862 (two species), Dinotrema Foerster, 1862 (four species), Idiasta Foerster, 1862 (one species), Orthostigma Ratzeburg, 1844 (three species), Phaenocarpa Foerster, 1861 (one species), Pseudopezomachus Montero, 1905 (one species) and Synaldis Foerster, 1862 (four species) from the tribe Alysiini, and Chorebus Haliday, 1833 (28 species), Coelinidea Viereck 1913 (one species), Dacnusa Haliday, 1833 (five species) and Protodacnusa Griffiths, 1964 (two species) from the tribe Dacnusini.

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The subfamily Microgastrinae Foerster, 1862 (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonoidea, Braconidae) is a challenging and the most diverse groups of braconids that has significant importance in biological control programs. They are koinobiont endoparasitoids of lepidopteran larvae and generally attack and develop in early instars and exit from the host larvae to pupate. In current paper, the findings of primary taxonomic investigations on these valuable biocontrol agents is presented and for each genus, the general habitus of a represented species is illustrated. Also, the proportion of known hosts for some genera was provided. The purpose of this paper is to provide a preliminary information of the Microgastrinae in Iran to serve as a starting point for future studies on the group and to encourage further study of more species in other regions of Iran, on various aspects of taxonomic, ecological, host associations, conservation, DNA barcoding and bio-control.

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Nasonovia ribisnigri (Mosely) is one of the most important pests of the lettuce plant and it was reported for the first time in Ahvaz in 2008. In order to investigate the dominant species of its natural enemies and their population fluctuations, sample were taken arbitrarily from fifty plants twice a week during the growing season in 2010-2012. In this study, ten species of predators, three species of parasitoids and two species of hyperparasitoids were collected and identified. Hoverflies with a relative frequency of 55% were the dominant predators. Peaks of lacewings and subsequently ladybird beetles were more coincident with peaks of aphid population in mid-March in the first year of studies. But their densities in the second year were very low. Also, hoverflies and parasitoids were mainly observed in the high densities in late March-early April, in both years. Regression analysis indicated that populations of aphids were mainly affected by ladybird beetles and lacewings in the first year of study, as well as by ladybird beetles, hoverflies and parasitoids in the second year. Therefore, additional studies are required for further evaluation on the potential abilities of these natural enemies being a good candidates for the future biological control programs.  

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Potential of three physically different formulations of biocontrol agent Thrichoderma harzianum199 was investigated in a field trial against wheat common bunt caused by Tilletia laevis Kühn. Wheat seeds of cv. Chamran were treated with liquid, semi-solid (gel mixed suspension) and solid (talc powder) formulations prior to planting. Field practices were performed based on Khuzestan wheat planting schedule and no chemical was used until harvesting. The results of analyzed data showed significant effect of formulation type on common bunt incidence. Tetraconazole (chemical check) showed common bunt reduction (97.7%) and among bio-formulations, gel-mixed suspension was significant in disease reduction (43.41%), but it was next to talc and liquid formulation in yield, harvested weight, healthy spikes and stem height. Talc formulation reduced bunt infection (39.07%) and showed better than gel mixed suspension in yield and some yield components. Conversely, liquid formulation enhanced bunt incidence (25.31%) but was almost same as the talc and better than gel formulation in yield and yield components. General findings of this experiment indicate that physical form of T. harzianum 199 formulation can effectively influence both common bunt prevention and agronomic potential of Chamran wheat cultivar.

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Chromatomyia horticola (Goureau) (Diptera: Agromyzidae) is a highly polyphagous leaf miner that causes severe damage to different crops. Sampling on the Alysiinae (Braconidae) parasitoids of C. horticola was performed at various locations of Kermanshah province during 2009–2010. Infested leaves of host plants bearing the larvae and puparia of C. horticola were collected and placed inside the plastic rearing boxes and transferred to laboratory. The samples were preserved for 2–4 weeks, until the emergence of parasitoids. Three species of Alysiinae parasitoids were reared and identified in association with C. horticola in Kermanshah including, Chorebus (Stiphrocera) aphantus (Marshall, 1986), Chorebus (Stiphrocera) uliginosus (Haliday, 1839) and Dacnusa (Aphanta) hospita (Foerster, 1862). All three species have been recorded for the first time as parasitoids of C. horticola. In addition, C. aphantus is newly recorded for the fauna of Iran. An identification key to the parasitoid species is given.  

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A study was carried out to map dispersal of Trichogramma brassicae Bezd. on tomato in a 0.5 ha field. First, 1, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 meter distances from the central point of the field were marked in form of squares. On each square, 8 points were selected and a wooden stake of 1.5 m length was vertically secured into the soil at each point equal to plant height and bearing a yellow sticky trap (YST, 10 × 20 cm) on the top. Moreover, three egg batches each containing ~200 fresh Sitotroga cerealella Oliv.eggs on cardboards(SEC) were stapled on top leaf of three plants around the wooden stake arranged in a 0.75 m arch. Evaluation was done two days before and 2, 4, 6 and 8 days after a release of 50000 newly emerged T. brassicae (~1:1 Male:Famale) from the central point. The number of T. brassicae trapped by YST, and number of parasitised eggs on SEC were counted under a stereomicroscope and noted down. The coefficient of fitting YST data to the model (R²) for all 4 sampling dates was as high as 86%. The average diffusion coefficient was equal to 16.89 m²/day for four times sampling. In general, the distance encompassing 98% of trapped T. brassicae predicted by the model was up to maximum 29.9 m from the central point 8 days after the release. The mean percent parasitism was 44.7, 5.5, 5 and 0.9 per SEC during 2, 4, 6 and 8 days after release, respectively. It is concluded that, the farther the distance from the releasing point and the longer the time elapsed after release, the less number of wasps were recaptured. Therefore, multiple releasing points are required to achieve even distribution and enough population of parasitoids in the field.

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Spotted Amber Ladybird, Hippodamia variegata (Goeze, 1777) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) is an important predator of aphids and some other insect pests. Since shape and size variation may affect biological characteristics of an insect, multivariate analysis of shape variations in four geographically isolated populations of H. variegata (Isfahan, Shahrekord, Shiraz, Yasuj) was performed based on eight landmarks of hind wing. According to the analysis, significant difference in weight matrices (as shape variable) was detected. The cluster analysis separated Isfahan population from other populations. According to ANOVA, we found significant difference in centroid size (as size variable), so that the two populations, Isfahan and Shahrekord, had larger wings than the two other populations. Distribution of 80 individuals based on partial warps on the relative warp axis placed Isfahan population in a separate group while the others had overlap and irregular distribution.  

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Pauesia antennata Mukerji (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) as the unique parasitoid of the giant brown peach aphid, Pterochloroides persiace Cholodkovsky (Hemiptera, Aphididae) is considered to be the most effective biological control agent of this pest. In this study, the assessment of selected biological parameters of P. antennata demonstrated that the longevity of mature parasitoid was 3.90 ± 0.22, the developmental time was 14.48 ± 1.05 and the life span was 19.46 ± 0.68 days. The maximum flight activity and oviposition were observed at the second and third days of the parasitoid lifespan. The parasitism, emergence rates and the sex ratio were affected by the variations in the number of P. persicae relative to each population of the parasitoid.

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The pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris) is one of the most important pests of pea throughout the world.Host stage preference under choice and no-choice tests and age-specific functional response of Praon volucre (Haliday) parasitizing A. pisum were investigated. The experiments were carried out under laboratory conditions at 25 ± 1 °C, 60 ± 5% RH and a photoperiod of 14: 10 h (L: D). Functional response of P. volucre was evaluated in adult lifetime at seven host densities (2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 and 128). Praon volucre strongly preferred to oviposit into first and second instar nymphs in both choice and no-choice conditions. Parameter estimation of logistic regression revealed type III functional response for P. volucre in first and second days and type II from third to the end of parasitoid lifetime. The handling time (T_h) and searching efficiency (a or b) were estimated using the Rogers equation. The shortest and longest handling times were at fourth day (T_h = 0.19 ± 0.04) and 8^th day (T_h = 0.94 ± 0.15), respectively. The highest searching efficiency (a) was 0.048 ± 0.007 h^-1 on third day and lowest searching efficiency was observed at the end of parasitoid lifetime (6^th day-8^th days). The maximum attack rate ranged from 126.31 nymphs/24 h on fourth day to 25.53 nymphs/24 h on 8^th day. The results of this study revealed that the age of adult parasitoid can change the functional response from type III to type II, indicating that this factor may contribute to stabilization of parasitoid–prey dynamics.

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In the years 2012-14 a series of extensive surveys for natural enemies of parthenium were conducted in Haryana. During survey, a leaf spot disease has been regularly reported on congress grass at different parts of the Kurukshetra and its adjoining areas.The fungal pathogen was isolated from the affected parts of parthenium leaves and on the basis of cultural, morphological and molecular characteristics, was identified as Alternaria macrospora MKP1. Koch’s postulate was performed and found satisfactory for the isolate and proved to be pathogenic to this weed. The growth of A. macrospora MKP1 was studied on eight different media and it exhibited varying degrees of growth on different media. The literature survey indicates that A. macrospora has never been reported on the parthenium weed and it is the first report of occurrence of this pathogen causing leaf spot disease on parthenium weed from the world.

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In this study, the effect of carbon and nitrogen sources, on production of yeast biomass was determined as well as the efficacy of various formulations of Candida membranifaciens to decrease blue mold on apple. The media containing sugar cane molasses as carbon sources caused more yeast growth than the media supplemented with permeate powder. Yeast extract as nitrogen source produced higher biomass than urea and Corn steep liquor (CSL). The best growth was obtained in medium that composed of sugar cane molasses, yeast extract and CSL. Viability of C. membranifaciens differed in various carriers significantly (p < 0.01). The number of viable cells in Kaolin and Talc-based formulations was gradually reduced whereas the viability in wheat bran based formulations increased in 4 months and then gradually declined. In general, the formulations stored at 4 °C had longer shelf life than those stored at 24 °C. The antagonistic efficacy of prepared formulations of C. membranifaciens was evaluated against Penicillium expansum on apple at storage conditions. There were no significant differences among Talc-based, Kaolin-based and Wheat bran-based formulations of C. membranifaciens in reduction of blue mold.

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Among fungi, species of the genus Paecilomyces are considered as promising biological control agents with high potential to reduce root-knot nematode (RKN) and other nematode populations. In this research we investigated a soil hyphomycetes, Paecilomyces marquandii and its pathogenicity on eggs of RKN in vitro. In greenhouse test, root weight, plant length, fresh weight and dry weight of plants, gall index and proportion of infected eggs were determined. P. marquandii, effectively promoted growth of plants inoculated with M. incognita by suppressing its pathogenesis as root galling and reducing egg mass production. At 25 °C, a great number of nematode eggs were parasitized by P. marquandii, inhibiting juvenile development.

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Rearing methods for Bracon hebetor (Say) (Hym., Braconidae) were investigated in the series of laboratory experiments designed to enhance the yield of the mass rearing of this parasitoid for biological control of lepidopteran field and stored product pests. In these experiments, the effects of parasitoid and host densities on fertility and sex ratio of B. hebetor were assessed. In parasitoid densities, 50 last-instar greater wax moth (GWM) Galleria mellonella (L.) larvae were placed per container and 1, 2, 4, 8 or10 pairs of B. hebetor (one male and one female) were released in each container. In host density study two pairs B. hebetor were introduce in six different densities (10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60) of host, GWM per container. A density of ten male-female pairs of B. hebetor produced a higher number of progeny (205 ± 7.07 adults) on 50 last instar larvae of GWM. Similarly, in a host density experiment, a density of 60 last instars GWM larvae produced a significantly higher number of parasitoid progeny (142.0  ±  8.75 adults), followed by 50 last instar larvae (141.0 ± 8.34 adults) among the tested host densities when two pairs of B. hebetor were used. The sex ratio of progenies was male-biased in all studies and there were no significant effects on sex ratio in various parasitoid and host densities. In mass rearing experiment, total number of emerged parasitoids per 200 wax moth larvae was 1091 ± 82.38 adults with mean parasitism rate of 98 ± 0.8%.  

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This is the first report of two ectoparasitoid wasps, Elachertus inunctus (Nees, 1834) in Iran and Elachertus pulcher (Erdös, 1961) (Hym.: Eulophidae) in the world, that parasitize larvae of the tomato leaf miner, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick, 1917) (Lep.: Gelechiidae). The specimens were collected from tomato fields and greenhouses in Ahwaz, Khouzestan province (south west of Iran). Both species are new records for fauna of Iran. The knowledge about these parasitoids is still scanty. The potential of these parasitoids for biological control of T. absoluta in tomato fields and greenhouses should be investigated.