See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/292452624

Management of the pistachio seed wasp Eurytoma plotnikovi Nikolskaya

(Hymenoptera, Eurytomidae) in Tunisia: Integration of pesticide sprays and
other means of control

Article · November 2005

CITATIONS READS

8 160

1 author:

Mohamed Braham
University of Sousse
74 PUBLICATIONS   150 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Implementation of integrated pest management in protected crops View project

National biocontrol project against citrus leafminer Phyllocnistis citrella by the introduction of its endoparasitoid ageniaspis citicola
View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Mohamed Braham on 15 November 2016.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

P[$rG0ilïn01
Management of the pistachioseedwaspEurytoma
plotnîkoyfNikolskaya(Hymenoptera/ Eurytomidae) in
Tunisia:Integrationof pesticidespraysand other means
of control
MohamedBraham*
Abstract: Trials were conductedto control E. plotnikovi in pista-
chio orchards in Tunisia. In the field, the emergenceofadults from
infested pistachio of the previous year was monitored in cagesas
was the progress of the development of diapausing larvae through
pupae and adults by collecting and splitting 100 nuts at regular
intervals fromApril 17 to June 16,2004.
Field spray tests undertakenon May 6, May 18 and May 29,
2004 using three chemical products, dimethoate (Daphene fort, at a
concentration of 0.1 %) and two formulations of deltamethrin
(Decis expert at a concentrationof 0.015 % and Decis EC25 at a
concentrationol 0.15 %) plus a bio-insecticide(spinosadat a con-
centration of 0.05 oÂ) were very effective; final infestations in
August were 8 o/0,16 %, 14 o and 6 % for dimethoate, spinosad,
deltamethrin (Decis expert) and deltamethrin (Decis EC 25) respec-
tively as compared to 36 oÂfor the untreated control.
A secondtrial aimed to test the systemic effects of dimethoate at
a concentrationof 0.1 o%and spinosadat a concentrationof 0.05 %
was conductedon two trees. Four branchesper tree were treated
with a hand sprayer on May 22 and June 5, 2004. Results indicated
that both insecticides showed little effect on the larvae of E. plot-
nîkovi.
Our data suggestedthat the pistachio seed wasp can be effec-
tively controlled by conventional insecticides sprays (deltamethrin
and/or dimethoate) against aduits and spinosad for organic farming
providing that adult flights may be monitored.
l. lntroduction
Pistachio trees have been growing in arid and semi-arid con-
ditions in the center and south east of Tunisia (regions of
Sfax, Kasserine, Sidi Bouzid, Kairouan, Gafsa and Mahdia.).
For a long time, they have occupied lands which are less
appropriate or even completely inappropriate for other crops
such as olive or almond trees. Pistachio is considered a
drought resistant species because it thrives in areas where
water stress is frequent. In these regions pistachio cultivation
is considered to be of great economic importance, and
improvements have been permanently introduced affecting
agricultural techniques.
The local production of pistachio nut in Tunisia is cur-
rently increasing to satisfy the increasing need, but the yield
is low because ofthe attack ofpests and pathogens.
The pistachio seed wasp, Eurytoma plotnikovi
(Hymenoptera, Eurytomidae) is a common pest of pistachio.
The species is univoltine and strictly monophagous. It over-
winters as a full grown diapausing larva within the infested
pistachio.In March-April,the larvapupatesshortlybefore
adult emergenceand the nymphtransformsto an adult that
" lnstitutde I'Olivier.Pôle de Recherchedu Centre-Est de Chott-
Mariem,Routetouristique4042,Chott-Mariem,Sousse,Tunisia.Tel
: + 216-73-348543;Fax : + 216-73-348543.
E-Mailaddress:m_braham 2000@yahoo.fr
2005
November/December
chews a tiny exit hole through the nut shell and emergesas
the adult wasp.Newly emergedfemaleslay their eggsin the
young developingpistachioin May and June.Only one larva
may develop inside a single pistachio seed. Young larvae
hatch from eggs,become older larva that remain inside the
nut to overwinter completing the life cycle in one year. A
small percentageof the population, however, which varies
from year to year, continuesthe diapause,completingits life
cycle in up to three years (Jerraya,1977; Mehrnejad,l996 ;
Basirat & Seyedoleslami,2000).
In Tunisia, the frugivorous insects attacking pistachio
comprise Megastigmuspistaciae, and E. plotnikovi. The last
is by far the most significant speciesdestroyingup to 70 Yo
of the crop in someregionsand it is presentin up to 90 Yoof
sitesprospected(Braham,in preparation).
The control of this pestis undertakenwith a wide rangeof
chemical pesticides.Discrepancieson the optimal time to
treat, coupled with the diffrculty of monitoring the adult pop-
ulation, haveresultedin severalinsecticidesprays,which are
often applied at unsuiiable times and are therefore ineffec-
tive.
The objectivesofthis researchare (1) to test two groups
of insecticidesusually used by farmersin conventionalpro-
duction; one organophosphorus,dimethoatewith trade name
Daphene fort and a synthetic pyrethroid, delamethrin with
two formulations,Decis EC25 and Decis expert; (2) to test
the efficacy of a bio-insecticidespinosad,trade name Tracer
480, in contactwith or exposureto adults of E. plotnikovi.
Spinosadis a product derived from the fermentation of a nat-
urally occurring organism Saccharopolysporaspinosa. It is
activeby ingestionand contactexposureagainsta wide vari-
ety of insectpests(Dow Agro Sciences2004.) and (3) to test
the systemic efficacy of dimethoate and spinosad against
young larvaeof the pistachioseedwasp in post adult flight.
In addition, we present data concerning the progress of
adult emergencefrom pistachio nuts in situ in order to mon-
itor fruit infestati-onand eggs hatching.
2. Materialsand methods
2.1. Generalities
The study was carried out during the spring- summer of 2004
in CFRA (Centre de formation et de recyclage agricole)
Jammel locatedin easterncentral Tunisia in a 6500 m' plot.
No pistachioorchardwas found with a diameterof six kilo-
meters. The Jammel area is characterizedby a typical
Meditenanean climate with hot summers and cool winters.
The orchard numbered three lines and 15 rows of 38 (30
femalesand 8 maleswith 7 missed)well developedpistachio
treesof the'Mateur'variety,separatedby 12 metersfrom one
another.
The treeswere 19-20yearsold andwere well tendedwith-
out irrigation;no pesticideswere applied.The orchardis bor-
deredby olive trees on two sides,the third side by a row of
319
cypress and the fourth side by an open field. The trees were
2-4 meters high. The pistachio fruits of the previous year
(2003) were left on and under the trees and were not collect-
ed due to a severe attackof E. plotnikovi.
In early spring, before the beginning of the study a sample
of 200 pistachionuts showeda high percentage(> 95%) of
nut infestation with one hundred oercent of old larva of Ë.
plotnikovi.
2.2. Emergencefrom feld bottles ("cages")
An empty plastic mineral water bottle with two openings
each of about 5 cm diameter and covered by wire mesh was
used to house 50 pistachionuts collected from hees of the
2003 season.Six boftles were suspendedin six different
trees,at a height of 1.2 - I .6 m abovethe ground.The bottles
were placedonApril 3,2004 beforeadultsof the naturalpop-
ulation started emerging from the nuts. They were checked
regularly to record adult emergence.Imagos were collected
and removed.
2.3. Monitoring the infestation and adult emergence
Samplesof 100 pistachionuts remaining on the trees flom
the previous seasonwere collectedand immediatelysplit to
monitor (1) the number of filled nuts (2) the number of empty
nuts (3) the number of mature larvae, pupae and adults and
nuts with exit holes.
The development stages of the pupa were divided into
three categories:(l) white-yellowpupae(2) lightly-coloured
pupae and (3) mostly-colouredpupae.
2.4. Tieatment trials
The trial design consistedof a randomizedblock with four
replicates ofeight treesper block. Each replicate contained at
least one female tree. Six trees on the edge of the orchard
were left unsprayedand used as a check plot. The treatments
were applied with a tractor mounted sprayer of 600 litres
capacity giving a pressureof 4 bars and a nozzle diameter of
25 microns. The volume sprayedper hectarewas 350 litres.
The concentrationsof chemicalswere as follows:
1) dimethoate (Daphènefort) at a concentrationof 0.1 %
2) deltamethrin(Decisexpert)at a concentrationof 0.015 %
3) deltamethrin (Decis EC25) at a concentration of 0.15 %
and
4) spinosad(Tracer480) at a concentrationof0.05 %
The treatmentswere applied on May 6; May 18 and May 29,
2004. The trees in the check plot were left unsprayed. The
efticacy of the treatmentswas evaluated by picking 50 new
pistachionuts at random(10-14 from every replicate)and 50
from the check plot. Nuts were dissected in the laboratory
under a binocular microscope and the numbers of eggs and
larvae were recorded.
2.5. Second treatment to evaluate the effectiveness of
dimethoate and spinosad in late spraying (systemicaction)
To evaluate the effectivenessof systemic insecticide treat-
ment on the young larvaepopulationsof the pistachio seed
wasp, a trial was conducted on two trees chosen before the
beginning of the experiment and left without chemical
sprays. Four branches,each coptaining between 27 and 201
fruits, one in each cardinal point, were treated and one was
left as a check. The treatments were applied with a hand
sprayer (l litre) on May 22 and June 5, 2004. The effective-
ness of the treatmentsvr'asmeasuredby sampling 20 pista-
chio nuts from sprayed and unsprayed branches on August
14, when larvae were fully grown. The numbers of filled
seeds,empty seedsand seedsinfested by insect larvae were
counted.
Data were submitted to one way analysis of variance
(ANOVA) and the LSD test was used when significant dif-
ferenceswere detectedwith SPSSSoftware(Version 10.0).
3. Results
3.I . Monitoring the adult emergencefrom field bottles
Table I shows the number of emergedadults. The first adults
appeared on May 3 with an average of 0.66 per bottle and
lastedtill June2 with an averageof 0. 16.The maximum was
observed between May l0 and May 22 suggestingthe high-
est flight of adults in that period. The peak was observed on
May l8 with an averageof three emergedimagos per bottle.
100
80
o
o 60
ù
40
d
20
iF sh rù sF il. sN
ÆF "ôts .CF .s! 3F
*P**,**P**P"-P*"f -f *1,s-i,*^d"*J,*
Sl ^.S(- .f- o^J"df (}q-
^qf "tr oqf ".È
Dates
Fig.1.Percentage of larvae,pupae,adultsand emptynutsobtained
by pickingand splifting100 nuts.
Em. Nuts= Emptynut (= unpollinated nut); Fi.. Nuts= Fillednuts;
Ol.L= Ald larva;Wh.pup= Whitepupa;Co.pup= coloredpupa;
Pup = pupa; Ex.hole= nutswithexit holes.
3.2. Monitoring the infestation of E. plotnikovi in thefield
The collectionand splittingof pistachionuts belongingto the
2003 seasonbegan on April 3 and show 100 % of old dia-
pausing larvae. The old larva changedto a white pupa after a
period of about two weeks with a percentageof 61.70 indi-
cating the accelerationof development (Fig 1.) Pupation
startedonApril l7 andlaststill May 18 reachinga maximum
at the end of April and beginning of May. The pupa changed
colour from white to entirely brown during its development
beginning on April 24 and lasting about four weeks. Pupae
transformed to adults that remain inside the nut in the begin-
ning of May and three days later (May 6) adults begin to
emerge. The flight period of adults emerging from infested
nuts began at the beginning of May and lasted approximate-
ly one month.
The results of adult emergencefrom nuts left in bottles
and from nuts in the natural condition may be considered as
similar and last about one month beginning in May.
3.3. Treatmentstrials
Table 4 gives the mean number of eggs and young larvae of
E. plotnikovi per new nut (2004) before the trials.
On l0 May, four days after the first spray application, no
significant difference was observed between treated and
untreatedplots in respectofeggs (F: 2.085; df: 4,245 P=
International Pest Control
 02
Â
0.16
I \.4
J 1
N
o
0.08
A^l \n
/t\\iÀ V L
I, \i,/
- y \\
/ \-"f"*-----
è
$ùe
Fig 2. Mean number of eggs and larvae per nut
0.083) due probably to the low infestation level. However,
plots treated with deltamethrin show no eggs followed by
spinosad with one egg per 50 fruits and two eggs for
dimethoate compared with the check plot with four eggs per
50 nuts. A significant difference was detected regarding the
young larva(F= 2.679df : 4,245, P:0.032).
On May 14, a significant difference regarding eggs was
detected between all the treatments and the check plot (F=
5.323 df 4, 245 ; P<0.0001). No difference was shown
regardingyoung larvae (F : 2.192, df 4,245 P: 0.070).
On May l8 a signihcant difference was detectedregarding
eggs(F: 26.872 df 4,245 P< 0.001) but not young larva (F
: 1.824; df 4, 245; P: 0. 125).
Four days after the second treatment, significant differ-
enceswere detectedregardingeggs (F : 2.77; df 4,245;, P:
0.028)andyoung larvae(F : 2.89; df 4,245 P: 0.023).On
averagethe nuts in the check plot contained three times more
eggs and larvae than those in the treated plots.
On May 26, eight days after the secondtreatment, no sig-
nificant differenceregardingeggswas detected(F: 0.591 df
4, 245 ; P: 0.06); however, a highly significant difference
was detectedconcerningyoung larvae(F:9.114; df 4,245
P= 0.000). Nuts in the untreatedplot contained four to 11
more young larvae than plots treated with deltamethrin or
spinosad.
On May 29, a significant differencewas detectedregard-
ing eggs(F:3.66 df 4,245 P:0.006). The samesignificant
difference was detectedregarding young larvae (F: 16.79 df
4,245 P:0.000).
On June 2, four days following the third treatment, a sig-
nificant difference was detected regarding small larvae (F:
33.69df 4,245 ;P:0.000). Nuts in the checkplot were high-
ly infested (Table 7). The same difference was detected nine
daysafterthe third treatment(F: 19.05 df 4,245 ; P: 0.000)
with a maximum of young larvae in the nuts of the untreated
plot. On June l0 (12 days after the third treatment), this dif-
ferenceremained(F:7.49 df 4,245 ; P: 0.000).
The following dates of conhol after the third treatment
show significant differences regarding young larvae with
high infestationin the checkplot; on June 15 (F: 13.82df 4,
November/D ecember 2 005
016
tibv t0 ns/ B l|r/ 3É Jr re 3 J rt e J at ê Ar 9 r r t
t0 ta
Dates
E Y. l-aNaetr O.Lârvae
Fig.3. Trendof eggs and juvenile slages of E. plotnikoviaccording
to dates (in %)
245 ;P= 0.000),on June23 (F= 6.80 df4,245; P:0.000)
and on June30 (F: 3.39df 4,245 ; P : 0.010).
On August 14, a significant difference was detected
regardingold larvae (F =5.65 df 4,245 P: 0.000) (table 9).
The nuts in the unheated plot were highly infested.
3.4. Systemiceffectsof spinosad and dimethoate
No significant systemic effect was shown between the two
treatmentsand the check - for spinosad(F=1.54 df 1,3 ; P:
0.302) and for dimethoate(F : 0.140 df l, 3 ; P :0.733).
4. Discussion
The period of egg laying startedat the beginning of May and
shows two maxima; on May 6 and May 18 till the end of the
month. After that, a sharp drop was observed and numbers
remained low till the end of the third week in June. The
young larvae begin to emerge on May 6, three days or per-
haps a little more after the first egg is laid. Their number
increasesto reach a maximum by May 26 andthen drops and
remain low till the end of June (Fig 2).
Fig. 3 shows the proportion of eggs, young larvae and old
larvae. The periods of the three treatments (May 6, May 18
and May 29) coincided with maximum eggs laying (Fig 2). If
we assumethat the effrcacy of the insecticides and spinosad
last 12 to 15 days, all the duration of adults flight may be
covered and hence the treatmentmay be effective.
In the field, the first adults ofE. plotnikovi appearedin the
beginning of May till the end of the month with a peak on
May 18, 2004; these data agree with our early observations
in the regions of Sidi Bouzid, Gafsa, Sfax and Mahdia.
Jarcaya(1977) indicates that in nature, the emergence and
flight of the pistachio seedwasp begins after May 15 till June
20. The difference in adult emergence and flight may be
related to pistachio phenology and/or climatic conditions.
The author has worked in the Tunis region about 150 kilo-
metersfrom our study site where climatic conditions are a lit-
tle different. He also concluded that the variation in the date
of adult emergenceis related to biological features of the
speciesnot to the geographical location. We agreewith him
because,the larvae can only develop in the pistachio nut and
 Tablel.Numberof adultsemergedfrom the nuts in the bot. Table2. Featuresof the remainingnutscollectedon June 15
tles. Eachbottlecontains50 nuts ofthe previousseason. and split open.
Dates 81 82 83 84 85 86 Mean Empty Filled Oldlarvae Adults Exit Total
n u t s n u t s " A D A D h o l e s b
1 7 - 0 4 - 2 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Bl(1) 3 9 3 0 3 0 1 Âô
2 4 - 0 4 - 2 0 0 / . 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Bil 3 5 7 0 3 0 1 50
0 3 - 0 5 - 2 0 0 4 0 0 0 2 1 1 0 . 6 6
Bill 3 3 1 1 0 1 0 4 50
06-05-2004 0 0 0 6 2 1 1.5
BIV 2 6 6 0 0 0 0 18 50
10-0s-2004 1 1 0 0 5 6 2.16
BV 2 9 4 0 3 0 2 12 50
1 8 - 0 5 - 2 0 0 4 2 1 0 7 4 4 3
BVI 3 0 4 0 0 0 0 16 Ân
2 2 - 0 5 - 2 0 0 4 . 1 0 0 2 0 3 1
" Healthynuts
2 6 - 0 5 - 2 0 0 / . 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 . 6 6
b Nuts with exit holes as detailedis table 1
2 9 - 0 5 - 2 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 A = alive
0 2 - 0 6 - 2 0 0 4 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 . 1 6 D = dead
(1)Bottlenumber one to six
0 5 - 0 6 - 2 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 0 - 0 6 - 2 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 5 - 0 6 - 2 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 4 4 1 1 8 1 2 1 6 9 . 1 6

Table4, Meannumberof eggsand younglarvaeper nut

Dates Meannumber Meannumber N
of eggs of younglarvae
29thApril 0 0 50
3rd May O.O2 50
6th May 012 0.08 50

Table 3. Qualitative composition of the natural population ol E. plotnikoyi from 100 nuts collected from trees of the previous
year.

Dates Em.Nuts Fi. nuts Ol.L Wh.pup Co.pup Pup. Adults Ex.holes Total
03-04-2004 30 12 58 100
17-04-200l. 28 zo 42
24-04-20@. 14 1 34 45 100
03-05-2004 38 11 17 19 100
06-05-2004 19 2 10 10 17 20 18 100
10-05-2004 39 10 o 16 29 100
18-05-2004 40 11 0 2 44 100
22-05-2004 39 14 45 100
26-05-200é. 28 11 55 100
29-05-2004 33 17 45 100
02-06-2004 38 l u l 48 't00

05-06-2004 41 Âi
100
10-06-2004 39 12 49 100
15-06-2004 34 12 51 100

322 International Pest Control

 Table 5. Mean number of eggs and young larvae per nut after the first treatment

Mean juvenilestage per nut 23

Tra.Reg.' 10 May 14 May 1 8M a y

4 DAT 8 DAÏ 12 DAT
Eggs YL Eggs YL Eggs YL
Dimethoate 0.04 0.02abd 0.02a 0 0.02a 0.04
Soinosad 0.02 0.1cde 0a 0.02 0 a 0

Deltamethrin#1 0 0.08bcef 0 a o 0a 0.08

Deltamethrin#2 0 Oaf 0 a 0 0.04a 0
Untreated 0.08 0.14e 0.12b 0.06 0.42b 0.04
1Treatmentregime
' Means in thè same columnfollowedby differentlettersare significantlydifferentat the 0.05 level (LSD test).
3 Mean numberper nut over 50 pistachiofruitsper treatmentregime
DAT = Days after treatment YL = Younglarva

Table 6, Mean number of eggs and young larvae per nut after the second treatment (For detailssee table 5)
Mean juvenilestage Per nut

Tra. Reg. 22 May 26 May 29 May

4 DAT 8 DAT 11 DAT

Eggs YL Eggs YL Eggs
Dimethoate 0a 0.'t2b 0.04 0.12a 0.1a 0.02a
Spinosad 0 . 1b c 0.04 014a 0b 0.06a

#1
Deltamethrin 0ade 0a 0.04a 0b 0.04a
Deltamethrin# 2 0.02ad 0.06a 0.02 0.14a 0b 0.06a
Untreated 0.06ace 0.18c 0.02 0.44b 0.04ab 0.42b

Table7. Meannumberof eggsandyoung larvaeper nut afterthe third treatment(fordetailsseetable5)

Mean juvenilestage per nut

Tra. Reg. 2nd June 7th June 1Oth

June
4 DAT 9 DAT 12 DAT
Eggs YL Eggs YL Eggs YL

Dimethoate 0.06a 0a 0.02 0.08a

Spinosad 0.04a 0a 0a
Deltamethrin
#1 0a 0a 0.04a
Deltamethrin# 2 0 0.06a 0.04a

Untreated 0.56b 0.04 0.28b 0.26b

Table8. Meannumberof eggsand young larvaeper nut afterthe third treatment

Mean juvenilestage per nut

Tra.Reg. 15 June 23 June 30th June

17 DAT 25 DAT 32 DAT

Eggs YL Eggs YL Eggs YL
Dimethoate 0a 0.02 0a 0.02a
Spinosad 0a 0a 0.02a
I
#1
Deltamethrin 0 0a 0.04a
#2
Deltamethrin 0 0a 0a 0.02a
Untreated 0.02 0.22b 0 . 16 b 0.12b

November/December 2 005 32i

 Table9. Meannumberof old larvaeper nut for the latest kill neonate larvae within the nuts. However, to be effective
control infested nuts should not suffer from heavy premature drop
becauseof the insect'sattack.This techniqueis widely used to
Mean Old larvae per nut control Eurytoma amygdali in almond orchardswith satisfac-
Tra.Reg. August14,2004 tory results(Katsoyannoset al., 1992;Tzanakakiset a1.,1997).
According to Mentjelos & Atjemis, (1970), the optimal period
Dimethoate 0.08a for the control of Eurytoma amygdali in almond orchardsis
Spinosad 0.16a achievedwhen about 90 percentofeggs have alreadyhatched.
In the orchard, the monitoring of the infestation from nuts
Deltamethrin#1 0.14a
ofthe previous year (nuts collected from trees) has been uti-
Deltamethrin# 2 0.06a lized to estimatethe degreeof pupation and henceadult emer-
gence dates.Pupation starts on April 17 and lasts till May 18
Untreated 0.36b
with the maximum at the end ofApril to the beginning of May.
Although no significant difference was found between
Table10.Meannumbersof filled nuts,emptynuts and nuts treatments plots, early sprays (at the beginning of adult
with old larvaeafrerthe treatmentof Spinosad flights) of deltamethrin may reduce the oviposition potential
of female E. plotnikovi (table 4).
Spinosad Pistachio gror,versusually use chemical treatment against
Branch Branch Branch Branch Check E. plotnikovi at the end of May and June with contact and/or
1 2 4 4 ingestion insecticide active ingredient which takes place after
adult flight and eggs laying and consequently give little
Fillednuts 14 10
effect with unsatisfactory results. In fact, our results suggest
Emptynuts that the emergenceof adults lasts 30 days and the deposition
of eggs lasts 20 days; chemical treatment may be undertaken
Old larvae
during the period ofadult flight using a persistentinsecticide.
% old larvae 15 However, chemical spraying may be considerably reduced
% unpollinated15 and agronomic practice offers a more effective and environ-
15
mentally friendly method of control. Recommendations
A Branchmeansa twig of pistachiobearingfruitscontaining would certainly include clean harvest and orchard sanitation
between27 and 201 fruits,one in each cardinalpoint,were treat- by removing and destroying nuts left on the tree after the har-
ed and one was left as a check (see section2.5 of the manu- vest as well as those that have fallen on the ground.
script).
5. Acknowledgements
The author expresseshis thanks to Professor Ben Kheder
Table11. Meannumbersof filled nuts,emptynutsand nuts Mohamed, Director of the CTAB for providing the bioinsec-
with old larvaeafterthe treatmentof Dimethoate
ticide (spinosad). He also thanks the director of CFPA
Dimethoate Jammel for permitting use of the pistachio orchard.
Branch Branch Branch Branch Check 6. References
BasiratM.,& Seyedoleslami H.,2000.Biologyof pistachio seed
waspEurytoma plotnikovi Nikolskaya (Hym.,Eurytomidae) in
Fillednuts 16 15
lsfahanprovince,lran.Journalof Scienceand technologyof
Emptynuts Agriculture andNaturalResources 4(1):137-148. ln Persianwith
Old larvae Englishsummary.
DowAgroSciences 2004.Spinosad overview.
't0
% old larvae http://www.dowagro.com/turf/prod/spinosad.htm. Le 27-04-2004.
% unpollinated 10 JerrayaA., 1977.Contribution à l'étudede I'entornofaune du pis-
tachier.Bioécologie de Eurytoma plotnikoviNik(Hym.,
A Branch means a twig of pistachiobearing fruits containing Eurytomidae). Annales National
de I'lnstitut de la Recherche
between 27 and 241 fruits, one in each cardinal point, were treat- Agronomique de Tunisie. Vol50(1),1-80.
ed and one was left as a check (see section2.5 of the manu- Katsoyannos 8.1.,Kouloussis N.A.,andBassiliou A., 1992.
script). Monitoring populations of thealmondseedwasp,Eurytoma
amygdali, withsexpheromone trapsandothermeans,andopti-
maltimingof chemical control.Entomol.Exp.Appl.62,9-16.
the pistachio seedwasp is entirely dependanton nut produc- MehrnejadM.R '1996. Thecurrentstatusof pistachio pestsin lran.
tion and the insect life cycle is closely synchronizedwith the Ressources,ciheam.org/om/pdf/c56/01600196.pdf. p. 315-321.
developmentof pistachionuts. Mentjelos J., & Atjemis A., 1970.Studieson the biologyandcontrol
The data relating to the start, peak and end of adult emer- of Eurytoma amygdali in Greece.J. Econ.EnL63, 1934-1936.
gence are similar to those reported by Basirat & Tzanakakis M.E.,Papadoulous N.T.,Katsoyannos 8.1.,DrakosG.N.,
Seyedoleslami(2000) in Iran; they cited respectivelyMay 4; andManolikas E.,1997.Premature fruitdropcausedby
May 18 and June 4; ours werd May 3; May 18 and June 2 Eurytoma amygdali (Hymenoptera, Eurytomidae) on three
confirming previous analysis. almondvarieties. J. Econ.Entomol.90(6), 1635-1640.
ContacVexposureinsecticide applications are used to kill
adults of Ë. plotnikovi before eggs are laid. This shategy may
be improved and completedby using systemiccomponentsto

[nternational Pest Control

View publication stats