Determination of Sphaerolecanium prunastri Fonscolombe, 1834 (Hemiptera: Coccidae), and its parasitoids and predators in apricot areas of Malatya province, Turkey

This study, lasting 2 years, was carried out to determine the prevalence status, contamination level, parasitoids and predators of Sphaerolecanium prunastri in Malatya, the largest apricot-production area of Turkey. The contamination level and rate of S. prunastri were determined by a survey on trees selected by a systematic sampling method. Predators of S. prunastri were picked by a hitting method, and the parasitoids of the pest was gained by the use of culture cages. S. prunastri was seen at different rates in the province (few, medium, high) depending on the apricot orchard in the area, with an overall rate of about 23.5% prevalence in all apricot areas of Malatya province. Parasitoids of S. prunastri were determined as Cerapterocerus mirabilis (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), Pachyneuron muscarum (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae), Coccophagus lycimna (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae), Metaphycus silvestri (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) and Discodes coccophagus (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae). Exochomus quadripustulatus (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), Cybocephalus fodori (Coleoptera: Cybocephalidae) and Chrysopa sp. (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) were observed as predators of S. prunastri.