Ecological, cultural and pheromonal studies on Pistachio wood borer, Kermania pistaciella A.

Pistachio wood borer, Kermania pistaciella is one of the most important insect pest of Pistachio fruit tree in Iran. It is a monophagous insect which can feed only on Pistacia spp. Pheromonal studies showed the period of adult emergence in Isfahan was about 2 weeks. Also study on the effect of adult age to produce pheromone and capture male showed no significant difference between the number of males which were captured in the traps of 2 and 4 days age. In ecological studies, there was no relation between climate and distribution or activity of pistachio wood borer. Cultural studies showed in spots where pistachio planting had been currently started and pistachio trees were very young (around 3 years old), infection to this pest was 0%. Pistachio trees of more than 20 years age were infected in all surveyed spots. For pistachio trees which had been started fruit production but their age was less than 10 years, the presence of infection was dependant on availability of old trees. In spots with good agricultural practices (GAP) including pruning, irrigation, fertilization, weed and insect control, % of infection was minimum about 12%. Whereas in spots with weak agricultural practices infection was about 83.6%. Maximum natural enemy population was seen in spots where insecticides were not applied. Hymenopterous parasitoid, Chelonus sp. had maximum population density among natural enemies.