© Benaki Phytopathological Institute
Mohammadi-Khoramabadi
et al.
86
P
.
farcta
,
P
.
koelziana
Burkart and
P
.
cinerar-
ia
(Linnaeus) are native and the remaining
two species
P
.
glandulosa
Torrey and
P
.
juli-
flora
(Swartz) are introduced (Mozaffarian,
2006; Zare
et al.,
2011).
Prosopis
juliflora
is a
common weed in the south of Iran (Nadjafi-
Tireh-Shabankareh and Jalili, 2009). Future
studies will reveal the host range and speci-
ficity of
N
.
austeritella
in Iran.
The Braconid parasitoids,
A
.
subcamil-
la
(Microgaterinae) and
Ph
.
leucobasis
(Che-
loninae), attack larvae of lepidopteran spe-
cies (Tobias
et al.,
1986).
Apanteles subcamilla
has been only reported from Azerbaijan
without any host record but
Ph
.
leucoba-
sis
is known from Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya,
Madagascar, Nigeria, S.W. Africa, Saudi Ara-
bia, Socotra island (Yemen), Somalia, Tanza-
nia, Togo and Iran (Ameri
et al.,
2012; Gadal-
lah and Ghahari, 2013) with a wide range of
hosts in the families Cosmopterygidae, Pyra-
lidae and Gelechidae (Van Achterberg, 1990;
Sobhani
et al.,
2012; Yu
et al.,
2012). Based on
the literature, associations of these parasi-
toid species with
N
.
austeritella
and
P
.
farc-
ta
are new.
Egg and pupal parasitoids of
N
.
austeritel-
la
were not detected in the study, although
they may be attacked by hymenopterous
parasitoids (Triplehorns and Johnson, 2005).
Thus, an intensive or longer period of field
surveying is required to improve our knowl-
edge of natural enemies of
N
.
austeritella
(Blossy, 2007). Parasitoids and other factors
were responsible for the mortality of
N
.
aus-
teritella
individuals during 2008 and 2009
(Table 3). Mortality factors in biological con-
trol agents of weeds have been regarded
as a threat (Zalucki and Van Klinken, 2006;
Zachariades
et al.,
2011). The rate of larval
parasitism of
Caryedon
angeri
, a bruchid
seed-beetle of
P
.
farcta
, by
Rhaconotus ma-
jor
(Hym.: Braconidae) in Turkey varied from
62.3-100% (Sertkaya
et al.,
2005). Parasitism
of larvae and pupae of
Melipotis
indomita
Walker (Lep.: Noctuidae), a biological con-
trol agent of
P
.
glandulosa
, was considered
as an important mortality factor affecting
M
.
indomita
population (Cuda
et al.
, 1990). The
low rate of larval parasitism of
N
.
austeritel-
la
may be due to the fact that moth larvae
are concealed in the pods of
P
.
farcta
and re-
main less vulnerable to the attack by parasi-
toids (Hill and Hulley, 1995; Van Klinken and
Burwell, 2005).
N
.
austeritella
could be used as a poten-
tial biological control agent in an integrat-
ed pest management program against
P
.
farcta
. Further studies would be necessary
to evaluate different aspects of the biology,
demography, behavior, host specificity of
N
.
austeritella
and its possible impact on native
plants and other species of the genus
Pros-
opis
in Iran and neighboring countries (Mc-
Fadyen, 1998; Bourchier
et al.,
2006; Blossy,
2007).
This study was supported by Shiraz University,
Iran. We express our gratitude to Dr W. Gerald
Tremewan (Truro, U.K.) and Dr Mehrdad Par-
chami-Araghi for kindly checking the original
manuscript. We also thank Shirin Roohigohar
(Islamic Azad University, Science and Research
Branch, Tehran, Iran) for preparing the distri-
bution map.
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