Silva Balcanica, 16(1)/2015

Epidiaspis gennadii (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) – a new host of Zaomma lambinus (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae)

Georgi Georgiev, Plamen Mirchev, Margarita Georgieva Forest Research Institute – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

Peter Boyadzhiev University of

Katia Trencheva University of Forestry – Sofia

Absract

Epidiaspis gennadii was found as a host of Zaomma lambinus in . The samples (parts of Pistacia terebinthus branches) were collected on 7 April 2014 in the region of Madzharovo in Eastern Rhodopes. In laboratory conditions, one female specimen of Z. lambinus was reared on 13 May 2014 from seven studied specimens of E. gennadii. The established host-parasitoid relationship is new for science.

Key words: Epidiaspis gennadii, Zaomma lambinus, new host-parasitoid re- lationship, Bulgaria

Epidiaspis gennadii (Leonardi, 1898) (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) is an East Med- iterranean species, trophically associated with different hosts of the genus Pistacia (Anacardiaceae) (Balachowsky, 1954; Davatchi, 1958; Longo et al., 1995; Gregoriou, 2001; Ben-Dov, 2006; Kaydan et al., 2007; Milonas et al., 2008; Seljak, 2010; Şişman, Ülgentürk, 2010). In Bulgaria, it was established occasionally while studying egg parasitoids of Thaumetopoea solitaria (Freyer, 1838) (Lepidoptera: Notodontidae) on Pistacia terebinthus L. in the region of (Georgiev et al., 2012). The cosmopolitan Zaomma lambinus (Walker, 1838) (Hymenoptera: Encyrti- dae) is distributed in Palaearctic, Oriental, Nearctic, Afro-tropical, Neotropical and Australian regions (Mitroiu, 2013). The species is known as primary and second- ary parasitoid with a wide range of hosts from many families of Hemiptera, Hy- menoptera and Diptera orders (Noyes, 2015). In Bulgaria, Z. lambinus was previ- ously reported as a parasitoid of Lepidosaphes ulmi (Linnaeus, 1758) (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) (Trjapitzin, 1989, 2001). In this survey E. gennadii and Z. lambinus were also established while studying

105 egg parasitoids of T. solitaria in Eastern Rhodopes. The biological material (egg mass- es of T. solitaria with parts of P. terebinthus branches) were collected on 7 April 2014 in the region of town of Madzharovo near River (41°38’50.1”N; 25°52’54.3”E) at 200 m a.s.l. A total of 25 egg masses were collected and studied in laboratory condi- tions using protocol described by Georgiev et al. (2012) and Mirchev et al. (2014). On 13 May 2014, one female specimen of Z. lambinus emerged from an E. gennadii scale near an egg batch of T. solitaria (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1. Exit hole of Z. lambinus in a scale of E. gennadii near eggs of T. solitaria

The final analyses showed that only seven specimens of E. gennadii were established on four from out of 25 samples. In this case, the parasitism of the host caused by Z. lambinus was 14.3%. With exception of Ivaylovgrad, Madzharovo is the second known locality of E. gennadii in Bulgaria. The length and diameter of collected parts of P. terebin- thus branches were 28.0-58.0 (40.92 ± 8.36) mm and 3.7-8.0 (5.45 ± 1.16) mm, respectively, and therefore the population density of E. gennadii was relatively low – about 4 specimens/dm2. Representatives of Diaspididae family are preferred hosts of Z. lambinus including Lepidosaphes pistaciae Archangelskaya on Pistacia vera L. (Noyes, 2015). In Bulgaria, another encyrtid, Habrolepis montenegrina Hoffer, 1976 (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) was recently found as new parasitoid of E. gennadii on P. terebinthus (Georgiev et al., 2012).

106 In conclusion it should be noted that the present record reveals a new host- parasitoid relationship and expands the host range of Z. lambinus.

Acknowledgments: We are very grateful to Dr. Serguei V. Triapitsyn, Principal Museum Sci- entist and Quarantine Supervisor, Department of Entomology, University of California, for identifica- tion of Zaomma lambinus.

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