Masood Amir-Maafi

• PhD
• Professor (Associate) at Iranian Research Institute of Plant Protection

The carob moth, E. ceratoniae, is one of the most destructive agricultural pests worldwide. Although chemical control is a common method for managing this species, the negative impacts of synthetic insecticides on non-target species, public health, and the environment have led to an increased interest in developing safer pest control products. Pest...

The two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch, is one of the most destructive bean pests in the central part of Iran. Spider mites feeding on bean leaves cause physiological changes in the plant, which coupled with favorable environmental conditions can lead to increased mite infestations. Significant yield loss can occur in the absence of...

This paper reviews and introduces innovative research pertaining to the age-stage, two-sex life table. The main topics discussed are: (1) Analysis of data involving group-reared life table studies. We address the rationale behind the data analysis used when constructing a group-reared life table. Proper analysis of grouped-reared life table data en...

The Scuttle fly, Eurygaster integriceps Puton (Hemiptera: Scutelleridae) is a key pest of wheat and barley. The pest is univoltine and migrates from wheat fields following harvest to high elevations; then, the following spring it moves back to the fields. Natural enemies may have an important role in decreasing the population’s level in overwinteri...

Short note on TWOSEX-MSChart: the key tool for life table research and education.

In this research, functional responses of Amblyseius swirskii Athias-Henriot preying on different Tetranychus urticae Koch nymphal densities (2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, and 128) were studied at eight constant temperatures (15, 20, 25, 27.5, 30, 32.5, 35 and 37.5°C) in a circular Petri dish (3-cm diameter × 1-cm height) under lab conditions. At all temper...

The carob moth, Ectomyelois ceratoniae Zeller, is the most important pest on pomegranate fruits and has several overlapping generations per year in Iran. This paper investigated the use of a mechanistic model for describing the effect of the control strategy on the size of the total population of the carob moth. The analytical solution of mechanist...

In this study, temperature-dependent oviposition model of Amblyseius swirskii Athias-Henriot fed by Tetranychus urticae Koch as prey was developed. In order to obtain data for the model, the longevity, fecundity and survivorship of adult females of A. swirskii were recorded at seven different temperatures (15, 20, 25, 27.5, 30, 32.5 and 35 °C) all...

Ephestia kuehniella Zeller, is a major pest in stored products, and a host resurgence for rear natural enemies. Understanding the relation between temperature variations and the life table parameters of E. kuheniella is necessary to predicting its population dynamics and improve the efficiency of mass rearing through determining the optimal tempera...

In this study, developmental time of Amblyseius swirskii Athias-Henriot feeding on immature stages of Tetranychus urticae Koch was evaluated at eight constant temperatures (15, 20, 25, 27.5, 30, 32.5, 35, and 37.5 °C) providing 60±5% RH and a photoperiod of 16 L: 8 D. Duration of the egg to adult developmental time decreased sharply with increasing...

The development of the Mediterranean flour moth, Ephestia kuehniella (Zeller), was evaluated at 10, 15, 17.5, 20, 22.5, 25, 27.5, 30 and 32.5°C with no lighting. None successfully completed development at 10 and 32.5°C. The total development time from egg to adult emergence was 164, 140, 98, 76, 61, 62 and 50 days, respectively, at the remaining te...

Two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch is a serious pest of different crops over the world. Different strategies are used to regulate the population of this mite. To this end, as a first step, a population growth model has been developed for describing the dynamics of T. urticae population growth. In this regard, the population abundance...

In this study, we examined the fecundity, survival, and adult longevity of Ephestia kuehniella (Zeller) at different temperatures (15, 17.5, 20, 22.5, 25, 27.5, and 30 �C), and developed a model of oviposition. The fecundity, survival, and adult longevity of E. kuehniella were affected by temperature. Longevity reduced from 15.7 d at 15 �C to 8.79...

Life table parameters of the bird cherry-oat aphid, (Rhopalosiphum padi L.) were determined on different barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) varieties. Experiments were carried out under laboratory condition of 26±1ºC, 65±5% RH and photoperiod of 16:8 (L:D) hours. Newborn first instar nymphs of the same age were reared on the leaves of six barley varieties...

Life table of almond moth, Cadra cautella Walker was studied on four main dry and semi-dry date palm varieties (Deyri, Zahedi, Piarom, and Rabbi) of Iran under laboratory conditions. Data were analyzed based on the age-stage, two-sex life table theory. Duration of total preadult stages was 42.54, 45.79, 51.48 and 50.41 days on Deyri, Zahedi, Piarom...

Reliable and practical sampling programs are essential for the effective utilization of control tactics in integrated pest management systems. In order to estimating the English grain aphid, Sitobion avenae (F.), population in wheat fields, the optimum sample size required was studied for fixed precision levels recommended for research (0.10) and i...

Sunn Pest, Eurygaster integriceps Puton (Hemiptera: Scutelleridae), is the most serious pest of wheat in West and Central Asia. Following harvest, the pest migrates from wheat fields to high elevations to escape high summer temperatures and, the following spring, moves back to the fields. In this work, Sunn Pest populations were monitored in 21 ove...

زنبور Trissolcus grandis Thomson، مهم‌ترین پارازیتویید انفرادی تخم سن گندم،Eurygaster integriceps Puton، است. بااین‌که این حشره دارای پراکنش وسیعی در ایران می‌باشد، اما غالباً نقش آن نادیده گرفته شده است. هدف از این بررسی تعیین ویژگی‌های زیستی و بهینه‌سازی روش پرورش این پارازیتویید به‌منظور کاربرد آن در برنامه‌های کنترل بیولوژیک سن گندم بود. میزان...

Trissolcus grandis Thomson is a solitary egg parasitoid of Sunn pest, Eurygaster integriceps Puton. Although widely distributed, it has often been overlooked in field surveys. Our objectives were to develop an efficient rearing technique for T. grandis, and to determine the basic bionomics and demographic parameters, necessary for future augmentati...

Although Iran is the leading producer of dates in the world, only 10% of its product is exported. One of the factors which limits exportation is postharvest pests. Lesser date moth (Batrachedra amydraula) is one of these postharvest pests. This pest is found in all date palm plantations of Iran. The biology of this pest has not been studied under l...

Demography of Habrobracon hebetor (Say) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) on two pyralid host species [Galleria mellonella (L.) and Ephestia kuehniella Zeller] (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) was studied at 28°C in the laboratory. Data were analyzed based on an age-stage, two-sex life table, to take both sexes and variable development into consideration. The intr...

The ubiquitous generalist predator Andrallus spinidens (F.) is found in North Iran, which is dominantly cultivated with rice plants. Live and frozen larvae of Galleria mellonella L. and Ephestia kuehniella Zeller were offered to A. spinidens in order to assess their effects on reproductive performance. Predators consuming either live or frozen larv...

Demography of Habrobracon hebetor (Say) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) on two pyralid host species [Galleria mellonella (L.) and Ephestia kuehniella Zeller] (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) was studied at 28°C in the laboratory. Data were analyzed based on an age-stage, two-sex life table, to take both sexes and variable development into consideration. The intr...

Sunn pest has been recognized as a serious pest of wheat and barley throughout the Near and Middle East and much of the former USSR, for more than 70 years. So a decision support system was developed to assist farmers and extension agents to control this pest. The system consists of sunn pest identification tool and strategic scenario planning to m...