Mehdi Esfandiari

Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz | scu · Department of Plant Protection

One-size-fits-all and related hypotheses predict that static allometry slopes for male genitalia will be consistently lower than 1.0 and lower than the slopes for most other body parts (somatic traits). We examined the allometry of genitalic and somatic morphological traits in males and females of two species of noctuid moths, Spodoptera exigua (Hü...

Although the stem borer Sesamia nonagrioides (Lefèbvre, 1827) is one of the most destructive agricultural pests in South and Southwest Iran, the structure of these populations is not yet well understood. In this study, we sequenced two mitochondrial genes (CO1 and Cyt-b) of populations collected in cultivated sugarcane and rice in South and Southwe...

A new species of the genus Leptologia Prout, 1901, L. malaqai sp. n., is described from a female holotype, which was collected from Malaqa Village in Khuzestan Province, southwest Iran. The new taxon and the closely related species are illustrated with imagines in colour. A description of the female genitalia is presented.

The larvae of certain species in the Noctuidae family cause significant economic damage annually. Due to the importance of this group, specimens of the subfamily Noctuinae, specifically from the tribe Leucaniini, collected from the Fars, Ilam, Kerman and Khuzestan provinces were studied. As a result, among the nine identified and studied species fr...

Polymixis mossadeghi sp. n. from the Zagros Mountains of Iran is described as new to science. The new species is the seventh species of the subgenus Eremophysa Boursin, 1858 that occurs in Iran, all with Iranian type locality. It is compared with its close relative, P. gracilis (Brandt, 1941), together with depicting the adult wing pattern and male...

Larvae of numerous Noctuidae and Nolidae species have significant annual economic losses in agriculture. DNA-based diagnostics have been proposed as an effective way to accelerate the identification and discovery of new species. This study aimed to determine the utility of up to 642 bp Cytochrome c Oxidase subunit I (COI) barcodes for identifying 1...

The species list of Dytiscidae of Iran has been composed using recently studied material and all literature data known to us. We report 139 species of Iranian diving beetles including one Dytiscus species of uncertain taxonomic position. Two species, Agabus amoenus Solsky, 1874 and Copelatus pulchellus (Klug, 1834) are recorded for the first time f...

A microemulsion is a stable, homogeneous pesticide formulation, based on an aqueous solvent, which is considered as a suitable alternative to emulsion formulations. In this study, microemulsion formulations of deltamethrin insecticide were designed to control Aphis gossypii Glover (Hemiptera: Aphididae), one of the important pests of many crops and...

This paper is a part of a long-term study on the Noctuidae fauna of Kerman province. Here we report the newly identified species, which were collected mostly in the South of this province during the years 2015 and 2016. Totally, here we report 30 Noctuidae taxa from 13 genera and six subfamilies namely: Acronictinae (five taxa), Amphipyrinae (three...

Amblyseius swirskii Athias-Henriot has attracted substantial attention as a biological control agent. The life history traits, and functional and numerical responses of A. swirskii fed on Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) was studied under laboratory conditions (25±1°C, 60±5% RH and 16 L: 8D). Predatory mite was able to feed and complete its development o...

A microemulsion is a stable, homogeneous pesticide formulation, based on an aqueous solvent, which is considered a suitable alternative to emulsion formulations. In this study, microemulsion formulations of cypermethrin insecticide were designed to control Aphis gossypii Glover (Hemiptera: Aphididae), one of the important pests of many crops and or...

Sexual dimorphism has been observed in various Lepidoptera species, with the majority exhibiting female-biased sexual size dimorphism. As the first geometric morphometric study on Catocala wings, we sought to determine the sexual dimorphism in the wing size and shape of Catocala abacta and C. brandti, as two sympatric congeneric species, and their...

Introduction Noctuidae species are herbivores as caterpillars and some of them are most destructive crop pests. Moreover, they role as pollinators and prey in ecosystem. Early researches on Noctuidae of Iran were published more than 150 years ago. In recent two decades, Iranian researchers investigated the Noctuidae fauna of Iran and published seve...

In this paper, Amphipyra kautti Hacker, 2002 which was collected from Zagros Mountain ranges is newly reported for the fauna of Iran. Another species from Amphipyrinae which was collected during our survey is also presented.Sampling was carried out by light traps powered by 12-volt batteries and 8-watt UVB light tubes. Materials were deposited in t...

Background and Objectives Macrochelidae are cosmopolitan free-living predators that inhabit habitats rich in decaying organic matter, such as manure. They feed primarily on small arthropods and nematodes. Macrochelidae predators are considered beneficial mites that have been identified as promising biological control agents for fly eggs and larvae,...

Aenasius bambawalei Hayat (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Encyrtidae) is a solitary endoparasitoid of Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley. It was first found in Iran in 2011 following the introduction of its host, P. solenopsis, in the country in 2009. In order to confirm the identification of A. bambawalei which was based on classic taxonomy, the mitochond...

Pathogenic and non-pathogenic fungi growing on insect’s body cansignificantly affect their biology and population. To identify insect-associated fungi, the life stages of the insects, including larva, pupa and adults (alive or dead and helthy), were collected from different habitats in Golestan and Khuzestan Provinces during 2017-2018 and their ass...

ABS TRACT. Pelopidas thrax (Hübner) (Lep.: Hesperiidae) is a widespread species in southwest Iran. We aimed to use geometric morphometric techniques to investigate the sexual dimorphism and allometric effects associated with the wings of P. thrax. Fore-and hind wings of 40 and 39 individuals, respectively, of each sex which were collected from Ahva...

The genus Agrochola s. l. Hübner, 1821 (Noctuidae, Xyleninae, Xylenini, Xylenina) include more than seventy described species, most of them have a quite typical external habitus. Due to recent revisions on this lineage in the Palaearctic, we decided to update the data of this group in Iran, according to the latest synonymy information and distribut...

Background and Objectives Macrocheles muscaedomesticae (Scopoli) is the most common mite found in cow and poultry manure worldwide. It feeds on manure-dwelling flies and spreads via flies. According to studies conducted in Khuzestan, Iran, and other countries, this is the dominant predator mite of immature the house flies, Musca domestica L. in dom...

Camelina is an annual oilseed plant of the Brassicaceae. Resistance to some diseases and pests of other members of Brassicaceae plants is one of the important features of Camelina. In the experimental sowing of this plant in Ahvaz in the cropping year 2018-2019, while the seeds were still immature, silicles shattering was observed in some camelina...

With the aim of isolation and identification of insect-associated fungi, the life stages of insects from different orders, including Coleoptera, Dermaptera and Lepidoptera, were collected from habitats in Golestan and Khuzestan Provinces (Iran) and studied, which led to the isolation of five chaetomium-like strains belonging to four taxa. DNA seque...

The strawberry spider mite, Tetranychus turkestani Ugarov & Nikolski, is one of the most important pests of different field and glasshouse crops in Iran. The objectives of the current study were to determine developmental time, survival, reproduction and life table parameters of T. turkestani on three plant species: cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.), w...

Noctuidae species are mostly plant feeding as caterpillars and nectar feeding as adults, functioning as herbivores, pollinators and prey, as well as include many species of economic importance. Here we intended to contribute to the fauna of seven Noctuidae subfamilies Metoponinae, Eustriotinae, Acontiinae, Cuculliinae, Oncocnemidinae, Psaphidinae a...

Introduction: Ants are the most ubiquitous insects on the earth with more than 12000 species which are classified into 21 subfamilies. Until now, more than 170 ant species have recorded in Iran. Mutualistic relationship between ants and scale insects have been reported in Iran. Such relationships between ants and insects are known as trophobiosis w...

Butterflies are with about 19,000 species one of the best-known groups of insects and include five families in Iran. In the present work, we studied the butterflies of the “Insect and Mite Collection of Ahvazˮ located at the Department of Plant Protection, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz which dates back to 55 years ago. All butterfly species de...

Foraging parasitoids often adjust their foraging behavior according to the conditions they encounter. In this study the effects of age and experience on foraging and oviposition behaviors of Fopius carpomyiae Silvestri, was studied on ber fruit fly, Carpomyia vesuviana Costa. For this purpose, synchronous cohorts of F. carpomyiae were established i...

Light, as an environmental factor, affects the biology, physiology and behavior of insects. In this study, the feeding behavior of Hippodamia variegata and parasitism rate of Lysiphlebus fabarum were studied under light and dark conditions. Synchronous cohorts of different growth stages of H. variegata and female parasitoid wasps were produced and...

A new species of Lithostege Hübner, 1825 is described from Iran and the external morphology and genitalia of the male of Lithostege samandooki Rajaei, 2011 are described for the first time. The diagnostic characters separating L. kiabii sp. n. and L. smandooki from their closest relatives are discussed. All relevant characters are illustrated and a...

The holarctic moth genus Catocala Schrank (1802) (Erebidae: Erebinae, Catocalini) includes about 300 species that are often monophagous on oak ( Quercus ), willow ( Salix ) and poplar ( Populus ). In this research, we studied the moths of the genus Catocala in Iran that were collected by light traps in different Iranian provinces, mostly during 201...

Numerous expeditions have been done in Iran during more than 150 years to investigate the Noctuidae fauna. However, still white patches remain to be extensively explored. In this study, night samplings performed by light traps at different Iranian provinces to study some tribes of Noctuinae. Here, we present 43 species and subspecies, among them th...

The ladybird Hyperaspis polita (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) occurs in the coastal areas of East Mediterranean and dry lands in southwest Asia. It is one of the important predatory coccinellids in southern Iran including Khuzestan Province. In this study, we examined life history traits and life table parameters of H. polita fed on the important citr...

Background and objectives The cotton aphid, Aphis gossypii, is an important pest on greenhouse crops such as the cucumber. Natural enemies have often been used successfully to control greenhouse pests. Among different pests, aphids because of their high reproductive rate are particularly difficult to control biologically. Materials and Methods In...

Hyperaspis polita Weise is the major predator of Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley in southwestern Iran. The functional response of fourth instar larva, adult female and male of the ladybird, H. polita, preying upon different stages of the mealybug P. solenopsis was evaluated. All stages of H. polita exhibited type II functional responses against all...

Fopius carpomyiae Silvestri (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) is an egg and rare larval parasitoid of ber fruit fly, Carpomyia vesuviana Costa (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Bushehr and Khozestan provinces. In this research, firstly the synchronous cohorts of F. carpomyiae females were produced. Then the mated females (7-8 days old) were released singly into pe...

Pteromalidae (Hym.: Chalcidoidea) is one of the largest families of parasitoid wasps. Species of this family are the most important natural enemies of many insect pest species belonging to Coleoptera, Diptera, Lepidoptera and Hemiptera and play an important role in the biological control of pests. These wasps are generally 2-4 mm in length and are...

The genus Caradrina Ochsenheimer, 1816 is restricted to Holarctic and Ethiopian regions. Small inconspicuous appearance of its species is such that determination of the well over 150 species is one of the most difficult problems among all Noctuidae. According to light trap samplings which were made in different parts of Iran during 2010-2016, the p...

As there was no record of Miniphila miniago (Freyer, 1840) (Lepidoptera, Noctuinae) from Iran in any recent taxonomic catalogs and due to description of its closest species Miniphila persago (Gyulai & Ronkay, 2006) from Iran, the occurrence of M. miniago in Iran which was reported 40 years ago was doubtful. In this study, specimens identified and r...

The spherical mealybug, Nipaecoccus viridis (Newstead) is one of the major citrus pests with economic importance in the world which also occurs in southern Iran, including Khuzestan province. In this research, prey stage preference and functional response of the coccinellid Hyperaspis polita Weise feeding on N. viridis were studied at 30 ± 1°C, 65...

Maternal rearing conditions are expected to affect fitness components of progeny so that maternal effects effectively protect offspring from environmental stressors. The objective of this study was to elucidate the interaction between maternal rearing condition, age, and offspring rearing condition in the parasitoid wasp Lysiphlebus fabarum (Marsha...

Loreyi armyworm, Leucania loreyi (Duponchel) (Lep.: Noctuidae) is a cosmopolitan species and one of the most common armyworms reported on rice and some of other important gramineous plants. In Iran, it has been recorded as a pest of maize and sugarcane in southwest of the country. In a survey on rice pests in Guilan province (North of Iran) during...

The melon aphid, Aphis gossypii Glover (Hemiptera: Aphididae), is one of the most important pests causes damage to vegetable both in fields and greenhouses. The biological characteristics related to the efficiency of natural enemies are considered as quality control indices for preliminary screening, prior to release of biological control agents. I...

The broad-spectrum insecticides greatly influence the control of cotton aphids; however, due to frequent chemical control, Aphis gossypii (Hemiptera: Aphididae) has developed resistance against several classes of synthetic insecticides. In this study, we explored the sub-lethal effects of imidacloprid and pirimicarb, two commonly used insecticides...

Introdction: The pink hibiscus mealybug, Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Green) (Hem.: Pseudococcidae) is one of the serious economic pests of agricultural crops in tropical and subtropical regions. This pest has spread through Asia, Africa, America and Australia and infests more than 330 host plants which some of them have important role in economy. Thi...

Carabid beetles are a large cosmopolitan family of the Coleoptera which are distributed over broad geographic ranges and in all major terrestrial habitats. In this study, carabid beetles were collectedby light traps in Ahvaz vicinity, Khuzestan province, south-west Iran during 2013. Totally, 21 species belonging to 17 genera of Carabidae were c...

The cotton mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley is an invasive pest species in tropical and subtropical regions and recently has caused severe infestations on Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L. in southern Iran. In the present study, field biology of this pest was investigated on Chinese hibiscus shrubs as its important host plant in Ahvaz during 2013-2...

Two species of the genus Sesamia, Sesamia nonagrioides (Lefèbvre, 1827) and S. cretica Lederer, 1857, have been reported as agricultural pests in Iran. DNA barcoding was used to confirm morphological identifications and achieve a reliable and rapid species identification of these pests when the expertise is limited. Specimens were sampled from host...

Sugarcane is one of the strategic agricultural products of Khuzestan province, Iran. Regarding to large-scale monoculture of sugarcane in this region, there are always concerns on secondary pest outbreaks or emergence of new pests. Therefore, monitoring of insect fauna in sugarcane fields is necessary. Here, we report a chrysomelid beetle, Rhoptris...

aquatic heteroptera hold an important place in the ecology of freshwater ecosystems. The aquatic insect fauna of Khuzestan province in iran has been little explored despite the fact that several rivers cross this province. in this study, undertaken between 2009 and 2011, 11 aquatic and semi-aquatic species of heteroptera representing the families B...

The riparian Carabidae captured from of a section of the Karun River during a primary study of the terrestrial and aquatic insects of Ahvaz city (Khuzestan Province, Iran), in 2009–2010 are recorded.

The influence of parasitoids on population dynamics is affected by host instar preference. The preference pattern of host instars is not fixed and is modified by the availability and relative abundance of host instars, intensity of defensive behaviors in a particular instar, and also maternal effects of the female forager. In this study, host insta...

Coelichneumon singularisBerthoumieu, 1892 is reared from the sugarcane stem borer Sesamia creticaLed. for the first time and newly recorded from south-western Iran.

Hyperaspis polita Weise (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) is one of the most important predators of the cotton mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley (Sternorrhyncha: Coccoidea: Pseudococcidae), in southern Iran. The development, survivorship, longevity, reproduction, and life table parameters of this predator were evaluated at 25, 30, and 35 ± 1 °C, 6...

Melon aphids, Aphis gossypii Glover (Hemiptera: Aphididae), is one of the most important pests causing damages to vegetables fields and greenhouses. In this regard, pesticide application is usually considered as the most common method of pest control. Excessive use of chemical pesticides leads to an increase in pesticide residue found in vegetables...

A list of 20 species and subspecies of Carabidae belonging to nine genera and three subfamilies are reported from date palm gardens and rice fields in south-west Iran. Among them, Tachyura (Sphaerotachys) variabilis (Chaudoir, 1876) is newly recorded for Iran. 956 carabid taxa are currently recorded for Iran.

Hyperaspis polita Weise (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) is one of the most important predators of the cotton mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley (Sternorrhyncha: Coccoidea: Pseudococcidae), in southern Iran. The development, survivorship, longevity, reproduction, and life table parameters of this predator were evaluated at 25, 30, and 35 ± 1 °C, 6...

The cotton mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley, is one of the important pests of Malvaceae plants that have caused serious damage to China rose Hibiscus rosa-sinensis in Khuzestan province recently. The mean pre-imaginal duration of female P. solenopsis at 20, 25 and 35 °C (65±5% R.H. and 14:10 L: D) was 19.02, 16.6 and 13.54 days, respectivel...

A new species of Gaeolaelaps (Acari, Mesostigmata, Laelapidae) is described based on morphological characters of adult females collected from nest of Formica sp. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the Shahrekord Region, Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari province, Iran. A key for the identification of species of Gaeolaelaps with short peritremes is presented.

Melon aphids, Aphis gossypii Glover (Hemiptera: Aphididae), is one of the most important pests causing damages to vegetables fields and greenhouses. In this regard, pesticide application is usually considered as the most common method of pest control. Excessive use of chemical pesticides leads to an increase in pesticide residue found in vegetables...

The genus Euxoa Hübner, [1821] is regarded as the most highly evolved among the genera of the subfamily Noctuinae and contains by far the largest number of species of the subfamily in Europe and in the Palaearctic region. Fifty-four species of this genus has been already reported from Iran. In this paper a list of 17 already recorded species and su...

The cotton mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley has caused serious damage to Chine rose Hibiscus rosa-sinensis recently. Biological characteristics and life table parameters of Nephus arcuatus Kapur feeding on P. solenopsis were studied at 25, 30 and 35 °C under laboratory conditions. The means of developmental time for female and male on the t...

El género Drasteriodes Hampson, 1926, incluye once especies y siete subespecies, de las cuales tres especies y una subespecie estaban registradas previamente de Irán. En este estudio, citamos Drasteriodes kisilkumensis Ershov, 1874, como nuevo registro para la fauna de Irán con ilustraciones de los machos colectados y de sus genitalias, así como no...

Noctuidae is the largest family within the order Lepidoptera, with more than 25000 included species. The Noctuinae is one of the most important and largest subfamily in this family. In order to identify the fauna of the subfamily Noctuinae in Zagros mountain areas of eastern Khuzestan and northern and central Fars provinces, night samplings were...

The genus Drasteriodes Hampson, 1926, includes eight species and seven subspecies, of which, three species and one subspecies were previously reported from Iran. In this study, we report Drasteriodes kisilkumensis Ershov, 1874, as a new record for the fauna of Iran with illustrations of the collected males and its genitalia as well as notes on the...

The strawberry spider mite, Tetranychus turkestani (Ugarov & Nikolski) is one of the important pests of agricultural crops especially within greenhouses. Biology of Orius albidipennis (Reuter) feeding on strawberry spider mite at three different temperatures (20, 25 and 30°C) was studied under laboratory conditions. Preimaginal developmental ti...

Noctuoidea are the largest superfamily of Lepidoptera which have not yet fully investigated in Iran. In order to inventories such important group, faunistic studies on the families Erebidae, Nolidae and Euteliidae were made by light traps mainly in the three Iranian provinces of Fars, Khuzestan and Khorasan-e-Razavi during 2009-2011. Totally, 42 ta...

The strawberry spider mite, Tetranychus turkestani (Ugarov & Nikolski) (Acari: Tetranychidae) is one of the most important pests of agricultural crops in Iran . Orius albidipennis (Reuter) (Hem.: Anthocoridae) is also an active predator of spider mites in agricultural ecosystems in Iran. One of the characters used for the evaluation of predators...

Although the stem borer Sesamia nonagrioides (Lefèbvre, 1827) is one of the most destructive agricultural pests in South and Southwest Iran, the structure of these populations is not yet well understood. In this study, we sequenced two mitochondrial genes (CO1 and Cyt-b) of populations collected in cultivated sugarcane and rice in South and Southwe...

The genus Icerya includes about 35 species in the world that are commonly known as fluted scales because of the fluted appearance of the ovisac. The first known species in Iran is I. purchasi Maskell. The species I. aegyptiaca has the most distribution in the world and also with numerous host plants. At present this species is recorded for the firs...

Beetles of Carabidae or ground beetles are well-known generalist predators of agricultural pests. Because of the vast and diverse agriculture areas in Jiroft, we studied the fauna of Carabidae in different agriculture crop lands of Jiroft. Different methods such as hand picking, pit fall traps and light traps were used in this study, during 2012...

According to the preference-performance hypothesis, female insects will evolve to oviposit on hosts conducive to offspring performance. However, the preference pattern of host instars is not fixed and is modified by the availability and relative abundance of host instars, intensity of defensive behaviors in a particular instar, and also physiologic...