Primary studies on the parasitoid fauna of Coccoidea in cultivated and non-cultivated areas in the east Mediterranean region of Turkey

The parasitoid fauna of Coccoidea in cultivated and noncultivated areas was studied in the east Mediterranean region of Turkey in 1994-1997. In total, 25 parasitoid species belonging to Aphelinidae, Encyrtidae, and Eulophidae (Hymenoptera) were reared from 21 different scale hosts. On crop plants, mainly citrus and peach, 13 parasitoids from eleven Coccoidea hosts were determined while 14 parasitoid species were obtained from twelve scale insects on non-cultivated plants. Seven parasitoid species are new records for the Turkish insect fauna. Only one of them was found on citrus, while the other six species were sampled in non-cultivated areas. The most common parasitoids encountered were Aphytis melinus DeBach, Encarsia berlesei (Howard) (Aphelinidae), Comperiella bifasciata Howard (Encyrtidae), and Metaphycus flavus (Howard) (Eulophidae) in cultivated areas and Coccophagus lycimnia (Walker) (Aphelinidae) in non-cultivated areas. All other parasitoids species were obtained only from a few scale insects hosts.