Capsella bursa-pastoris Is a Key Overwintering Plant for Aphids in the Mediterranean Region.

The reproduction of aphids depends to a great extent on their host plants, an integration that impacts on the successful expansion of overwintering populations. Therefore, a survey was conducted to evaluate the globally distributed Capsella bursa-pastoris as an overwintering host of economically important aphid species, their parasitoids and hyperparasitoids in the southern and western regions of Turkey from November to March in 2006 to 2013. During this survey, 395 samples of C. bursa-pastoris were collected with 25 aphid species recorded. Among aphids that feed on this host, Myzus persicae, Aphis gossypii, Rhopalosiphum padi, Aphis fabae, Aphis craccivora, Lipaphis erysimi, and Brevicoryne brassicae were the most frequently recorded. In total, 10,761 individual parasitoids were identified. Binodoxys angelicae, Aphidius colemani, Aphidius matricariae, Diaeretiella rapae, Ephedrus persicae, and Lysiphlebus confusus were the most abundant aphidiines that emerged from the aphids collected from C. bursa-pastoris. Alloxysta spp. (Hymenoptera: Cynipoidea), Chalcidoidea (unidentified at genus level), and Dendrocerus spp. (Hymenoptera: Ceraphronoidea) were identified as hyperparasitoids on the parasitoids. These findings indicate that C. bursa-pastoris is a key non-agricultural plant that significantly contributes to the overwintering of numerous aphids and their parasitoids, which should be given serious consideration when biological control strategies are designed.

Annotated Systematic Checklist of the Aphids (Hemiptera: Aphidomorpha) of Turkey.

This comprehensive checklist of aphids presents a total of 591 species, including 26 subspecies, from 147 genera belonging to 15 subfamilies in three families distributed over three superfamilies of Aphidomorpha recorded from 1903 to 2020 in Turkey. In the current list, the systematic positions with the genus and species names of some taxa have been revised, and some species have been downgraded to subspecies in accordance with recent changes in nomenclature. Seven species have been removed from the Turkish fauna and four species that were not included in the previous checklist have been added to the list. Also, 59 of the listed species (about 10% of Aphidomorpha) are evaluated as alien to the Turkish fauna, and the distribution of all species in Turkey is given.

A new Caryophyllaceae-feeding species of Macrosiphum (Hemiptera: Aphididae) in Republic of Georgia, and a redescription of Macrosiphum hartigi Hille Ris Lambers.

Apterous and alate viviparous females and the alate males of Macrosiphum eastopi Barjadze & Blackman sp. n. living on Oberna multifida Ikonn. (=Silene multifida Rohrb.) (Caryophyllaceae) are described from the Republic of Georgia (Caucasus). Type specimens are deposited at the Institute of Zoology, Ilia State University (IZISU), Tbilisi, Georgia; the Natural History Museum (BMNH), London, U.K.; and the University of Catania (UCI), Sicily, Italy. Apterous and alate viviparous females of its close relative M. hartigi Hille Ris Lambers, 1947, living on Silene vulgaris (Moench) Garcke and Stellaria holostea L. (Caryophyllaceae) are redescribed, based on co-types and other material from Austria, France, Italy and Switzerland. The hitherto unknown fundatrix, oviparous females and alate males of M. hartigi are described from Italy and Switzerland. Macrosiphum eastopi sp. n. is differentiated from the morphologically similar M. hartigi and compared with other Macrosiphum species living on Caryophyllaceae. A key is provided to apterous viviparous females of all aphid species recorded on Oberna multifida.

Two new species of Aphidini Latreille, 1802 (Hemiptera: Aphididae) from Turkey.

Apterous and alate viviparous females of Protaphis kvavadzei sp. n. on Eryngium campestre (Apiaceae) and Aphis matricariae sp. n. on Matricaria sp. (Asteraceae) from Turkey are described. The new species are differentiated from other aphids colonising these host plants and from species with similar morphology.

A new genus of Macrosiphini Wilson, 1910 (1887) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) from Rhododendron in Turkey.

Rhododendraphis tuatayae gen. n., sp. n. living on Rhododendron sp. (Ericaceae) in Turkey is described based on apterous viviparous females. The new genus is morphologically most similar to Rostratusaphis Fang and Qiao, 2009, but differs in several important characters. Differences between the new genus and other aphid genera with a spinulose second tarsal segment living on Rhododendron spp. worldwide are described. Type specimens are deposited at the Natural History Museum of London (BMNH).

Insect species damage on ornamental plants and saplings of Bartin Province and its vicinity in the Western Black Sea region of Turkey.

The objectives of this study were to identify harmful insect species, understand their biology, assess their damage potential and target plants and define distribution areas. There are a lot of native or cultured ornamental plants in Bartin and its surrounding (Caycuma, Zonguldak, Karabük, Mengen, Devrek). These plants are herbaceous and woody species. Specimens were collected from various cultured and non-cultured plants. A total of 34 species belonging to 20 families of 5 orders were identified. The order Hemiptera was represented by the highest number of species (19 species), followed by Coleoptera (8), Lepidoptera (4), Orthoptera (2), and Dermaptera (1). Insect samples were collected from plants by net traps, special insect aspirators, and various insect traps. The identified species have been stored in the collection room of the Forest Entomology and Protection Unit, Bartin Forestry Faculty, Zonguldak Karaelmas University (Z.K.U.), Turkey. This is the first detailed study about insect species causing damage on ornamental plants and saplings of Bartin province and its vicinity, although similar studies of different regions exist. This research makes a very important contribution to the insect fauna of Bartin, its environs and Turkey. Twenty four of the identified species were new for Bartin and its vicinity, while the remainder had been previously recorded in different parts of Bartin.