Notalepid. 27 (1): 33^0 33 Blastodacna libanotica Diakonoff, 1939 - a pest on pear in Turkey (Agonoxenidae) Sjaak (J.C.) Koster1 Hikmet Özbek2 Irfan Aslan2 & Twan (A.L.M.) Rutten3 , , 1 National museum ofNatural History Naturalis, PO Box 9517, 2300 RA Leiden, Netherlands; e-mail: [email protected] 2 Atatürk University, Faculty ofAgriculture, Department ofPlant Protection, 25240 Erzurum, Turkey; e-mail: [email protected] 3 Institute ofPlant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, Corrensstrasse 3, 06466 Gatersleben, Germany; e-mail: [email protected] Abstract.BlastodacnalibanoticaDiakonoff, 1939 (Agonoxenidae)isrecordedforthefirsttimetodam- age pear trees (Pyrus sp.) during the larval stage. The observation has been made in Oltu, district of Erzurumprovince(Turkey).The larvaemakegalls intheyoung shoots. Smalltreesdonot surviveheavy infestationwiththispest. Thebiology is discussedandthe external characters ofthe moth andthe male and female genitalia, as well as the immature stages, are illustrated. Key words. Blastodacna,Agonoxenidae,lifehistory,taxonomy,pestspecies,Pyrus,Turkey,Palaearctic. Introduction Moths (Lepidoptera) can have an enormous impact on agriculture, forestry and stored products. Many species can cause severe damage to fruit and crops. For example, in the familyTineidae, the larvae ofthe clothes moths Trichophaga tapetzella (Linnaeus, 1758) and Tineola bisselliella (Hummel, 1823) are well known to feed indoors on manufactured goods of animal origin such as wool and hair. In the family Oecophoridae the larvae of Hofmannophila pseudospretella (Stainton, 1849) and Endrosis sarcitrella (Linnaeus, 1758) feed on dead animal and vegetable matter, and can be harmful to stored products and museum collections. In the Pyralidae the species of Ephestia Guenée, 1845 and Cadra Walker, 1864 are notorious for the damage to stored products; and several other species of the subfamily Phycitinae canbe harmful to fruit and coniferous trees (Baker 1983). However, the largest group of species that can influence our way of life belong to the Tortricidae. More than 400 species ofthis family attack crops and fruit or cause severe damage to deciduous & and coniferous trees (van der Geest Evenhuis 1991). In the rather small family Agonoxenidae, Haplochrois theae (Kusnetsov, 1915) is a serious pest ofthe tea plant. The genus Blastodacna Wocke, 1876 belongs to the same family, and Blastodacna atra (Haworth, 1828) has been reported as a pest on apple {Malus sp.) (Miles 1930; Balachowsky 1934). The larvae ofBlastodacna, from the few species of which the immature stages have been described, live in twigs or fruits of woody Rosaceae. Pupation takes place in a cocoon in the feeding place or in crevices of the bark of the food plant. The genus has a Holarctic distribution, but most species have been described from the Palaearctic region. Here we report for the first time damage caused by a second species of that genus, B. libanotica Diakonoff, 1939 on pear and wild pear. ©Notalepidopterologica,28.06.2004,ISSN0342-7536 34 Kosteretal.: Blastodacna libanotica Material and Methods Galls caused by B. libanotica were first found in August 2001 on the twigs ofwild pear(Pyrus elaegrifolia) on aroadside 4 kmwest ofOltu, inthe province ofErzurum, Turkey (Figs. 1, 2). The city ofOltu is locatednearatributary ofthe CoruhRiver. Thme observations were made along a narrow valley, starting from an altitude of2000 m and descending to 700 over a distance ofmore than 100 km. Pear plantations can m be found in this valley from the Black Sea coastup to 1400 altitude. Although wild pear trees are abundant up to 2200 m, infested trees were only found up to 1600 m; m trees higherup thanthis showedno infestation. Between 1000-1400 cultivatedpear m trees are not very abundant, but wild pear trees are more common. Below 1000 there are many orchards growing apple, pear and other fruit in mixed orchards. In the summer of 2003 a survey was conducted to detect the presence ofthis insect along the valleys ofUzundere, Tortum and Ispirwhich are fruit-growing areas. Itwas found that the trees in these locations were also infested with this pest, but the population density was very low compared with that in Oltu. Both cultivated and wild pear trees are infested, but small wild pears much more heavily so than bigger trees. The dam- age caused by this pest resulted in the death ofseveral small wild pear trees. 29 and 4c? ofB. libanotica have been reared from Turkey, Erzurum, Oltu-Subatik, 1300 m, 4-12.iii.2002, leg. H. Özbek. The immature stages ofthis species have not been depicted before. Detailed pictures ofthe larvae and pupae were prepared with a SEM operated by Twan Rutten. For SEM observations, larvae and pupae were dehy- drated in an ethanol series of50%, 70%, 90% and 100% (2x), each step lastingat least 15 minutes. Samples were then critical point dried in a Bal-Tec CPD030 critical point dryer(Bal-TecAg, Liechtenstein). Dried samples were attachedto analuminium sam- ple block and gold coated in an Edwards S150B sputter coater (Edwards high vacu- um inc., Crawley, West Sussex, UK). Examination of the specimens and digital recordings were made in a Hitachi S4100 SEM (Hisco Europe, Ratingen, Germany) and saved as tif-files. Due to the dimensions oflarvae and pupae, several recordings were required to produce overview images. The complete picture was obtained by subsequent editing in Photoshop 6.0. Nota lepid. 27 (1): 33^0 35 Blastodacna libanotica Diakonoff, 1939 Diagnosis.The species ofthe genusBlastodacna are small moths with a wingspan mainly of 9-15 mm, and have dark forewings with rather conspicuous tufts ofraised scales. Blastodacna libanotica (Fig. 3) canbe distinguished from the other species in Europe and adjacent areas by the rather large wingspan, 14-15 mm, and by the forewing which has a white costal streak and a white-outlined triangular mark beyond the Fig. 3. Blastodacna libanotica Diakonoff, middle. For more detailed descriptions of the 9(watercolourJ.C.Koster). adults and me male and female genitalia 0f Blastodacna species fromthe western Palaearctic region see Koster& Sinev (2003). Fromthe four species ofBlastodacna known from the eastern Palaearctic region, B. pyrigalla (Yang, 1977), known from China and Korea, is very closely related to B. libanotica or possibly even conspecific. Description of immature stages. Ovum. Light brown (Talhouk 1948). This author describes the eggs as light brown, but his observation is from shrunken eggs in a rearing case which never hatched. In comparison with other species ofBlastodacna, the eggs ofB. atra and B. hellerella are translucent white, later they become opaque and yellowish, and finally brownish (Miles 1930, 1932). Larva. Rather short and fat. Head dark brown with six conspicuous whitish ocelli on each side in an oval grouping (Fig. 4); mandibles (Fig. 5) light brown; fronto- clypeus whitish. Prothoracic plate dark brown, mixed whitish and divided dorsally; anal plate small, dark brown. Thoracic legs (Fig. 6) laterally with a dark brown posterior band on each segment. Abdomen bone-white; abdominal prolegs (Fig. 7) and anal prolegs (Fig. 8) whitish, a dark brown band above both anal prolegs. Length 5.5-6.5 mm. The larvae of B. atra and B. hellerella vary from greyish white to brownish pink, are more slender and have longer setae (Miles 1930, 1932). Pupa (Figs. 9-1 1). Palebrown, anteriorandposteriorparts darker. Length 5.5-6 mm. Wing sheaths rather short, reaching halfway along abdominal segment six. This is in contrast with B. atra, where the wing sheaths almost reach the end ofthe abdomen (Réal 1966). Ventrally on the combined ninth and tenth segment are two long leg-like protrusions at an angle of 30°-60° with the abdomen (Fig. 12). Anteriorly they are densely covered with hooked setae (Fig. 13). Cremaster absent. Life history. Oviposition takes place in spring. Despite several attempts, oviposition was not observed. B. pyrigalla lays its eggs around the base ofthe buds ofPyrus sp., and, afterhatching, the young larvae move to a new twig and bore into the stem (Park 1986). The B. libanotica female also prefers to lay her eggs on new shoots. This was ascertained by attaching infected twigs to a small wild pear tree in early spring of 2002. A total of33 galls were made by the larvae from those infected twigs. All but two ofthe galls were found in the young shoots. The remaining two were made in shoots ofthe previous year's growth. 36 Kosteretal.: Blastodacna libanotica Figs. 4-7. Features ofthe larva ofBlastodacna libanotica Diakonoff(SEM photos byA.L.M. Rutten). 4. Head ofthe larva (scale bar 200um). 5. Mouthparts ofthe larva showing the mandibles (scale bar 40 urn). 6. Thoracic legs ofthe larva (scale bar 90 um). 7. Abdominal prolegs ofthe larva (scale bar 200 urn). The larva makes a gallery in a thin twig in summer and early autumn. The gallery starts inwards at an angle ofabout 30° to the long axis ofthe twig, is then directed upward, later again in an angle of about 30° (Fig. 14). This activity causes the mm mm development ofan elongate gall 11.5-13.5 in length and 7.3-8.6 in width. The gall is more or less constricted in the middle and with a rounded opening at the lower end (Fig. 15). Prior to pupation the larva enlarges the exit-hole and smoothes a circular area around its perimeter. Pupation takes place inside the gall at the end ofautumn (Fig. 16). There can be more than one gall in a twig. All exit-holes were also in the lower part ofthe galls, except in united galls (Fig. 17), but the polished circle around it was not always visible. From 15 July several galls were opened every two days to follow the process ofthe construction ofthe exit-holes and the stage towards pupation. On 15 July very small holes could already be observed by the extrusion ofsome grains ofsawdust. Four days later they had been enlarged to maximum size. By 30 July all dissected galls contained larvae in the last instar, and after this date pupae were also Notalepid. 27(1): 33-40 ^7 8 1 90(im 1 Figs. 8-13. Features ofthe pupa ofBlastodacna libanotica Diakonoff(SEM photos byA.L.M. Rutten). 8.Anal prolegs ofthe larva (scale bar 90 urn). 9. Pupa in dorsal view (scale bar 500 urn). 10. Pupa in lateral view(scalebar500 urn). 11. Pupa in ventral view (scalebar500 urn). 12. Leg-likeprotrusions at posterior end ofpupa (scale bar 200 urn). 13. Hooked setae on the leg-like protrusions with remains of silkofthe cocoon (scale bar40 urn). found. On 10 September almost all ofthe dissected galls containedpupae. The larvae, as well as the pupae, were found with their heads directed towards the exit-holes. The larva constructs a cocoon inthe lowerpart ofthe gallery inwhich the pupa hiber- nates. Both abdominal protrusions are firmly embedded into the silk ofthe cocoon, and hold the pupa in place during emergence ofthe adult. 38 Kosteretal.: Blastodacna libanotica Fig. 14-17. Features ofthe galls ofBlastodacna libanotica Diakonoff(photos H. Özbek). 14. Longi- tudinal section ofthe gall with the upward part ofthe gallery. 15. Gall with exit-hole (scalebarlO mm). 16. Longitudinal section ofthe gall with the pupa, its head directedtowardthe exit-hole. 17.Twigswith united galls. Nota lepid. 27 (1): 33^0 39 Adults appeared from 25 April to 10 May. In Lebanon, emergence ofthe adults had already started in February and lasted until May. The later appearance of adults in Turkey is possibly due to different latitude and the higher altitude. Host plant. Pyrus sp. (Rosaceae), butTalhouk (1948) also reported a few galls on hawthorn {Crataegus sp.). The hostplant ofthe sibling B. pyrigalla is also pear, but it has also been found on peach {Prunus persica) and persimmon {Diospyros kaki, Ebenaceae) (Park 1986). Parasites. No parasites were found in the Turkish material. Talhouk (1948) men- tioned the rearing ofseveral specimens ofPimplinae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) from distorted galls, later reported as belonging to the genus Lissonota Gravenhorst, 1829 (Herting & Simmonds 1975). Distribution. B. libanotica has been described from specimens reared from galls on pear found inAley, Lebanon in 1933 (Diakonoff 1939). In 1938 and following years, galls were also found in Abaydieh, Lebanon (Talhouk 1948). The first record for Turkeywas made by Koster & Sinev (2003), this with reference to a female specimen from Gebse, 50 km east ofIstanbul, collected by Glaser in 1969. Some authors also mention Syria, referring to the original description (Diakonoff 1939), but in those days Lebanon was a part of Syria. It is remarkable that this species on wild and cultivatedpearhas so far onlybeenrecorded from Lebanon and easternTurkey. Since it occurs as a pest on economically important plants, surveys should be conducted to determine possible infestation in other parts of the country, as well as in other Middle East countries. Conclusion. B. libanotica is here shown to be apest on wild and cultivatedpeartrees inTurkey forthe firsttime. It canbe regarded as aminorpest inthe fruit growing area along the valleys ofOltu, Uzundere, Tortum, and Ispir. However, it has been observed that wild pear trees, particularly the small ones, were more attractive than the culti- vated pear trees. Heavily infested branches ofsome wild pear trees were completely withered, which could cause the death ofsmall trees. It is possible that infested wild pear trees will act as a reservoir of infestation for future pear plantations in these areas. When the main shoot ofcultivated trees is infested, its growth is retarded and this induces an increased development ofthe lateral shoots. Acknowledgements WillyDe Prins (Antwerp, Belgium) is acknowledgedforpointingoutthe existence oftheTurkishmate- rialto Sjaak Köster. We also thank Erik vanNieukerken (Leiden, Netherlands) forhis comments on an earlierdraftofthemanuscript andJohn Langmaid (Southsea, U.K.) forcorrecting the English text. References Baker,C.R. 1983.Pestspecies.Pp. 71-91.-In: J.Heath(ed.),ThemothsandbutterfliesofGreatBritain andIreland 1. -Harley Books, Colchster. Balachowsky,A. 1934. 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