Preliminary communication
FIRST RECORD OF ENTOMOPHAGA MAIMAIGA (ENTOMOPHTHORALES: ENTOMOPHTHORACEAE) IN LYMANTRIA DISPAR POPULATIONS IN GREECE AND THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIAN REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA
Margarita Georgieva
; Forest Research Institute, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria
Georgi Georgiev
; Forest Research Institute, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria
Daniela Pilarska
; Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria / Czech University of Life Sciences, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic,
Plamen Pilarski
; Institute of Plant Physiology and Genetics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria
Plamen Mirchev
; Forest Research Institute, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria
Irena Papazova-Anakieva
; Faculty of Forestry, University in Skopje, Macedonia
Sterja Naceski
; Faculty of Forestry, University in Skopje, Macedonia
Panagiotis Vafeidis
; Forest Department of Xanthi, Greece
Maria Matova
; Forest Research Institute, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria
Abstract
The entomopathogenic fungus Entomophaga maimaiga Humber, Shimazu & Soper (Entomophtorales: Entomophtoraceae) was found for first time in populations of gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar (L.) (Lepidoptera: Erebidae), in Greece and the Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) after its introduction in Bulgaria in 1999. Monitoring studies were conducted in 2012 in oak stands in three sites in the Xanthi region in Greece, and in three sites in FYROM in the Prilep region. Gypsy moth larvae, predominately in fourth to sixth instar, were collected in May and June. During laboratory rearing, mortality of gypsy moth larvae collected in two sites in Greece ranged from 36.4–89.3%. Larval mortality of L. dispar in the three sites in FYROM ranged from 16.7–87.8%. Dead larvae were analysed under light microscopy for presence of E. maimaiga and other entomopathogens. E. maimaiga was recorded from one site in Greece (Kidaris vill.), and in all study sites in FYROM (Toplica, Belovodica and Krushevo vill.). Azygospores of E. maimaiga were found in the bodies of 78.6% of gypsy moth larvae from Kidaris, and in 8.3–16.3% of the larvae from sites in FYROM. Recent records of E. maimaiga in Serbia and the European part of Turkey, and present findings in Greece and FYROM, indicate that the fungus most probably has invaded gypsy moth populations in other parts of Balkan Peninsula.
Keywords
gypsy moth; fungal entomopathogen; first records
Hrčak ID:
105370
URI
Publication date:
30.6.2013.
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