Distribution of weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in alfalfa fields of Iran’s northern provinces with a new record for the country

Abstract

Alfalfa is an economic crop with a great number of natural or invasive pest species mainly from the Curculionoidea superfamily. The weevil fauna of some parts of Iran has been recently studied, but the knowledge of weevil pests in alfalfa fields is still incomplete. We carried out surveys of 11 localities in five northern provinces of Iran (Razavi Khorasan, Mazandaran, Semnan, Alborz and Hamedan) for two years for species of Curculionidae. A total of 1019 specimens were collected, and 19 species from six subfamilies, seven tribes and 10 genera were identified. The percentage abundance and frequency of each species showed that Hypera postica, Sitona cylindricollis, S. humeralis and S. longulus were important pests in most of the alfalfa fields in Iran’s northern provinces. Moreover, Sitona demoflysi is a new record for Iran.

Daugelis vietinių ir invazinių kenkėjų, ypač straubliukų (antšeimis Curculionidae), puola pašarinį augalą – liucerną. Straubliukų fauna kai kuriose Irano dalyse buvo neseniai ištirta, tačiau nepakankamai žinoma apie liucernai kenkiančias rūšis. Straubliukų fauna buvo tiriama dvejus metus 11 vietovių penkiose Irano šiaurinėse provincijose (Razavi Khorasan, Mazandaran, Semnan, Alborz, Hamedan). Iš viso buvo surinkta 1019 individų, identifikuota 19 rūšių, priklausančių 6 pošeimiams, 7 triboms, 10 genčių. Santykinis gausumas ir dažnumas rodo, kad Hypera postica, Sitona cylindricollis, S. humeralis ir S. longulus yra svarbūs liucernos kenkėjai. Sitona demoflysi Irane užregistruota pirmą kartą.

Keywords:

• Medicago sativa
• pests
• abundance percentage
• Sitona demoflysi

Acknowledgements

The authors are indebted to Dr Peter Sprick from Curculio-Institute for his useful comments and sending the necessary resources (Snudebiller key CDs for identification) and Dr Milosz A. Mazur for editing an early version of the manuscript. We also give our special thanks to Dr Miguel A. Alonso-Zarazaga, Dr Enzo Colonnelli and Dr Maksims Balalaikins. This research was supported by the University of Tehran, Iran.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.