Pests and beneficial species associated with the sunflowers in çukurova region, turkey

This study is carried out to determine the fauna of pest, beneficial insect and mite species in the sunflower plantation areas of Çukurova Region. The study took place between 2009-2010 in Ceyhan, Yumurtalık, İmamoğlu, Seyhan, Yüreğir and Karaisalı locantions of Adana province, and location Yenice in Mersin province.A total of 35 pest were found. Thirty-three species belonging to the Thysanoptera, Coleoptera Hemiptera, Homoptera, Orthoptera and Lepidoptera orders, 1 species of the Gastropoda class- were determined as pests; 12 species belonging to the Thysanoptera, Coloptera, Neuroptera and Hemiptera orders as beneficial insects; 2 species belonging the Hymenoptera and Coleoptera orders as pollinators, 2 species belonging the Hymenopta orders as a parasitoids, 2 species of the Coleoptera order as neutral insects on the sunflower fields.Thysanoptera species; Thrips tabaci Lindeman, Frankliniella occidentalis Pergande and Haplothrips spp. were found to be more common in the flowers. Agrotis spp. were the more common and caused the damage on the young plants. Oxythrea cinctella Schaum and Lydus spp. were encountered locally and they fed mostly on the seeds and caused the damage on the plants, especially located in the field margins. Snail, Eobania vermiculata Müller damaged the very young plants in the fields with weeds. Numbers other pests species were few and they were found occasiunly in some fields surveyed. Predatory thrips species, Aeolothrips collaris Priesner and predatory bugs Orius spp. were the more common and they were found often together with the thrips in the flowers.