Determination of pests and their natural enemies in the pomegranate orchards in Dicle district of Diyarbakır province, Türkiye

Although its homeland is Iran, pomegranate, which has been known and cultivated throughout the belt extending from India to Southern Europe and including the Mediterranean basin since ancient times, has a large pest group consisting of birds, rodents, mollusks and arthropods. This study was cunducted to find the pests and beneficial insect species in the pomegranate orchards in Dicle district of Diyarbakır province, Turkiye. Within the scope of the study, regular and irregular surveys were carried out between April and October in 2021 and 2022, taking into account the flowering and harvesting periods of the pomegranate. Branch counting, visual inspection, culturing and impact methods were used in the study; While the shoot, flower, branch, fruit and stem of the tree were visually inspected, samples were also collected with the help of Japanese umbrella, atrap and D-vac (vacuum insect collector). As a result of the surveys, 32 species from 16 families include pests and beneficial insect species belonging to the orders Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Hemiptera, Neuroptera, Diptera, Dermaptera and Hymenoptera were found in Dicle district of Diyarbakır city, Turkiye. The most common found of pests; Drosophila melanogaster Meigen (Diptera: Drosophilidae), Ectomyelois ceratoniae (Zell.) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), Carpohilus spp. (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae) and Aphis punicae Pass. (Hemiptera: Aphididae) are useful species to use; Scymnus araaticus Pullus was identified as Adalia bipunktata L. (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), Chrysoperla carnea (Stephens) (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) and Deraeocoris serenus (Douglas and Scott) (Hemiptera: Miridae). Considering the species numbers and densities of beneficial insects obtained in the study, organic pomegranate cultivation is appropriate for the region, and beneficial insect species must be taken into account when deciding on chemical control against pomegranate pests. Keywords: Punica granatum, Pomegranate, Pests, Natural enemies, Survey