Seasonal relationship between ficus whitefly singhiella simplex singh (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) with parasitoid Encarsia protransvena Viggiani (hymenoptera: aphelinidae)

Ficus whitefly Singhiella simplex Singh is a pest of Asian origin and was first detected in India by Singh in 1931. It is spreading to different countries every year and it has been reported that it causes economic damage in many types of Ficus spp. In this study, the seasonal relationship of the ficus whitefly S. simplex and its parasitoid, Encarsia protransvena, which was first detected in Antalya in 2016, was investigated. In the study, yellow sticky trap sampling and leaf sampling were used. Yellow sticky trap sampling was carried out on the Ficus retusa, which was grown for landscape purposes in parks, gardens and main streets in Antalya province during August 2018 and August 2020. Yellow coloured sticky traps were hanged in the east, west, south and north directions of F. retusa trees which is found in two different districts, 1 trap each. Leaf sampling was carried out in Antalya centre Kepez, Muratpaşa and Konyaaltı districts in weekly periods. A total of 120 shoots with a size of about 10 cm each shoot were collected from the north, south, east and west directions of F. retusa plants. The numbers of S. simplex pre-adult egg, nymph and pupae and parasitized nymphs on the leaves were counted. Parasitic periods in parasitized nymphs are counted separately. The number of S. simplex in the traps started to increase in April and reached the highest number of 674.5 trap/adult in 2018/September the highest number of 781 trap/adult in 2019/September. The parasitoid of fig whitefly increased in sticky traps in May both years. In the following summer, a low increase was observed, while the number of E. protransvena in the yellow sticky trap reached 120.25 trap/adult in October. In shoot samples, the sum of S. simplex pupa and nymph and the total of E. Protransvena pupa and larvae reached the highest number in October with 10.63 shoots/nymf and 3.77 shoots/nymf, respectively. In the months when whitefly and parasitoids are highest according to the yellow sticky and leaf sampling of 2018 and 2020, the parasitism rates are respectively in 2018, 16.07% in August, 18.98% in September, 27.12% in October and 34.75% in November, 14.56% in 2019, September 12.23%, October 21.82% and November 23.12%. According to the results we obtained from the sticky trap samples, it has been shown that it will be more effective to start in March and April when the population density is low in combating pests. The seasonal relationship between S. simplex, which is a new pest for our country, and its parasitic E. protransvena, has been investigated, and has helped to determine the time to combat the parasitic of the pest. In this way, in Ficus species grown as landscape plants in parks and gardens can contribute to combating this pest.