1121 © The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com. Biological and Microbial Control Parasitoids and Predators of Physokermes hellenicus (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Coccidae) in Greece Iosif Papanastasiou, 1,2 Nickolas G. Kavallieratos, 1,5 Costas J. Saitanis, 3 Maria Chatzaki, 4 Georgios Th. Papadoulis, 1 and Nikolaos G. Emmanouel 1 1 Laboratory of Agricultural Zoology and Entomology, Department of Crop Science, Agricultural University of Athens, 75 Iera Odos str., Athens, Attica 11855, Greece, 2 Hellenic Agricultural Organization-DEMETER, 56–58 Kourtidou str. and Nirvana str., Athens 11145, Greece, 3 Laboratory of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Department of Crop Science, Agricultural University of Athens, 75 Iera Odos str., Athens 11855, Greece, 4 Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Democritus University of Thrace, 6th Km Alexandroupolis-Komotini, Dragana, Alexandroupolis 68100, Greece, and 5 Corresponding author, e-mail: nick_kaval@hotmail.com Subject Editor: Eric Riddick Received 16 January 2018; Editorial decision 10 March 2018 Abstract The genus Physokermes Targioni Tozzetti includes species that are distributed in the Holarctic region and feed on conifers. The recently described scale Physokermes hellenicus (Kozár and Gounari) (Hemiptera: Coccidae) is an endemic species of Greece whose host plants are fr trees of the genus Abies (Pinales: Pinaceae). It is considered as benefcial scale insect species since its honeydew secretions are exploited by honeybees leading to the production of a special honey with important physicochemical characteristics. Since there are no previous data on the natural enemies of P. hellenicus, an investigation was carried out during 2013 in forested areas of eight mountains in south and central Greece aiming to correlate the presence of P. hellenicus with certain parasitoids and predators. Seven species of Encyrtidae, Eulophidae, Pteromalidae, and Eurytomidae (Hymenoptera); fve species of Anthribidae and Coccinellidae (Coleoptera); and four species of Dictinidae, Linyphiidae, and Theridiidae (Araneae) were identifed. Twelve of them were identifed at the species level while four at the genus level. Among them Microterys lunatus (Dalman) (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), Pseudorhopus testaceus (Ratzeburg) (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), and Anthribus fasciatus Forster (Coleoptera: Anthribidae) were the most abundant natural enemies of P. hellenicus adult female while Metaphycus unicolor Hoffer (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) and Trichomasthus sp. (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) were found to parasitize P. hellenicus male nymph. Cinetata gradata (Simon) (Araneae: Linyphiidae) is reported for frst time in the Greek arachnofauna. Our results suggest that the abundance of the fr scale P. hellenicus could be affected by a complex of parasitoid and predator species of different taxa. Future long-term research on these species in relation with abiotic factors would help to understand possible fuctuation of the scale’s population. Key words: Physokermes hellenicus, Abies spp., natural enemy, species composition, high mountain The genus Physokermes Targioni Tozzetti (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Coccidae) includes species commonly known as unarmored bud scale insects that are located in the Holarctic region. Over the last 30 yr four Physokermes species have been recorded infesting fr trees, Abies spp. (Pinales: Pinaceae), in Greece (Santas 1988, 1989; Stathas and Kozár 2010, Kozár et al. 2012, Pellizzari et al. 2015, Szita et al. 2017). Physokermes piceae (Schrank), Physokermes inopinatus (Danzig and Kozár), and Physokermes hellenicus (Kozár & Gounari) exhibit restricted distribution in Greece (Santas 1989, Stathas and Kozár 2010, Kozár et al. 2012, Szita et al. 2017), while Physokermes hemicryphus (Dalman) (Hemiptera: Coccidae) is the most widely found at the Greek mountains (Santas, 1988, 1989; Kozár et al. 2012, Szita et al. 2017). Also Eulecanium sericeum (Lindiger) (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Coccidae) and the aphids Mindarus abietinus (Koch) (Hemiptera: Aphidomorpha: Aphididae) and Cinara spp. (Hemiptera: Aphidomorpha: Aphididae) are quite common in Greece, and they are considered benefcial species to the Greek api- culture (Bacandritsos 2002, Kozár et al. 2012). One other important honeydew scale is the endemic Marchalina hellenica (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Margarodidae) that naturally occurs on pine trees, e.g., Pinus brutia Tenore, Pinus halepensis Miller, Pinus nigra J. F. Arnold, Pinus pinea L., and Pinus sylvestris L. (Bacandritsos et al. 2004). This species has been artifcially introduced during 1995–1997 to fr trees (Abies chephalonica Loudon (Pinales: Pinaceae)) at mountains Menalon and Helmos of Greece where it has been successfully estab- lished (Bacandritsos 2002, Bacandritsos et al. 2004). Scale insects attack the nodes or the foliage of coniferous branches of various ages by sucking with their stylets the soluble Journal of Economic Entomology, 111(3), 2018, 1121–1130 doi: 10.1093/jee/toy084 Advance Access Publication Date: 20 April 2018 Research Article Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jee/article/111/3/1121/4979446 by guest on 15 August 2022