Natural Enemies of Planococcus vovae (Nasonov) (Hemiptera: Coccoidea: Pseudococidae), the Main Pest of Lawson's Cypress Trees, in Northeast Iran

There is increasing interest in using natural enemies to control pests in urban green spaces, but this is often hampered by a lack of information on enemies of particular pest groups. Here we provide an assessment for the first time of seasonal population of coccid species and its natural enemies on Chamaecyparis lawsoniana (A. Murray) Parl, 1864. The main coccid pest, Planococcus vovae (Nasonov, 1909), is attacked by parasitoids and predators. According to the gathered data, the peak population of both coccids and their natural enemies was observed in spring. The most common species in natural enemies was, Scymnus syriacus Marseul,1868. Biodiversity indexes of the natural enemies community in the selected stations demonstrated the highest and lowest amounts for both Shanon winner and Margalef index in S3 and S1 before and after for the Simpson index in S1 and S4,5. This study suggests that the natural enemies of coccids on conifer trees may be more complex and diverse than what was observed in the present study.