A Preliminary Study Of Insect Pests That Infest The Lebanese Cedar (Cedrus Libani) Along The Syrian Coast

Sleiman Ihsan, Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Tishreen University, Lattakia, Syria.

Abstract

The Lebanese cedar tree spreads in three eastern Mediterranean countries which are Syria, Lebanon and Turkey. It is found in more than 90% of the current area in Turkey, and most of it is natural communities. The Lebanese cedar does not form pure forests along the Syrian coast, but it is found as separate patches in the northern part of the coastal mountain series which do not exceed 1000 hectares. In a recent study on insects that infest the Lebanese cedar tree along the Syrian coast, the following insect pests which attack different parts of the tree were detected: Cedar park beetle (Phloeotribus cedrus) and Ernopius sp. that feeds on summer buds, Barbara osmana that feeds on the seeds inside cones, the cedar shoot moth (Dichelia cedricola) whose larvae feed on needle leaves by making linear tunnels. Furthermore, the cedar aphid (Cinara cedre Mineus) and three scale insect species of the genera Dynaspidiotus, Leucaspis and Lepidosaphes were identified. In addition, an insect of the order Diptera, and family Helomyzidae that feed on the fallen cones and their seeds was detected, but the species is not identified yet.