Preservation Importance Of Biodiversity In The Newly Reclaimed Land For Keeping The Natural Balance, Case Study The Rose Chafer, Tropinota squalida (Scop.) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)

• El-Husseini, M.1 M.; Naglaa,2 A., Omar1 , Hydar, M. F.2, and Abou Bakr, H. E 1
• ¹Biological Control Research Laboratories, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt
• ² Plant Protection Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center (ARC), Dokki, Giza, Egypt.

Abstract

Elimination of the wild flora and the associated fauna through land reclamation in the desert arid areas in Egypt, as in Nubaryia, Salhyia and Sinai, led to disturbance of the natural balance between members of such ecosystem. The pubescent rose chafer, Tropinota squalida (Scop.) emerged as an economic pest causing large damage to flowers of different crops, especially in apple orchards. Studying this phenomenon realized additional reasons concerning certain agricultural practices that shared in creating this pest problem. To suppress population of T. squalida in the newly created agroecosystem, conservation of the wild flora took place in permanent stripes between and around the orchards providing food, shelter and nesting sites for members of the wild fauna. Accordingly, it encouraged the rebuilding up of the previously associated fauna, under which the principal insectivorous natural enemy of this beetles, i.e., the shrew, Crocidura sp (Insectivora: Soricidae) was present. This specialized predator consumes vigorously subterranean insects including large numbers of Tropinota larvae, pupae and aestivating adults around the year. Following up the population of Tropinota using the water blue traps showed that it started to decrease slowly among the last 15 years in such areas nearing the natural balance level previously existed in the arid ecosystem, and the losses of flowers and the crops became accordingly less and less. This case demonstrates the importance for conservation of the wild flora that encourages the presence of its associated wild fauna including highly efficient biological control agents.