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The present investigation was carried out to follow up the population fluctuations of the white date palm scale insect, Parlatoria blanchardii (Targioni-Tozzetti) infesting date palm trees under the conditions of Esna district, Luxor Governorate, A.R. of Egypt through the two successive years (2010/2011 and 2011/2012). The obtained results of these studies could be summarized as the follows: The total population of P. blanchardii had four peaks that were recorded in the mid of October, mid-December, mid-April and mid-June. The climatic conditions of autumn and spring months during the first year and autumn and summer months during the second year were the optimal for the insect multiplication and build up, since the highest rate of monthly variation value was achieved during both years. Using available meteorological data provided for Luxor area, the mean ± STD daily heat units for each of P. blanchardii generation for the two years were estimated to be 16.5 ± 6.6 DD's. Four periods can be recommended for chemical control of this pest. The periods during beginning of October, mid-November to mid of December, mid -April and beginning to mid June.
About the author
Researcher at the Institute of Plant Protection Research, Station of Agricultural Research El-Matanaa, Scale insects and Mealybugs Research Department. This work was a part of Ph.D. requirements of the first author in Agricultural Science (Economic Entomology) Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Sohag University, Egypt.
