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| Calocoris Trivialis |
| The plant bug species Closterotomus trivialis (Costa) (Hemiptera Miridae Mirinae; previously known as Calocoris trivialis see Rosenzweig, 1997) is an insect commonly recorded on olive and citrus in the Mediterranean region. |
| Calocoris trivialis is common in olive groves in several areas of Greece. It is univoltine and second and third instars are common at the end of February (Drosopoulos, 1993). On the island of Crete early instars of C. Trivialis are first recorded at the end of January on weeds. Their population densities are generally much higher on weeds than on olive trees. |
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The damage potential of Calocoris trivialis and A. İtalicum was evaluated in spring 2007 and 2008. Shoots with flowering organs were enclosed in mouslin cages (25 cm diameter and 70 cm length) along with nymphs or adults of each pest species, separately. The experiments were initiated during different stages of inflorescence development. This was designed in such a way because the severity of mirid damage has been related to their feeding on buds or flowers of olives or citrus (Barbagallo, 1970; Monaco, 1975). Cages without mirids were used as controls. The mirids used in these experiments were obtained from wild populations collected in olive orchards of the studyarea. |
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The results demonstrated that Calocoris trivialis is capable of inducing damage on the fruit setting of olive trees due to flower abortion. This damage can be extremely serious as almost complete flower abortion might ocur. According to the results, no difference was recorded in the fruit setting between the exposed or unexposed shoots and it was thus concluded that Calocoris trivialis should not be considered as a pest of olives. |
In conclusion, the current study showed that Calocoris trivialis can cause serious reduction in fruit setting of olive trees. In comparison, A. italicum showed a comparatively lower damage potential. The damage severity depends on the phenological stage of the trees at the time of infestation. |
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