Özet:

Cephus pygmeus L. (Hymenoptera: Cephidae), known as the European Wheat Stem Sawfly, is one of the most common pestobserved in wheat fields in our country.. This study was carried out to determine the larvae infestation rates of C. pygmeus, the damage status and crop losses in some wheat cultivars, in wheat fields in Yozgat province and its districts in 2020. Larval infestation was recorded by examining the wheat stems collected from 36 wheat fields (2 m² area with 1/4 m² quadrat for each field). The damage caused by C. pygmeus in some wheat cultivars was recorded for 16 different cultivars and afterwards crop loss were noted for two bread (Ekiz, Esperia) and two durum (Eminbey, Kızıltan-91) wheat cultivars. Although infestation rates of wheat stem sawfly larvae varied according to the districts, the highest (25.6%) and the lowest (1.2%) infestation rate was recorded for Saraykent and Şefaatli districts, respectively. The effect of the pest on the spike length, number of grains per spike and grain weight varied according to the cultivars and larvae infestation rates. Crop losses due to weight reduction in grains varied between 0.2% (Esperia cultivar) and 5.9% (Ekiz cultivar). Considering larval infestation rate in stems and the weight reductions in the grains, it was determined that the crop losses due to the pest are ~1.5%, which means no economic losses are exerted by the pest currently. However, in areas with high larvae density, it would be appropriate to keep the pest population density under observation with periodic surveys starting from May.

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