Özet:

The Asian chestnut gall wasp, Dryocosmus kuriphilus Yasumatsu (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae) is one of the most important and destructive pests on chestnut trees worldwide. This pest causes severe economic yield losses in chestnut production and may cause the death of chestnut trees by deforming the leaf and bud of the trees. In this study, the infestation of D. kuriphilus on chestnut trees was determined for the first time in the Kaz Dağları located in Çanakkale Province between April and July 2023. Also, some important data on the damage ratio and biology of D. kuriphilus were revealed. Based on our observations, the light or dark green galls started to emerge on the leaves and buds of chestnut trees from the beginning of April, and these galls turned red in the following periods. While larval individuals of D. kuriphilus were mostly obtained from the galls collected from the beginning of April to the beginning of June, the pupa or adult individuals were obtained from the galls collected between June and July. Considering the damage ratio of D. kuriphilus, while the mean number of galls per tree was 61.7 - 82.3, the mean number of galls per 50 cm twig in each tree was 6.17 - 8.23. Accordingly, it was determined that the damage ratio of D. kuriphilus on the chestnut trees in the Kazdağları was above the economic damage threshold.