Portrait of marchalina hellenica gennadius (hemiptera: margarodidae), the main producing insect of pine honeydew-biology, genetic variabılıty and honey production

Abstract

Marchalina hellenica is the main honeydew producing insect of pine trees. It is endemic to Greece and Turkey and introduced to the Italian island of Ischia. It has one generation per year and the adult females appear on the trees only after mid March. Studies on the genetic structure of the insect show that the low genetic variability may be due to the fact that it can not be dispersed long distances in correlation with the parthenogenetic reproduction. The amount of honeydew produced by the insect varies over the year and mainly depends on the size and age of the nymphs.

Bu derleme makalenin amacı salgı balı üretiminde esas rol oynayan ve Türkiye ve Yunanistan’da doğal olarak bulunan böcek olan M hellenica’nın tanımlanması, yayılışı ve biyolojisini kısaca açıklamaktır.