Zoogeographical Characterization of Pentatomidae in Iran using Gographical Information System

Nowadays several techniques are used to provide spatial maps of uneven pest and beneficial insect distribution using Geographic Information System (GIS). The analysis of their spatial pattern will help in a more accurate and practical planning of wide-area pest management programs. The pattern in the family Pentatomidae, as one of the largest families in the order Hemiptera, harboring economically important pest and beneficial agents, in different climatic condition of Iran has not been yet investigated. This research was carried out in the years 2009-2011 on 3966 records in order to determine climatic and zoogeographical distribution of 4 subfamilies, (Asopinae, Phyllocephalinae, Podopinae, Pentatominae), and 11 beneficial and destructive species, (a predatory species Andrallus spinidens and phytophagous bugs including Acrosternum heegeri, Acrosternum milllieri, Aelia furcula, Aelia virgata, Apodiphus amygdale, Carpocoris fuscispinus, Dolycoris baccarum, Graphosoma italicum, Graphosoma lineatum and Nezara viridula) using GIS. The geographical information of specimens collected from different regions of Iran by authors, and also those mainly deposited in the Hayk Mirzayans Insect Museum, and several insect museums of universities and research institutes in Iran, and National Museum of Check Republic, Prague, and finally those published in several journals on the distribution of the family in Iran were included in analysis. Using the Arc GIS 9.3 software, the data was overlaid with the distribution maps of the subfamilies and species in 22 climates, provided as the agroclimatical zoning of Iran by UNESCO approach, and 30 provinces of Iran. The results revealed that, zoogeographically the members of the family are divided into three main groups. Among the 22 climatic zones, pentatomids were mostly found in the A-C-VW, A-C-W, A-M-VW, H.C.W, PH-C-W, SH-C-W, and SA-K-W ones. Some species, such as Carpocoris fuscispinus are generally found in most (63%) of the climatic zones, while some others, e.g. Aelia furcula, were present in more than two zones and finally some species such as Schyzops aegyptiaca are restricted to a few climatic zones. The main distribution of the subfamily Pentatominae was in the SA-K-M zone. The subfamily including 145 species was found in 68.2% of the 22 agroclimatic zones. Asopinae was only distributed in 6 zones, mainly (42.5%) in the zone PH-C-W with a high relative humidity characteristic. The distribution of the subfamily Phyllocephalinae was limited to 5 zones (22.7% of climatic zones). It was found in A-C-VW and A-M-VW in south-east of Iran. The other subfamily, Podopinae with 34 species was found in 59% of the zones with a main distribution in the SA-K-M zone. The distribution analysis of the 11 species showed that the predator species, Andrallus spinidens and phytophagous bugs including Acrosternum heegeri, Acrosternum milllieri, Aelia furcula, Aelia virgata, Apodiphus amygdale, Carpocoris fuscispinus, Dolycoris baccarum, Graphosoma italicum, Graphosoma lineatum and Nezara viridula were more distributed in the PH-C-W, A-M-VW, A-M-VW, SA-K-W, SA-K-W,A-C-W, SA-K-W, SA-K-W, SA-K-W, SA-K-W and PH-C-W climatic zones respectively