First Record and Damage Ratio of the Asian Chestnut Gall Wasp, Dryocosmus kuriphilus Yasumatsu, 1951 (Hemiptera: Cynipidae) in Samsun Province of Turkey

The Asian chestnut gall wasp Dryocosmus kuriphilus Yasumatsu (Hymenoptera, Cynipidae) is a critical pest threatening chestnut cultivation. Chestnut gall wasp causes yield losses by deforming the buds of the infected trees. This pest, which was first detected in Italy in 2002 in Europe, was seen in Gacık village of Yalova province in 2014 in Turkey. In the following years, it spread to Bursa, Istanbul, Sakarya, Kocaeli, Balıkesir, Bilecik, Düzce, Giresun, Bartın, Zonguldak, Sinop and İzmir provinces. In this study, the orchard of chestnut gene resources belonging to Ali Nihat Gökyiğit research station in Samsun province was examined for the presence of the Asian chestnut gall wasp. As a result of the study, the presence of the Asian chestnut gall wasp was determined in the cultivars Marigoule' and 'Macit 55'. As a result of the counts made in 50 cm parts of the branches, it was determined that the presence of chestnut gall wasp is in a higher population in the 'Marigoule' cultivar than in the other cultivars. However, the contamination in Samsun is at the beginning stage.