Field survey of fig wax scale insect Ceroplastes rustic L. (Hemiptera: Coccidae) in fig fields of Al-Kifl district/Babylon Governorate and study the effect of some environmental factors on egg hatching

The harmful effects of wax scale insect C.rusci L. on fig trees cultivated widely in the Al-Kifl district / southern Babylon governorate in the last two years was the main reason for designing this study. The study involved experiments; the first was a field survey to have scientific evidence about the widespread of C. rusci and estimated the infection rate in plants, then tried to find a relationship between environmental factors in this area and studied insects. The second experiment deals with the efficacy of some factors (egg locations, temperature and time) on egg hatching of C.rusci. The results provided good information about fig plants' temperature and infection rates with C. rusci. The range of temperature degrees, which showed a high level of infection, was 26.5-33.4 ºC. Meanwhile, the highest infection rate was recorded in October, followed by June. The second experiment showed that temperature was a limiting factor for egg hatching; therefore, there was no hatching of C.rusci eggs when the temperature was below 15 ºC. When the temperature is above this level (15 ºC), a new limitation factor appears in the egg's location. This experiment proved that the existence of an egg under a fold, which covers the insect, is necessary for egg hatching. Keywords: Ceratoplastes rusci, Temperature, Field survey, Egg hatching.