THE PLACE OF ANCIENT AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES AND TECHNIQUES IN YEMEN TODAY:

PROBLEMS AND PERSPECTIVES

Sanaa, Yemen

June 18-20, 2000

 

The Evolution of Insect Biodiversity in Yemen

 

 

Ahmed M. A. Sallam and Saeed A. Ba-Angood

Department of Plant Protection

Nasir's College of Agriculture

University of Aden

 

Abstract

 

The Insect Fauna of Yemen has been mentioned several times in ancient agriculture, either as pests, e.g. locusts and termites, or as biocontrol agents, e.g. predatory ants for the control of date palm pests. Each region in Yemen has its own local name for the same pest which was still used until now. The insect fauna of Yemen attracted several scientists from outside Yemen The history of insect collection started from the eighteenth century and continued till nowadays. The total number of identified insect species exceeds 3450 species belong to 25 insect orders. There are more than 108 insect species that bear the name of Yemen or a place in Yemen. particularly Socotra. The paper concludes that Yemen has a unique biodiversity of insect fauna, but unfortunately most of it reside in the natural museums outside Yemen. Therefore it is recommended that establishment of a Natural History Museum in Yemen is of vital importance, to show and study the biodiversity of insect fauna in Yemen.

 

Introduction

 

The Republic of Yemen is located in the southeastern area of the Arabian Peninsula between latitudes of 12-20 north and longitudes 41-54 east. Bordered in the North by Saudi Arabia, from the South by the Arabian Sea, from the East by Sultanate of Oman and from the West by the Red Sea and Bab Al-Mandab. In the Red and Arabian seas , there are 112 islands; the biggest one is Socotra Archipelago. Yemen topographically can be divided into 4 regions: The Coastal areas, the western Highlands, the eastern Plateau, and the Empty Quarter ( Al-Rub'a Al- Khali), in addition to the islands ( Central Statistical Organization, 1999; Balfaquih 1997). Yemen has a diverse climate and topography that resulted in a diverse plant cover and biodiversity in flora and fauna.

 

The insect fauna of Yemen has been mentioned several times in ancient agriculture, either as pests, e.g. locusts and termites, or as biocontrol agents, e.g. predatory ants for the control of date palm pests.

The insect fauna of Yemen attracted several scientists from outside Yemen. The history of insect collection started when King Fredrick V launched a scientific expedition to Yemen in the eighteenth century and continued till nowadays. The total number of identified insect species exceeds 3450 species belong to 25 orders, which means that Yemen has diverse insect fauna. This paper is highlights the evolution and development of biodiversity of insect fauna in Yemen.

 

Methods used in data collection

 

For data collection and analysis, we used the following methods and referred to the following sources:

• Survey of available published and unpublished papers and reports concerned with natural history in Yemen and Arabian Peninsula, found at some agricultural research and academic institutes that we visited. More concentration was given to European and other foreign expeditions, particularly those reports of Niebuhr (1792) Forskal (1775), and Serjeant (1974), in addition to some Yemeni writers who wrote about indigenous and ancient agriculture in Yemen (Al-Anisi 1998)

• Special and concentrated readings were made on the reports and published documents of the Department of Plant Protection, Yemeni &endash;German Plant Protection Project, Insect Fauna Research Team Reports.

• We made a survey using On-Line services at Internet, and reached some web pages that mentioned something about Yemen.

• Our own notes and observations which we recorded in our field visits to different agricultural areas in Yemen. We contacted old people and ask them about traditional and indigenous practices their grandfathers used for the control of agricultural pests in Yemen, and local names of insects.

 

Results and Discussion

 

Yemeni people are famous for their ancestral indigenous knowledge in the fields of agricultural practices and techniques, and managing the natural resources while preserving them. They grow crops in valleys, coastal areas and in terraces built on the steep slopes of mountains. They constructed dams, weirs and large scale hydraulic works to harvest water. This experience and knowledge have been elaborated through centuries to suit different production systems and ecosystems. These particular agricultural activities resulted in good production of cereals, coffee, fruits, and aloe. These products in addition to frankincense were the basis of trade exchange in ancient Yemen.

 

Yemenis were busy at that time with trade, navigation and fishing, and Yemen hence occupied an important trade and agriculture position that justified the name "Arabia Felix." Yemen in earlier times faced hard conditions, which made Yemenis migrate and work outside Yemen. But the Yemeni always tried to come back again to Yemen carrying with him different products, plants and seeds of crops, which he tried to cultivate in Yemen. He didn't know what type of insects or diseases they might carry and may find the Yemeni environment a suitable place for them to spread.

 

The Portuguese invaded Yemen (1497 -1517), Turks also invaded Yemen twice (1538-1638) and (1872-1918) and Britain colonized parts of Yemen in 1839 till 1967 (BalFageih 1997). This foreign intervention brought with it different crops and plants that were accompanied by foreign insects. The free movement of trade also helps in entrance of several foreign insect faunas.

 

The Imams' rule of Yemen isolated Yemen from other parts of the world for a long time. The Yemeni people suffered much in that period from illiteracy, illness and cultural and scientific isolation. Botanical and zoological scientists were eager to know what the fauna and flora of Yemen looked like. Forskal (1775) was so happy when he discovered the "Balsam" plant that he wrote to the plant scientist Linnaeus expressing his joy when he found that interesting plant species (Hansen 1993). Forskal as a member of a group of scientists who visited Yemen in the 18th century, wrote a lot about plants and insects of Yemen (Niebuhr 1792).

 

Insects in ancient agriculture

 

Insects were mentioned in several places in ancient agricultural documents. But unfortunately, these didn't have that much to say about biodiversity as about plants. Ancestral knowledge showed that names of insects used by farmers in ancient agriculture are still used till now, although they may differ from one region to another. These are shown in Table 1. Locusts were the insects that were mentioned quite often in ancient agricultural writings and reports. It was a very important pest that attacked almost all crops and plant covers and caused a lot of damage. Locusts were mentioned even in ancient popular proverbs. The Yemeni wise man Ali Bin Zayed said "Endi tagoum algiamah wa la hanin almajarid" which means that he prefers the end of the world rather than hearing the noise of locusts that eat his crop and then he will get nothing to feed his family. Another proverb said "Etha tarahat aljarada fog alsafa tshel sa'at garnaha" which means that if locusts attacked crops they left a great damage, and farmers may suffer from hunger.

 

A lot of proverbs and poems were said about locusts in ancient agriculture and were mentioned in Al-Anisi (1998) book "Agricultural Markers in Yemen". The Yemeni farmer was trying to keep the natural living units as they are, and hence encourage sustainable biodiversity, while keeping a natural balance for all living creatures available in the area. The diversity of insect fauna nowadays is different from it was previously due to several reasons, among them the enlargement of cultivated area, diversity in agricultural crops and an increase in number of plant species that constitute the plant covers. In addition there are newly introduced species that enter the country by chance or through humans and animals, or plant materials that carry foreign insects, diseases and weeds. One of the reasons for the sudden outbreaks of pests is the introduction of new seeds and seedlings to Yemen, in addition to increase in cultivated areas of some crops. Any introduction of plant materials without a quarantine check may lead to spread of some pests and diseases or weeds that may accompany these materials. It could be an agricultural pest or a public health pest.

 

From the above, it appears to us that we are still far away from understanding biodiversity of insect fauna of Yemen. Therefore, it is very important to make a multi purpose survey of insect fauna in all regions of Yemen. The study of the biodiversity of such fauna, and the relationship between all types and environmental systems, on one hand, and the impact of human beings and other natural factors on biodiversity, on the other hand, is very important.

 

History of insect collection in Yemen for scientific purposes

 

If we follow the history of insect fauna collection for scientific purposes in Yemen, we will find that King Frederick V of Denmark was one of the first who launched a scientific expedition to Yemen. Although most of the members of this expedition died of malaria, they left very good results published later on by Forskal (1775), and Niebuhr (1772, 1774 1792). We here mention below some of these expeditions and persons who visited Yemen and contributed to collection and publication of insect fauna of Yemen.

 

1824 - 25 : The biologist F.W. Hemprich and C.A.Ehrenberg visited the

coastal area of the Red Sea and collected some Rhopalocera

(Lepidoptera) insects which were identified later by Klug

(1829-34)

 

1881 : Prof. I.P.Balfour visited Socotra island and collected insects.

Those belong to Lepidoptera were identified by A.G.Butler

while those belong to Coleoptera were identified by

C.O.Waterhouse.

 

1884 &endash; 96: Major J.W. Yerbury and Captain G. Nurse visited Aden and

collected insects that belong to Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera and

syrphids

 

1895 : Mr. T.Bent's expedition to Hadramout collected some insects. Those belong to Coleoptera were published by C.J.Gahan and others were published by F.W.Kirby

 

1898 &endash;99: The British expedition to Sokotra and Abd-el-Kouri islands

under the leadership of W.R.Ogilvie Grant and H.O.Forbes. They

spend about five months (November 1898 to March 1899) . Fauna

and Flora species were collected. The material was reported by

specialists and published by Liverpool Museums in a monograph

of the islands entitled " Natural History of Sokotra and Abd-el-

Kouri(1903). The Insect chapters were translated into Arabic and

published in AlYaman Journal by Ba-Angood (1997- 2000). Ba-

Angood made the necessary changes concerning the recent names

of genera and species as well as families.

 

1898 &endash;99: The presence of the British expedition was coinciding with

another Austrian one "Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften

,Wien" to south Arabia and socotra . The most famous collectors

of the expedition were Prof. O.Simony and Captain H.Rosengreen

They collected insect species belong to Diptera, Orthoptera and

Lepidoptera orders, which were published by specialists later on.

 

1937 &endash;38: H.Scott and D.S.Britton entomologists of the British Museum

collected insects from higher mountains in Yemen and from Aden

Protectorates. Most of the material was given to specialists and

were published later.

1962 &endash; 65: Prof. Guiseppe Scortecci collected insect material from South

Arabia and Yemen and was given to special insect taxonomists

who published their work later on.

 

1982- 86: An Expedition from Departments of Geography and Biology &endash;

college of Education &endash; University of Aden visited Socotra (3-10

December 1982). They collected several insect species and

published their work in 1986.

 

1993 : Insect Fauna of Yemen Research Team, University of Aden visited Socotra and collected insects and mites belong to 13 insect and mite orders. They publish their work later on.

 

1998 : The Insect Fauna of Yemen Research Team, University of Aden visited Houf area in AlMahrah Governorate, in November 1998. More concentration was given to Houf forest, which was a closed area due to border problems, which were solved later on. The group collected insects from different orders, some of them were still under identification.

 

1979-2000: Several works on Insect Fauna of Yemen have been

published in 'Fauna of Saudi Arabia'. Larsen(1983) published

some work on moths and butterflies; Richards (1984) on social

wasps; AlSafadi (1990) on dragon flies, Chhotani and Bose

(1991) on termites, Linnavuori and Van Harten (1991-93 ) on

bugs, and others on some families of insects.

 

1997-2000: Socotra island was visited by several entomologists and

biologists who came through the Conservation of Biodiversity

Project and also collected insects, among them Dr Wranik,

vanHarten and Dr. Ahmed Sallam from the Insect Fauna Research

Team, University of Aden. in addition to others from scientific

institutes in Germany and Britain.

 

It is worth to mention that recently Hacker (1999) published an article on history of collecting insects in Yemen in Esperiana Bd 7:10-14., but unfortunately he didn't mention anything about the efforts and activities of Yemeni specialists; and he concentrated on just the European expeditions

 

Check- Lists of identified insect and mite species in Yemen

 

Several entomologists, academic and research organizations published locally or internationally check- lists of insects and mites in Yemen. We hear mention the most important lists

1. In 1903 several check lists of identified insects and mites in Socotra and Abd-el- Kuri islands were published in a monograph (The Natural History of SoKotra and Abd el Kouri) by the Liverpool Museums. These included Orthoptera ( identified by Burr), Lepidoptera ( by Dixey), Neuroptera and Pseudoneuroptera (by Forbes), Coleoptera ( by Gahan),Rhopalocera (by Grant), moths (by Hampson), Hymenoptera (By Kirby), Hemiptera (by Kirkaldy), Neuroptera and Amphibiotica (By Mclachan) and Diptera by (Ricardo)

 

2. ElKod Research Station was established in 1951,several insect and mite species were collected by Heads of Departments of Entomology and Plant Protection; namely, Brittle, Proctor, Majini, Mahfood , Ba-Angood and Ba-Asher, and sent for identification to the British Museum. Later on the results of all collections were published in A check- list of insects and mite species in south and eastern governorates of Yemen, published by Mahfood & Bin Othman (1988)

 

3. El-Bashir (1968-1977) published a check- List of insects in north governorates in his final report as an FAO expert in Plant Protection at the Research and Training Project in Taiz

 

4. Nasseh & Mohammad (1987) published a check- List of insect species in the previously called Yemen Arab Republic.

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 Table 1. List of local names of insects in ancient agriculture that are still in use till now, and its host crops

 

Common Arabic name(English name) Names in ancient agriculture still used in some areas in Yemen Host crops

Alman (Aphids) AlAsal, Alma'assala(Most areas); AlHallah ( Hadramout)Shaheth (Jiblah); Alnasah (uplands) Ceareals, legumes(alDujor),

alfalfa,grapes

Hafar sag athurah (Stem borer) AlHouti (Hadramout) Dodat Ma'wad (Tihama) Cereals

Dodat al-balh assagheirah (lesser date moth) AlHummairah, Alfarrarah(wadi Hadramout) Date palm

Dodat Aljaish Al Afrigeiyah(Army worm) AlGudmi, Aldodah alkhadra, alJudmi Cereal crops

Al- Naml Al-Abyadh,Al-Ardah

( Termites) Alsulaley(Wadi Sar),AlNager (Hamdan), Khalg Sa'ah,Alshadwey,AlGate'ah(Tihamah) Grapes, date palm

Bag AlGareiat (Cucurbit bug) Abu Darag (Abyan) Cucurbits

Khunfsa'a AlGetha( Cucurbit beetle) AlKabang (Lahej /Abyan) Cucurbits

Thubabat Thimar Algareiat(cucurbit fruitfly) Assamarain(Lahej&Abyan),Addoudi

(Hadramout),Alsowar, Nagez athimar Cucurbits

Dubabat alThurah(Sorghum fly) AlMaseh Sorghum

AlKhunfasa Alwathabah (Flea meetle) AlWathabah, AlNattatah (Lahej & Abyan) Cotton & Okra

Dodat thimar AlBun( Coffee fruit borer) AlKharez Coffee

Ebrat AlAjouz(Ear wig) Kalbat AlHaddad(Taiz) Predator

AlNaml (Ants) AlDar (Hadramout) Alsafeir' AlGa'amees(AlHudidah, Aden, Taiz ) AlQu'as Predator

Faras Annabi( Mantid) AlShabrah (Taiz) AlMusaleyah, AlA'bdah ( Hadramout) Predator

Aldababeer (Wasps) AlHuraib(Taiz, Ibb)' AlHandabour, Az.zanabeer (Hadramout) Predators and pests

Bag AlFarash(Bed bug) AlKatanah Public health insect

AlSamak Alfiddi(Silver fish) AlGuratt(Aden) Store pest

Alsaraseer(Cockroaches ) Alsafaf (Aden) Alsfaseef (AlMukalla) Public Health insect

AlBaowd (Mosquitoes) Al names (Abyan & Lahej) Public Health insect

---

 

5. Ba-angood and Ba-Hakim (1988) published a check- List of locusts and grasshoppers in eastern and southern governorates of Yemen , that belong to the order orthoptera. The list was revised by Popov and published as a technical report for the Insect Fauna Research Team &endash; University of Aden

 

6. A preliminary list of natural enemies for agricultural pests in southern and Eastern Governorates was published by Ba-Angood (1990) in AlYaman Journal (University of Aden). The list was a result of a survey started in1970. The survey is still continuing.

 

7. AlGhashm (1991, 1994) published lists of insect pests in northen governorates of Yemen.

 

8. After the unification of Yemen, the first check list of insect and mite species in the united Yemen was published by Van Harten and Wagener (1994)

 

9. AlGhashm (1994) published a list of predators and parasites of insect

pests in Yemen in his book Integrated Pest Management. Ba-Angood

and AlGhashm (1998) then revised the list and some species were

pests in Yemen in his book Integrated Pest Management. Ba-Angood

and AlGhashm (1998) then revised the list and some species were

added later on by (Ba-Angood 2000).

 

10. Yemeni Insect Fauna Research Team has published a booklet entitled "Check-List of Insect and Mite Pests, its Geographical Distribution and Main Host Plants in Yemen". The booklet was edited by (Ba-Angood, Ghaleb and Sallam 1997)

 

11. Ba-Angood (1999) published a revised list of termite species in Yemen.

 

12. In Esperiana (Vol. 7), Hacker (1999) published a revised checklist of Lepidoptera insect species of the Arabian Peninsula with a special concentration in Yemen.

 

Insect fauna of Yemen was mentioned in several scientific bulletins and journals among which "Fauna of Saudi Arabia" published several articles in which insect fauna of Yemen was mentioned quite often. The most important of these lists were included above.

The Yemeni Insect Fauna Research Team which is affiliated to the Department of Biodiversity at the Centre for Environmental Studies and Research is planning to publish several publications, among which " Bibliography of Insect Fauna of Yemen" and " Atlas of Major Insect Fauna of Yemen"

We made a survey of insect species recorded in Yemen in all the above mentioned check- Lists and we found that the total number reached 3452 insect species, belong to 25 insect orders as shown in Table 2. There are 108 species on 12 insect orders that bear the name of Yemen or an area in Yemen, particularly Socotra island. From the lists we found that there are about 312 insect pest species that attack agricultural crops or store products, or are public health insects. One hundered and four species were reported to attack fruit trees,73 attack vegetables,64 attack cereals, 59 attack cash crops, 47 are known as store pests, and 27 species attack forestry and ornamental plants as shown in Table 3. Insect fauna of Yemen also includes a good number of biocontrol agents and pollinators like honeybees.

The number of recorded biocontrol agents (predators & parasites) is about 384 species, belong to 10 insect orders as shown in Table 2. This shows that Yemen has got a diverse insect fauna, where insect pests constituted 10.4% and natural enemies constituted 11.2% of the total recorded insect species in Yemen. Still a lot of insect species are not identified due to lack of insect taxonomists in the country and lack of funds to send and identify insect species outside the country.

 

Table 2. Number of identified insect pests, natural enemies and those which bear a Yemeni name for each insect order in Yemen

 

Order Total number of insect species Number of pest species Number of natural enemies Number of those which bear a Yemeni name

1 Collembola 1

2 Thysanura 6 2

3 Zygoptera 11 11

4 Anisoptera 26 26 2

5 Phasmida 1

7 Orthoptera 88 21 7

7 Manteoptera 24 24 1

8 Blattaria 8

9 Isoptera 32 32 2

10 Dermaptera 7 7

11 Embiidina 3 1

12 Psocoptera 10 3

13 Phthiraptera 3

14 Hemiptera 457 20 10 8

15 Ephemeroptera 11

16 Homoptera 127 64 1

17 Thysanoptera 94 9 5

18 Neuroptera 36 36

19 Coleoptera 980 76 69 27

20 Strepsiptera 2 1

21 Siphonaptera 18

22 Diptera 500 21 49 14

23 Trichoptera 10

24 Lepidoptera 780 64 24

25 Hymenoptera 506 3 147 16

Total 3452 312 384 108

Percentage (%) 100 9.04 11.12 3

 

 

Table 3. Number of pest species , that attack agricultural crops and stored products; for each taxonomic order

 

 

Taxonomic order Cereal crops Cash crops Vegetable crops Fruit

trees Store

Products Forestry & Ornamental trees

1 Coleoptera 9 14 18 24 27 2

2 Diptera 8 2 8 4 2 2

3 Hemiptera 5 12 7 1 - -

4 Homoptera 11 5 11 44 - 5

5 Hymenoptera - - - 1 - 2

6 Lepidoptera 13 17 15 17 7 4

7 Orthoptera 15 2 9 4 - 6

8 Isoptera 5 5 3 3 11 6

9 Thysanoptera 2 2 2 6 - -

Total 68 59 73 104 47 27 378

Percentage(%) 18.0 15.6 19.4 27.6 12.4 8.6 100

 

 

The biggest problem we are facing is where we can find theses specimen or types of insect fauna in order to show them to our students, or to make use for research purposes. Actually most of the identified insect fauna species are found in natural museums outside Yemen. What is available in Yemen is few collections in academic or research institutes e.g. ElKod Research Centre, Departments of Plant Protection at colleges of Agriculture, Yemeni Insect Fauna Research Team Collections, or the General Department of Plant Protection at Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation. These collections are reduced in numbers and quality because no one is taking a regular care of them. We also are not sure that all the recorded or surveyed insects in these checklists are all correct or not.

Therefore it is of utmost importance that we have to establish a Natural History Museum in Yemen.

 

 

Recommendations

 

1. Collection and documentation of all known traditional knowledge possessed by old farmers, concerned with Insect fauna of Yemen

2. Establishment of the Natural History Museum in Yemen

3. Continuous studies on the biodiversity of insect fauna in Yemen and the impact of humanbeing and natural factors on the sustainability of biodiversity

4. Collection and documentation of all indigenous available studies on insect fauna of Yemen

 

 

References

 

1. Al-Anasi, Y. BIN Yahya (1998). Agricultural Landmarks in Yemen. French Centre for Yemeni Studies &endash; American Centre for Yemeni Studies. (in Arabic)

 

2. AlGhashm, M. Y.(1991) Pesticide Guide for Agricultural pests in the Republic of Yemen. Research and Extension Authority.(In Arabic).

 

3. AlGhashm, M. Y. (1994). Integrated Pest Management &endash; Future Strategy. Yemeni- German Plant Protection Project, Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation.(In Arabic)

 

4. Ba-Angood, S. A. (1990) A preliminary survey of natural enemies for agricultural pests in Democratic Yemen. AlYaman 2: 22-37 (In Arabic)

 

5. Ba-Angood, S. A. (1996). Order : Hymenoptera (by W.F.Kirby) in: The Natural history of Sokotra and Abd el Kuri. edited by H.O.Forbes(1903) . Translated into Arabic and published in: Alyaman Journal 6: 53 &endash; 64. (Published in Arabic)

 

6. Ba-Angood, S. A. (1997) Ichneumons, Wasps and Bees (by W.F.Kirby) in: The Natural history of Sokotra and Abd el Kuri. edited by H.O.Forbes(1903) . Translated into Arabic and published in : Alyaman Journal 7-8 : 201 &endash; 210 .(Published in Arabic)

 

7. Ba-Angood, S.A. (1999a). White Ants(By H.Forbes), Dragon Flies(By Maclachan) and Antlions (By W.F.Kirby) , in : The Natural history of Sokotra and Abd el Kuri. edited by H.O.Forbes(1903) . Translated into Arabic. Alyaman 9: 193 &endash; 201. (Published in Arabic).

 

8. Ba-Angood, S. A. (1999b). Earwigs,Cockroaches and Grasshoppers (by M. Burr) in : The Natural history of Sokotra and Abd el Kuri. edited by H.O.Forbes(1903) . Translated into Arabic and published in : Alyaman Journal 10: 115 &endash; 134.( Published in Arabic)

 

9. Ba-Angood, S. A(1999c). Termite insect species recorded in some gvernorates in Yemen and its place in insect classification. In: Termite Pest Management, A country-training course on Termite Management.

Centre for Environmental Studies and Sciences University of Aden, Aden Yemen. Pp. 41-50.

 

10. Ba-Angood, S. A. (2000a). Cicadas and bugs (by G.W. Kirkaldy) in : The Natural history of Sokotra and Abd el Kuri. edited by H.O.Forbes(1903) . Translated into Arabic and published in : Alyaman 11: 179 &endash; 191.( Published in Arabic)

 

11. Ba-Angood, S. A. (2000b). Friends of the environment: Some natural biocontrol agents that can be used as alternatives for chemical control of agricultural pests in Yemen. First Scientific Conference on Environment and Natural Resources , University of Taiz, Taiz April 15-22, 2000. ( In Arabic)

 

12. Ba-Angood, S. A., and F. M. Ba-Hakim (1988) A check &endash; List of locust and grasshopper species that belong to the order Orthoptera and its geographical distribution in People's Democratic Republic of Yemen. Insect Fauna Research Team, University of Aden. (Published in Arabic)

 

13.Ba-Angood, S. A., A.M.Ghaleb and A.M.Sallam (1997) A CheckList of Important Insect and Mite Pests, its Geographical Distribution and Host Plants in Yemen. Insect Fauna Research Team, University of Aden .

 

14. Ba-Angood, S.A. and M.Y.AlGhashm (1998) Biological control of insect pests in Yemen. A country paper presented at a workshop on "Biological Control of Plant Pests in the Near East" 14-18 November 1998. Tehran/ Babolsar, Islamic Republic of Iran 10pp. (1998).

 

15. Balfaqeih, A.A (1997). The Geography of the Republic of Yemen. University of Aden P&P House

 

16. Central Statistical Organization (1999). (Statistical Year-Book 1998. Ministry of Planing and Development

 

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Forskal .- Post mortem autoris edidit Carsten NIEBUHR, Hauniae, 164 pp. Text (Tables 1776)

 

18. Hacker, H. (1999) Systematic list of the Lepidoptera of the Arabian Peninsula with a survey of the spread with special reference to the Fauna

of Yemen. Insect Fauna of Yemen. Part 1. Esperiana Buchreihe zur Entomologie Band 7 : 10-14.

 

19. Hacker, H. (1999) History of collecting insects in Yemen. Insect Fauna of Yemen. Part 1 . Esperiana Buchreihe zur Entomologie Band 7 : 15- 237

 

20. Hansen, T.(1993) From Copenhagen to Yemen. Translated into Arabic by M.A.Al- Ra'adi. Center for Yemeni Researches and Studies, Dar AlOadah &endash; Beirut . (In Arabic).

 

21. Harten van , A. and V. Wagener (1994) Terrestrial arthropods of the Republic of Yemen, A check list. Yemeni German Plant Protection Project

 

22. Mahfood,S.A and A. Bin Othman (1988) List of recorded plant insects and Mites in PDR Yemen

 

23. Moharram, I, M.Y.Al-Ghashm, A.Murshed and M. Al-Mizgagi (1996). Survey and identification of insect pests and its natural enemies on cereal crops in Yemen. Arab J. Pl. Protec. 14(1): 47-53

 

24. Nasseh, O and A.M. Mohammed (1987) Revised list of insects found in YAR YGPPP Sana'a, 40pp

 

25. Niebuhr, M. (1792) Travels through Arabia and other countries in the East (Translated into English by Robert Heron), Edinburgh

 

26. Serjeant,P.B.(1974). The cultivation of cereals in Mediaeval Yemen ( A translation of Boughyat al Fallahin of the Rasulid Sultan al &endash;Malik al- Afdal al-'Abbas b.'Ali , composed circa 1370 A.D.) Arabian Studies 25-74.