The two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch, is a very polyphagous pest with a worldwide distribution. In order to appraise population growth parameters of this pest, samples of two-spotted spider mites were taken from soybean (Glycine max) fields of Moghan region, Iran in June 2007 and are reared on bean plants var. Derakhshan (Phaseolus vulgaris) in a growth chamber. The life table parameters of this pest were calculated on three commercial soybean cultivars (Zane, Hach, and L17) and one hybrid (Hob 9 Will) at 25 ± 1°C, 60 ± 10%RH, and 16 h photophase. The developmental times of immature stages varied from 9.69 on Hach to 9.82 days on L17, whereas the immature survival was 57-79% on Hach and Hob 9 Will, respectively. On average, there were 65.5, 40.8, 38.8 and 34 eggs produced per female on L17, Hach, Hob 9 Will and Zane, respectively. The intrinsic rate of natural increase (r m ) for T. urticae on Hob 9 Will was the highest, whereas the values for r m ranged from 0.211 (females/female/day) on Zane to 0.292 on Hob 9 Will. Also, jackknife values of other life table parameters such as net reproductive rate (R 0 ), generation times (T), doubling time (DT), and finite rate of increase (k) on these cultivars were estimated. Overall, the two-spotted spider mite indicated a better performance on Hob 9 Will than on the other soybean cultivars.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.