Development and Reproduction of Neoseiulus californicus (Acari: Phytoseiidae) and Tetranychus urticae (Acari: Tetranychidae) Under Simulated Natural Temperature

Abstract

Although laboratory observations provide basic knowledge of the development and reproduction of predacious and phytophagous mites, little is known of their behavior under natural conditions. Using a closed system designed to simulate natural climate patterns, we investigated the development and reproduction of the predatory mite Neoseiulus californicus (McGregor) (Acari: Phytoseiidae) and the pest mite Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae) at air temperatures typical of June to October at three latitudes (Aomori, Tottori, and Naha) in Japan. The peaks of development in both species showed similar trends at each location. The shortest developmental times for both species were observed during August in Aomori, from July to September in Tottori and during August and September in Naha. Development of T. urticae was not completed during October in Aomori due to the decreased air temperature. High reproduction (number of eggs produced during 5 d from the first oviposition) of N. californicus was attained at the conditions that shortened the developmental times (i.e., high-temperature months). T. urticae showed a reproduction trend similar to that of N. californicus except for the low number of eggs produced during August in Naha due to the high mortality of adult females and during October in Tottori due to diapause incidence. This information is in agreement with field observations and together might be useful for planning biological control programs for phytophagous mites and for successful establishment of predacious mites in new habitats.

Measurement of Fitness and Predatory Ability of Four Predatory Mite Species in Tibetan Plateau under Laboratory Conditions

“…These results are consistent with our findings, as A. swirskii showed a significantly higher predatory capacity on TSSMs than N. californicus at 15 d post-release (Figure 9A), and its fitness in Tibet was comparable to that of similar strains reared under normal conditions [42]. As for N. californicus, our results indicate that although most fitness parameters, including developmental time, pre-adult SR, and longevity in Tibet were comparable to those of mites reared in low-altitude conditions [43][44][45], its fecundity in Tibet was significantly lower compared to that under relatively lower elevation laboratory conditions, where the rearing conditions of N. californicus at low altitude was similar to the present study (25 ± 1 • C, 60 ± 5% RH and a photoperiod of 16:8 h) [37]. This finding is unsurprising as, just like other arthropods, mites' fitness could be influenced by many abiotic and biotic factors [43,46,47].…”

Determination of spider mite abundance in soil of field-grown cucumbers and in plants under predatory mite pressure in invasive infestations using HRM real-time PCR assay

“…To date, natural populations of N . californicus outside the greenhouse have been recorded only in Asia, South America, southern North America, parts of southern Europe, and along the Mediterranean Sea [ 46 , 47 ]. Sustained establishment and applied biological control in the environment rely on the ability of predators to adapt to the local environment of the region in which they are released.…”

“…californicus naturally occurs considerably less frequently in the cooler north and warmer south of Japan than in central Japan. [ 46 ] In Central and Northern Europe including Germany and the cultivation area of Spreewald gherkins natural occurrences of this predator have not been documented so far [ 48 , 49 ]. A study in the UK estimates that up to 7 generations of a commercially available N .…”

Impact of global warming scenarios on life-history traits of Tetranychus evansi (Acari: Tetranychidae)

“…An environmental simulation system (ESS) was used to simulate temperature data and create the three scenarios. ESS is a computer-based closed system for simulating natural climate conditions [37, 42, 43]. Briefly, the system software created a schedule of 10-min intervals with corresponding set values of air temperature (set temperature, TSVs) and continuously measured the process values of air temperature (measured temperature, TPVs).…”

“…For the future scenarios, current temperatures were increased by 1 °C to represent RCP2.6 or by 3.7 °C to represent RCP8.5. We selected summer because this is the season of greatest population expansion of several mite species in the field [33–37].…”