In vitro life table of the storage mite Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Acari: Acaridae)

Abstract

Introduction: The mite Tyrophagus putrescentiae is a common contaminant of stored products and an important pest in plant tissue culture laboratories, because they diseminate fungi and bacteria. Objective: To describe the reproduction and life table of T. putrescentiae in vitro. Methods: We reared the mites with its associated fungus Leptosphaerulina sp., recording growth and development every 12h. Results: The duration of the egg, larva, protonymph, and tritonymph stages of cohort 1 was 4,52; 1,57; 1,37 and 1,29 days (cohort 2: 4,54; 1,44; 1,31 and 1,45 days, respectively). Cohort 1 periods of pre-oviposition, oviposition and post-oviposition were 1,86; 7,21 and 1,35 days (most cohort 2 individuals did not reach maturity). The intrinsic rate of natural increase (rm) was 0,11 individuals per female per day, the net reproduction rate (Ro) was 29,21; the generation time was 29,47 days, and the finite rate of increase (λ) was 1,12 times per female per day. Conclusion: Under the typical laboratory conditions, T. putrescentiae can multiply its initial population in a single day, which explains the population explosions observed in these laboratories.