Kin recognition by cannibals is modulated by hunger level in a generalist predatory mite Amblyseius herbicolus (Chant) (Acari: Phytoseiidae)

Abstract

Cannibalism, the predation of conspecifics, is a common phenomenon found across the animal kingdom (Fox, 1975;Schausberger, 2003).This behaviour is considered a plastic response to survive food scarcity (Khodaei & Long, 2020). The cannibals not only gain nutrients from eating their conspecifics but also reduce the intraspecific competition for food, space and mates (Schausberger, 2003). However, risks are also associated with cannibalism. The predation of conspecifics is a pathway for spreading pathogens and diseases, especially species-specific ones (

Larval feeding types shape the predation aggression of predatory mites in both intraspecific and interspecific encounters

“…A no-choice experiment was conducted following the methods of Zhang and Zhang (2022a), with changes to the number of testing subjects. In each testing cell, we placed two larvae so we could observe aggressiveness towards either a conspecific (cannibalism) or a heterospecific (intraguild predation).…”

“…The eggs of the predators were collected by inserting nylon threads (c. 2 cm in length) into the cultures overnight. These eggs were then allowed to hatch individually in modified Munger cells (refer to Zhang & Zhang 2022a).…”

“…Many members of the family Phytoseiidae (Acari: Mesostigmata) are important biocontrol agents used to control agricultural pests, including whiteflies, thrips, and spider mites (McMurtry et al 2015). Cannibalism and intraguild predation are common to phytoseiid species (Ghazy et al 2016; Lee & Zhang 2016; Schausberger & Croft 2000a; Zhang & Zhang 2022a; Zhang & Zhang 2022b; Zhang & Zhang 2022c). Nevertheless, the propensity for cannibalism and intraguild predation of the larval stage is less studied than the adult stage of predatory phytoseiid species (Escudero-Colomar et al 2019; Vangansbeke et al 2014; Zhang & Zhang 2022a, 2022b, 2022c; Zhang et al 2015).…”

“…the predatory mite Amblydromalus limonicus (Garman & McGregor); 3) obligatory-feeding larvae that must feed for successful development to the protonymphal stage, e.g . the predaceous mite Amblyseius herbicolus (Chant) (Zhang & Zhang 2022a). The larval feeding type of phytoseiid predators may correlate to the density and distribution of prey, oviposition preference, and level of cannibalism (Chittenden & Saito 2001).…”

A thelytokous predatory mite is more cannibalistic towards distant kin

“…Identifying between kin and non-kin is essential to the inclusive fitness of a cannibal ( Schausberger 2003 ): by preferentially eating non-kin, cannibals can gain nutritional benefits without reducing their inclusive fitness ( Schausberger 2003 ; Khodaei and Long 2020 ). Several phytoseiids have been found to recognize kin, including the specialist predators, Phytoseiulus persimilis , and P. macropilis ( Schausberger and Croft 2001 ), and generalist predators, Amblyseius herbicolus , Gynaeseius liturivorus , Iphiseius degenerans , and Neoseiulus californicus ( Faraji et al 2000 ; Christiansen and Schausberger 2017 ; Saitoh and Choh 2018 ; Zhang and Zhang 2022 ). Prior association and phenotype matching were mostly reported in phytoseiids ( Schausberger 2005 , 2007 ; Christiansen and Schausberger 2017 ; Schausberger and Çekin 2020 ).…”