Life cycle of Raoiella indica (Acari: Tenuipalpidae) on ornamental plants, mostly Arecaceae

Abstract

The red palm mite, Raoiella indica Hirst, has been primarily found associated with coconut and musaceous plants in the New World. However, it has also been recorded on several other palms, heliconiaceous and zingiberaceous species. This study was conducted to evaluate the suitability of different botanical families on which R. indica has been collected in the field and of arecaceous plants of the natural vegetation of the neotropics. In total, ten species of Arecaceae as well as Heliconia psittacorum [Heliconiaceae] and Alpinia purpurata [Zingiberacae] were evaluated, using coconut as a control. The study was carried out under controlled conditions (29 ± 0.5 °C, 60 ± 10% RH and photoperiod 12 h of light). Raoiella indica was able to complete immature development only on coconut, Adonidia merrillii, Ptychosperma macarthurii, H. psittacorum and A. purpurata. Duration of the immature phase (egg-adult) ranged between 21.5 days on coconut to 34.1 days on A. purpurata. Longevity was at least 50% greater and oviposition at least 38% higher on coconut than on other plants. Intrinsic rate of increase (rm) was higher on coconut (0.166) and A. merrillii (0.042), but negative on the other two plant species. Raoiella indica could not reach adulthood on any of the other ten arecaceous species considered in the study. The results suggested R. indica to be a threat to A. merrillii in addition to coconut, but not to other evaluated plants. However, complementary studies should be conducted to investigate whether the experimental procedures adopted in this study could not have prevented the mite from a better performance than it could have been under field conditions, especially in relation to Mauritia flexuosa, one of the dominant arecaceous plants in South America.

Biology of Red Palm Mite, Raoiella indica, on Different Coconut Varieties

“…The female longevity on this study was 25.93−26.47 days, showing longer duration than previously reported by Vasquez et al (2014) at 29 o C (21.5 days). However, the present study was far shorter than the report from Nageschachandra and Channabasavanna (1984) which mentioned that the mite longevity was 48.6−50.9 days on coconut leaves.…”

Hosts of Raoiella indica Hirst (Acari: Tenuipalpidae) Native to the Brazilian Amazon

“…Results of the present study suggest that native Brazilian plant species (A. jauari, B. simplicifrons, M. flexuosa, O. bacaba, S. exorrhiza and H. psittacorum) could be at risk with the expansion of the distribution of RPM, given that the values of r i for those species are similar to the values obtained for well known exotic hosts, as A. merrillii and C. nucifera (Carrillo et al, 2012;Vásquez et al, 2015). However, quite different life table parameters were found in this and previous studies.…”

“…About 81% of the known host species belong to Arecaceae; all others belong to other monocotyledonous families (Carrillo et al, 2012). Reports of dicotyledonous plants (Apocynaceae, Fabaceae and Sterculiaceae) as hosts probably refer to mites found while in the process of dispersion to the actual hosts (Vásquez, Colmenárez, & Moraes, 2015). About 65% of the hosts reported in the Americas are species introduced from the Eastern Hemisphere; about a quarter of the reported hosts are plants native to the New World, especially South America (Carrillo et al, 2012).…”

Oxidative enzymes in coconut cultivars in response to Raoiella indica feeding

“…Furthermore, effect of coconut cultivar on R. indica Host plant effect on phytophagous mite species reproduction was previously shown as growing, without effect, or decreasing (Ribeiro et al, 1988;Hilker and Meiners, 2002;Praslička and Huszár, 2004). Differences in R. indica developmental time was observed when reared on coconut cultivars, being 21.5 and 19.8 d on JT (in Trinidad) and on a hybrid MYDxJT (in Venezuela), respectively (Vásquez et al, 2015). Vásquez et al (2008) hypothesized that reproductive parameters of Oligonychus punicae appeared to be negatively associated with flavonoid content in grape cultivars.…”

“…The cultivars studied were: the Jamaican Tall (JT), Malayan Yellow Dwarf (MYD), the Niu Leka (NL), and a hybrid cultivar (JT x MYD) provided by the Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Agrícolas (INIA), Irapa, Sucre state, Venezuela. Each rearing unit consisted of a coconut leaf disc (3 cm diameter) placed with the lower surface on a polyurethane layer, continuously maintained wet by the daily addition of distilled water (Vásquez et al, 2015). One 3-5 day old female was put on each of the thirty rearing units of each cultivar to obtain one egg per rearing unit.…”