Life history of Proctolaelaps bulbosus feeding on the coconut mite Aceria guerreronis and other possible food types occurring on coconut fruits

Abstract

Aceria guerreronis Keifer (Acari: Eriophyidae) is a major pest of coconut fruits (Cocos nucifera L.) in many countries of the Americas, Africa, and parts of Asia. Considerable attention has been given to studies of biological control agents of A. guerreronis. Proctolaelaps bulbosus Moraes, Reis and Gondim Jr. is a predator recently discovered in association with A. guerreronis. Nothing is known about its biology. The aim of this study was to determine suitable food sources for P. bulbosus, among items commonly found on coconut fruits, including A. guerreronis. Food sources evaluated included the mites A. guerreronis, Steneotarsonemus concavuscutum Lofego and Gondim Jr., and Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Schrank), the fungus Rhizopus aff. stolonifer (Ehrenb.) Vuill and coconut pollen; the mite Tetranychus urticae Koch was also included in the assessments, for being a commonly used prey for mass production and laboratory rearing of predatory mites. Proctolaelaps bulbosus was able to develop up to adulthood when fed A. guerreronis, R. aff. stolonifer and T. putrescentiae. It had the highest population growth rates when feeding on the former (R (o) = 17.5; r (m) = 0.392). These results indicate that A. guerreronis is the most suitable food for P. bulbosus among the possible food sources found on coconut fruits and that P. bulbosus can survive in the absence of eriophyid using R. aff. stolonifer as a food source.

Potential of Ascidae, Blattisociidae and Melicharidae (Acari: Mesostigmata) as Biological Control Agents of Pest Organisms

“…Other studies referred to the same predator on R. robini (Metwalli et al 1991 ), to P. bickleyi and P. bulbosus on Aceria guerreronis Keifer (Lawson-Balagbo et al 2007 andGalvão et al 2011 , respectively) and to P. yinchuanensis on Suidasia pontifi ca Oudemans (Navasero et al 2004 ). However, some Proctolaelaps species were not able to complete immature development on certain mite species, namely P. bickleyi on Steneotarsonemus furcatus De Leon or T. urticae (Lawson-Balagbo et al 2007 ), P. bulbosus on T. putrescentiae (Galvão et al 2011 ) and P. deleoni on R. robini and T. putrescenitae (Nawar 1992 ).…”

“…aff. stolonifer (Galvão et al 2011 ) and P. pygmaeus as well as Proctolaelaps striatus Afi fi , Hassan and El-Bishlawy on F. oxysporum (Ibrahim et al 1989 ). However, fecundity was quite low (usually at most 10 eggs per female), except for P. bickleyi and P. bulbosus (each about 33 eggs per female), both feeding on R. aff.…”

“…It has been suggested that the exceedingly high feeding requirement of P. bickleyi may limit its performance as a control agent of A. guerreronis (Lima et al 2012 ). Available information about the biology of P. bulbosus (Galvão et al 2011 ) suggests the need for further studies to evaluate the possible effi ciency of this species, determining whether its introduction to other sites would be warranted.…”

Status of Aceria guerreronis Keifer (Acari: Eriophyidae) as a Pest of Coconut in the State of Sao Paulo, Southeastern Brazil

“…The "ascoids" Proctolaelaps bickleyi (Bram) and Proctolaelaps bulbosus Moraes, Reis & Gondim Jr. have also been found associated with the coconut mite, especially on fallen fruits. Again, laboratory studies have shown the coconut mite to be an adequate food for those predators (LawsonBalagbo et al 2007, Galvão et al 2011. However, even in areas where these phytoseiids and "ascoids" are found, the coconut mite causes significant damage to coconuts (de Moraes & Flechtmann 2008), suggesting that these predators are less effective than desirable.…”

Notes on the Biological Aspects of the Fungivorous Mites Proctolaelaps pygmaeus (Müller) (Mesostigmata: Ascidae) and Glycyphagus ornatus (Astigmata: Glycyphagidae) feeding on different fungi at Different Temperature Degrees

“…at 0.05 = 0.43 and 0.52 for females and males individuals, respectively. The results obtained by Galvao et al (2011) who studied the effect of different food sources included the mites Aceria guerreronis, Steneotarsonemus concavuscutum Lofego and Gondim Jr., and T. putrescentiae, the fungus Rhizopus aff. stolonifer (Ehrenb.)…”