Mites from Cerrado fragments and adjacent soybean crops: does the native vegetation help or harm the plantation?

Abstract

Aiming to recognize the distribution patterns of the mite fauna in soybean crops and to determine the existence of similarity in the composition of species between Cerrado fragments and these plantations, samplings were carried out in 10 areas located in Brazilian Mid-Western and Southeastern regions. Each area was comprised of one fragment of Cerrado sensu stricto and one adjacent soybean crop plantation, with simultaneous samplings carried out on both of them. From the total sampled species, 111 were recorded in the Cerrado and 25 in soybean crops. About 68 % were common in both environments and only eight were exclusively found in soybean. All the species of Phytoseiidae recorded in soybean were also found in the Cerrado. The tetranychid mite Mononychellus planki (McGregor) was the most abundant species (96.3 % of the total individuals) and the only one recorded in every sampled crop. The main occurrence of M. planki was verified in soybean crops using the transgenic cultivar ANTA 82. In general terms, it has been observed that Cerrado fragments do not shelter pest species that may attack soybean and can contribute to the increase of possible predator species in this agroecosystem.

Biological performance of the predatory mite Neoseiulus idaeus (Phytoseiidae): a candidate for the control of tetranychid mites in Brazilian soybean crops

“…Despite several animals might affect soybean crops, a special group responsible to such damage are phytophagous tetranychids mites. This affirmation is reinforced by recent studies that have been reporting high populations of tetranychids mites species (Mononychellus planki McGregor, Tetranychus desertorum Banks, T. gigas Pritchard & Baker, T. ludeni Zacher and T. urticae Koch) in soybean crops (Guedes et al, 2007;Reichert et al, 2014;Rezende et al, 2014;Roggia et al, 2008).…”

“…Despite its growing population, until recently M. planki was not mentioned as a mite of economic importance (Moraes and Flechtmann, 2008). However, currently such mite specie has been considered the most frequent and abundant in soybean crops (Reichert et al, 2014;Rezende et al, 2014).…”

“…Predatory mites of Iolinidae, Phytoseiidae and Stigmaeidae have been commonly associated to Brazilian soybean crop (Reichert et al, 2014;Rezende et al, 2014). However, Phytoseiid are the most common and abundant mites in such crop.…”

“…Phytoseiid mites of the genus Neoseiulus have been commonly observed on soybean crops (Reichert et al, 2014;Rezende et al, 2014 (Reichert et al, 2014). However, available information about this mite family in soybean crops of Rio Grande do Sul State is scarce.…”

Mites associated with sugarcane crop and with native trees from adjacent Atlantic forest fragment in Brazil

“…However little is known regarding the influence of the natural vegetation on the occurrence and distribution of mites in annual crops (Demite and Feres 2005). In a recent study Rezende et al (2014) evaluated the composition of mite communities in soybean crops and adjacent Cerrado fragments in Central Brazil and determined the existence of share species between these two areas determine similarity in an area of Cerrado and soybean fields. These authors observed that Cerrado fragments do not shelter pest species that may attack soybean and can contribute to the increase of possible predator species in this agroecosystem; all the species of predatory mites in the Phytoseiidae recorded in soybean were also found in the Cerrado fragments.…”