Occurrence and impact of the parasitic mite Linobia coccinellae on its host beetle Chrysomela populi: implications for its potential as a biological control agent

Abstract

Due to social demands with regard to sustainability and ecological considerations, an aim of current research in short‐rotation coppices (SRC) is to find effective candidates for biological control of pest species. The great red poplar leaf beetle, Chrysomela populi L. (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), is one of the most harmful pests in the SRC. The endoparasitic mite Linobia coccinellae (Scopoli) (Acari: Astigmata, Hemisarcoptidae) lives under the elytra of C. populi and feeds on the beetles' hemolymph. The population dynamics of the mites and their impact on the fecundity and longevity of female beetles were examined in two experiments. To study the occurrence of the mites, beetles were collected from two poplar SRC sites in Germany on three dates. Infestation rates of collected male and female C. populi individuals increased over the course of the year and reached 78–97% in the last survey. Females were parasitized more often than males at any time. For the second part of the study, beetles were reared under laboratory conditions to study the development of the mites and their impact on the hosts. For this purpose, half of the females were actively seeded with five adult females of L. coccinellae and the other half was used as a control. There was no significant impact on longevity or reproductive traits of the beetles. Despite the high rates of infestation, it appears that the mites do not have a serious effect on female beetles. Thus L. coccinellae, by itself, is not an effective biological control agent against C. populi. However, it remains to be investigated whether the mites increase the beetles' susceptibility to other biotic and abiotic factors, and so may contribute to an integrated pest management regime with multiple antagonists.

Acarorum Catalogus Ix

“…Hemisarcoptes dzhashii K. Dzhibladze, 1969: 435;Rekk, 1976: 40 Type locality: Zelenyy Cape Distribution: Georgia Hemisarcoptes malus (Shimer) Acarus malus Shimer, 1868: 368 Hemisarcoptes malus (Shimer): André, 1942: 173;Cooreman, 1951: 30 Linobia coccinellae (Scopoli) Acarus coccinellae Scopoli, 1763: 389 Berlese, 1884Théodoridès, 1955: 71;Haitlinger, 1999: 181;Tarasi, Saboori & Sadeghi, 2001;Trach, 2016;Pohlink, Georgi & Müller, 2020…”

“…Nanacarus : 7, 45 [Diagnostic, Fain 1988Redescription, Fain, 1985: 280] Froweinia : 183 Congovidiella Fain, 1971 ) -Nanacarus minutus Czech Rep. (Samšinak & Vobrazkova, 1983) -Nanacarus pragensis France (contin.) -Linobia coccinellae Georgia (Dzhibladze, 1969) -Hemisarcoptes dzhashii Germany (Pohlink, Georgi & Müller, 2020) -Linobia coccinellae, Nanacarus minutus Great Britain (Türk & Türk, 1952;Fain, Hurst, Tweddle et al, 1995;Fain, Hurst, Fassotte et al 1997) -Congovidia coccinellidarum, Linobia coccinellae, Nanacarus (= Congovidiella) collembolicola Hungary (Halmai & Mahunka, 1980;Fain & Ripka, 1998) -Hemisarcoptes budensis, Nanacarus hungaricus Ireland (Purvis & Evans, 1982) -Nanacarus manus Italy (contin.) -Hemisarcoptes malus, Linobia coccinellae Sicily -Hemisarcoptes malus Poland (Fain et al, 1997) -Divilia exigua, Nanacarus minutus Russia (all, continent.)…”

Primer reporte de Hemisarcoptes cooremani (Thomas, 1961) (Acari: Hemisarcoptidae) para Cuba y su relación con Chilocorus cacti L. (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)

“…Varias especies de Hemisarcoptidae se han usado exitosamente para el control de plagas, tales como Linobia coccinellae Scopoli, 1763, ectoparásito de Chrysomela populi L. (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) (Pohlink et al, 2020) y las pertenecientes a Hemisarcoptes: H. coccophagus Meyer, 1962H. malus (Shimer, 1868 y H. cooremani (Thomas, 1961), consideradas las más eficaces para el control de insectos escama (Hemiptera: Diaspididae), fundamentalmente de los géneros Aonidiella Berlese y Leonardi, 1895; Parlatoria Targioni-Tozzetti, 1869 y Lepidosaphes Shimer, 1898 (Erler y Tunq, 2001, Gerson et al, 2003, Dhooria, 2016, que constituyen reconocidas plagas de plantaciones de cítricos a escala mundial (Stimmel, 1996).…”