Parasitus fimetorum and Macrocheles muscaedomesticae (Acarina:Parasitidae, Macrochelidae) as Natural Predators of the Root Knot Nematode, Meloidogyne javanica Treub

Abstract

The potential use of two predacious mites, Parasitus fimetorum (Berlese 1904) and Macrocheles muscaedomesticae (Scopoli 1972), for controlling the root knot nematode, Meloidogyne javanica Treub 1885 was evaluated under laboratory and semi-field conditions. Obtained results revealed that the 2 predators significantly reduced the root knot nematode numbers. In addition, the highest reduction percentage (57.24%) in nematode juveniles was recorded at the treatment of (1000 nematode + 10 mites). For M. muscaedomesticae, the highest mortality percentage (50.83%) in nematode juveniles was recorded at the treatment of (1000 nematode + 50 mites), followed by (1000 nematodes + 20 mites) 48.88%, while the treatment of (1000 nematode + 10 mites) gave (47.13%). The combination of the 2 mite species (1000 nematodes + 50 mites/species) caused the highest mortality percentages in nematode juveniles (69.29%), followed by (1000 nematodes + 20 mite/species) 50.51% and the treatment of (1000 nematode + 10 mite/species) (37.66%). At the pot experiments, the highest overall mortality percentage in M. javanica juveniles was recorded at the treatment of P. fimetorum + M. muscaedomesticae giving (57.07%), followed by the treatment of P. fimetorum (39.17%), and then, by M. muscaedomesticae alone that recorded only (17.47%). In conclusion, predacious mites can be partially considered a control tool of the parasitic nematodes.