Prey Preference and Life Table of Amblyseius orientalis on Bemisia tabaci and Tetranychus cinnabarinus

Abstract

Amblyseius orientalis (Ehara) (Acari: Phytoseiidae) is a native predatory mite species in China. It used to be considered as a specialist predator of spider mites. However, recent studies show it also preys on other small arthropod pests, such as Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae). Experiments were conducted to investigate (1) prey preference of A. orientalis between Tetranychus cinnabarinus (Boisd.) (Acari: Tetranychidae) and B. tabaci, and (2) development, consumption and life table parameters of A. orientalis when reared on T. cinnabarinus, B. tabaci or a mix of both prey species. When preying on different stages of T. cinnabarinus, A. orientalis preferred protonymphs, whereas when preying on different stages of B. tabaci, A. orientalis preferred eggs. When these two most preferred stages were provided together (T. cinnabarinus protonymphs and B. tabaci eggs), A. orientalis randomly selected its prey. Amblyseius orientalis was able to complete its life cycle on B. tabaci eggs, T. cinnabarinus protonymphs, or a mix of both prey. However, its developmental duration was 53.9% and 30.0% longer when reared on B. tabaci eggs than on T. cinnabarinus and a mix of both prey, respectively. In addition, it produced only a few eggs and its intrinsic rate of increase was negative when reared on B. tabaci eggs, which indicates that B. tabaci is not sufficient to maintain A. orientalis population. The intrinsic rates of increase were 0.16 and 0.23 when A. orientalis was fed on the prey mix and T. cinnabarinus, respectively. These results suggest that although B. tabaci is a poor food resource for A. orientalis in comparison to T. cinnabarinus, A. orientalis is able to sustain its population on a mix of both prey. This predatory mite may thus be a potential biological control agent of B. tabaci when this pest co-occurs with the alternative minor pest T. cinnabarinus.

<p class="Body">Prey preference, reproductive performance, and life table of Amblyseius tsugawai (Acari: Phytoseiidae) feeding on Tetranychus urticae and Bemisia tabaci

“…When the two most preferred stages are provided together, the predator seemed to show no preference. This observation is similar to previous observations by Zhang et al (2015) studying preference of the phytoseiid A. orientalis to spider mites and whiteflies. Previous studies showed that preference of generalist predators are tradeoffs among multiple factors, including nutrition quality, prey quantity, and the ease to detect and access, etc.…”

“…Alternatively, we have been screening for domestic predators that can efficiently control B. tabaci. Predatory mites, such as Amblyseius orientalis Ehara (Acari: Phytoseiidae) and Amblyseius eharai Amitai & Swirski (Acari: Phytoseiidae), were identified as potentially capable of feeding on B. tabaci, but they hardly produced any eggs when only using this prey (Ji et al 2013ab;Zhang et al 2015). The ability of A. tsugawai to feed on B. tabaci also encouraged us to evaluate its potential as a candidate for biological control of this pest.…”

Quantitative impact of mating duration on reproduction and offspring sex ratio of Phytoseiulus persimilis (Acari: Phytoseiidae)

“…For each timing treatment, a minimum of 20 females were reared to investigate the impact of mating termination on fecundity and offspring sex-ratio sequence. Females were placed in 10 mm×3 mm rearing units (Zhang et al 2015) with sufficient T. urticae provided as prey each day. Due to limited labor availability, 10 females were observed once every 4 h until they die in each treatment.…”

Provisioning predatory mites with entomopathogenic fungi or pollen improves biological control of a greenhouse psyllid pest

“…Several predatory mite species, such as Amblyseius swirskii (Athias‐Henriot) (Acari: Phytoseiidae), Amblydromalus limonicus (Garman & McGregor) (Acari: Phytoseiidae), Neoseiulus barkeri Hughes (Acari: Phytoseiidae), Neoseiulus cucumeris (Oudemans) (Acari: Phytoseiidae), and Anystis baccarum (L.) (Acari: Anystidae) have been identified as potential biological control agents of psyllids . The new associations between predatory mites and TPP have only been studied in New Zealand in the last 3 years . Although A. baccarum consumed TPP eggs, early instar nymphs and even psyllid sugars, it will likely be difficult to commercially produce and use this species for control because it has a relatively long generation time (99.5 days) and diapause induction occurs when the temperature reaches 28 °C in summer .…”

“…[9][10][11][12][13][14][15] The new associations between predatory mites and TPP have only been studied in New Zealand in the last 3 years. 13,15,16 Although A. baccarum consumed TPP eggs, early instar nymphs and even psyllid sugars, it will likely be difficult to commercially produce and use this species for control because it has a relatively long generation time (99.5 days) and diapause induction occurs when the temperature reaches 28 ∘ C in summer. 13,17 Both A. limonicus and N. cucumeris feed on vulnerable stages of TPP, such as eggs and first instar nymphs and have a shorter generation time than A. baccarum.…”