The effects of short‐term heat stress on functional response ofNeoseiulus barkeritoTetranychus urticae

Abstract

The predatory mite Neoseiulus barkeri (Acari: Phytoseiidae) is typically used for biocontrol of Tetranychus urticae on strawberries. However, its biological characteristics are greatly affected by temperature in hot summer days. In this study, the influence of different short‐term heat stresses on the functional response and prey consumption of unmated female of N. barkeri on three stages (egg, protonymph and adult) of T. urticae was evaluated. Three temperatures (38, 40 and 42°C), three short‐term heat duration (2, 4 and 6 hr), eight prey densities (3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21 and 24 individuals), (85 ± 5) % RH and a 16‐hr: 8‐hr (L:D) photoperiod were used during a 24‐hr period in functional response experiments. The results showed that the eggs of N. barkeri could not hatch at 42°C and the type II functional response was determined for adult females of N. barkeri at all treatments by using the logistic regression analysis. The N. barkeri had the highest attack rate of 1.029, 2.044 and 0.913 hr‐1 for three stages of T. urticae at 25°C and the lowest value of 0.585, 0.973 and 0.498 hr‐1 at 40°C, 6 hr. On the contrary, the handling time of the predator prolonged when the temperature increased from 25°C to 40°C and the maximum level was observed at 40°C, 6 hr (0.126, 0.153 and 0.172 hr). Our study indicated that the effects of short‐term heat stress were negative on the predation ability of N. barkeri and heat stress should be avoided as much as possible to achieve the best predation and control effect of N. barkeri in indoor rearing and field release.

Effects of short-term heat stress on the activity of three antioxidant enzymes of predatory mite Neoseiulus barkeri (acari, phytoseiidae)

“…However, few studies of thermal stress on the N. barkeri were found. Our previous work and another study all showed that the thermal stress negatively affected the longevity, reproduction characteristics ( Li et al, 2021 ), copulation ( Zhang et al, 2016 ), and functional response ( Li et al, 2022 ). Physiological mechanisms like the change of antioxidant enzymes of Neoseiulus barkeri, when faced thermal stress, were still not clear.…”

“…We have found that the short-term heat stress does exert a negative effect on the longevity, reproduction characteristics, and functional response of N. barkeri. ( Li et al, 2021 ; Li et al, 2022 ). In this study, the physiological mechanism of N. barkeri in the response to the short-term heat stress based on relevant antioxidant enzymes was conducted, among which the eggs and the emerged adults were treated at 38, 40, and 42°C for 2, 4, and 6 h, then the changes in the enzyme activity were tested, which aims to clarify the effects of different short-term heat stresses and exposure durations on three protective enzymes in the body of N. barkeri .…”

Selection, Identification, and Transcript Expression Analysis of Antioxidant Enzyme Genes in Neoseiulus barkeri after Short-Term Heat Stress

“…In spite of numerous attempts that have been made in recent years to study the impact of temperature on the developmental Antioxidants 2023, 12, 1998 2 of 14 rates of arthropods, there is little information related to mite pests at the molecular level [7]. High temperatures can cause a dramatic increase in ROS levels, leading to harmful effects on the population of N. barkeri [6,8,9] and resulting in suppressed potential and low control efficiency on small insects and mite pests [10].…”

The effects of storage temperature, food, and humidity on survival and progeny of Neoseiulus bicaudus

“…Biological control is an environmentally friendly approach and an important component of most integrated pest management (IPM) programs (Seyahooei et al, 2018). Predatory mites, especially Phytoseiidae, are efficient natural enemies of phytophagous mites and have been used to control a range of pest mites and thrips (de Toledo et al, 2013; Ghazy & Amano, 2016; Kidane et al, 2015; Li et al, 2021; Shen et al, 2017). Neoseiulus bicaudus Wainstein (Acari: Phytoseiidae) is a predatory mite species recently observed in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (Wang et al, 2015).…”