Abstract
Predatory soil-dwelling mites, Gaeolaelaps aculeifer (Canestrini) and Stratiolaelaps scimitus (Womersley) (Mesostigmata: Laelapidae), are essential biocontrol agents of small soil arthropod pests. To understand the population characteristics of these two predatory mites, we investigated their development, survival, and fecundity under laboratory conditions. We used Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Schrank) as a food source and analyzed the data using the age-stage, two-sex life table. The duration from egg to adult for G. aculeifer was longer than that for S. scimitus, but larval duration was similar between the two species. Notably, G. aculeifer laid 74.88 eggs/female in 24.50 days, but S. scimitus laid 28.46 eggs/female in 19.1 days. Several population parameters, such as the intrinsic rate of increase, finite rate of increase, net reproductive rate, and gross reproductive rate of G. aculeifer, were significantly higher than those of S. scimitus. Using the bootstrap technique with 100,000 samples, we demonstrated that the life tables constructed based on the 2.5th and 97.5th percentiles of finite rate of increase (λ) net reproductive rate (R0) may characterize the variability in the survival and fecundity curves, as well as predict population growth uncertainty. These data provide important information for the practical application of predatory soil mites to manage agricultural pests.
Highlights
Gaeolaelaps aculeifer (Canestrini) and Stratiolaelaps scimitus (Womersley) are predatory, soil-dwelling mites belonging to the family Laelapidae (Acari: Mesostigmata)
The curves of exj of the egg, larva, protonymph, deutonymph, and adult of G. aculeifer fed on T. putrescentiae were higher than those of S. scimitus (Figure 4)
The intrinsic rate of increase (r), finite rate of increase (λ), net reproductive rate (R0 ), and gross reproduction rate (GRR) of G. aculeifer fed on T. putrescentiae were 0.1733 d−1, 1.1893 d−1, 47.49 offspring, and 47.53 offspring, respectively
Summary
Gaeolaelaps aculeifer (Canestrini) and Stratiolaelaps scimitus (Womersley) are predatory, soil-dwelling mites belonging to the family Laelapidae (Acari: Mesostigmata) These two species are generalist predators and are used effectively as biological control agents of various soil pests, such as thrips pupae, fly maggots, and bulb mites [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. The best predators should survive prey scarcity [19], and their populations should be able to survive when the target pest population density is low due to their diverse host range [20] This ability facilitates rearing on factitious preys, such as the mold mite Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Schrank) (Acari: Sarcoptiformes: Acaridae).
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