Development, reproduction and thermotolerance evaluation of high temperature adapted stain of Neoseiulus barkeri under no selective pressure

Abstract

Neoseiulus barkeri is a generalist biological control agent of multiple insect pests (Hao et al., 2021). Its development, reproduction and predation ability were negatively affected by short-term heat treatment (Li et al., 2021), further affecting its biocontrol efficiency. We established a high-temperature adapted strain (HTAS) of N. barkeri through long-term heat hardening and acclimation. However, whether the temperature tolerance of HTAS of N. barkeri will change when the selective pressure is removed remains unknown.