Functional and numerical responses of the predatory mite Amblyseius aerialis (Acari: Phytoseiidae) to Aceria guerreronis (Acari: Eriophyidae)

Camila Tavares Ferreira,Raimundo Parente De Oliveira,Paulo Manoel Pontes Lins,Aloyséia Cristina Da Silva Noronha,Eduardo Pereira Souza Neto,Telma Fátima Vieira Batista

doi:10.24349/w600-25ar

Camila Tavares Ferreira, Raimundo Parente De Oliveira + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.24349/w600-25ar

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Abstract

The coconut mite, Aceria guerreronis Keifer, is one of the main pests of the coconut tree (Cocos nucifera L.) worldwide. Its control is mainly based on the use of acaricides. However, due to the habitat of this pest mite, which is protected by fruit bracts that act as a physical barrier, chemical control is often inefficient. Thus, natural enemies have been studied as an alternative to acaricides. We evaluated the functional and numerical responses of Amblyseius aerialis (Muma) to increasing densities of A. guerreronis (40, 80, 160, 240 and 360) and additionally the oviposition rates of the phytoseiid A. aerialis over 11 days on different food sources: coconut pollen, A. guerreronis and a mix of pollen and A. guerreronis. Our results showed that Amblyseius aerialis showed a type III functional response, where prey consumption increasing as the density of A. guerreronis increased, with a maximum consumption of up to 175 prey per predator. All the prey densities allowed female oviposition. The number of eggs laid by A. aerialis increased with increasing prey density and stabilized between 240 and 360 A. guerreronis individuals, with an average oviposition of 1.7 eggs/female. Furthermore, our results showed that all the food sources (coconut pollen, A. guerreronis and a mix of pollen and A. guerreronis) supported oviposition. The mean oviposition was approximately 1.5 eggs/female on all the food sources. Our study suggests that A. aerialis can be effective in the biological control of A. guerreronis. However, further studies are needed to investigate whether A. aerialis can explore the habitat of A. guerreronis and if that prey can support the development of immature stages and the reproduction of A. aerialis.

Highlights

The coconut mite (Aceria guerreronis Keifer) is a major pest of coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) fruits
The proportion of prey consumed initially increased under lower prey densities (40 and 80 mites) and decreased afterwards (Figure 1b), suggesting a type III functional response
The attack rate (a′) and the handling time (Th) of A. aerialis fed with A. guerreronis were 0.0011 h-1 and 0.11 h, respectively (Table 2)

Summary

Introduction

The coconut mite (Aceria guerreronis Keifer) is a major pest of coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) fruits. It occurs in several countries worldwide (Haq et al 2002; Lawson-Balagbo et al 2008a; Fernando and Aratchige 2010; Negloh et al 2011). This damage leads to a reduction in the yield of solid and liquid albumens and even premature fruit fall (Wickramananda et al 2007). A higher A. guerreronis incidence on fruits can decrease the mean number of fruits harvested per bunch by approximately 60% and decrease the liquid albumen volume by 28% (Rezende et al 2016)

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