Abstract
Establishment and maintenance of the natural enemy are critical for successful biological control of pests on plants without alternative food for predators. Great efforts have been devoted to exploring suitable supplementary food for predators. In this study, we evaluated the feasibility of using Tyrophagus curvipenis (Fain and Fauvel) (Acari: Acaridae) as a supplementary food source for Neoseiulus cucumeris (Oudemans) (Acari: Phytoseiidae) by investigating the survival and development of N. cucumeris at different prey densities with the influence of conspecifics. Furthermore, we investigated predation rates and their body size at adult emergence. The results showed that N. cucumeris developed from egg to adult in approximately six days. Survival rates of immature predators increased significantly with the given prey density. No significant difference in body size was found between the survived adults fed at different prey density, but the females were always larger than males. To conclude, T. curvipenis can be an excellent alternative food source for the biological control agent N. cucumeris.
Highlights
Phytoseiid mites (Acari: Phytoseiidae) are among the most important predatory species employed as biocontrol agents against agricultural pests such as phytophagous mites, thrips, and other small arthropods
It was suggested that provi sioning natural enemies with supplementary food improved the outcome of biocontrol through enhancing the survival and reproduction of predatory mites when prey is scarce or unavailable (Vacacela Ajila et al 2019)
We determined the immature biology of N. cucumeris when they were offered a potential food source, T. curvipenis, a mite species from the same family of the factitious prey T. putrescentiae
Summary
Phytoseiid mites (Acari: Phytoseiidae) are among the most important predatory species employed as biocontrol agents against agricultural pests such as phytophagous mites, thrips, and other small arthropods (van Lenteren 2012; Knapp et al 2018; Rao et al 2018). Many species in this family can be massreared with astigmatid mites (Acari: Astigmata) as factitious prey and are commercially available (Gerson et al 2003; Barbosa and Moraes 2015).
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