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Life tables of Neoseiulus cucumeris exclusively fed with seven different pollens

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Abstract

The juvenile development and survival, and demographic parameters of the predatory mite Neoseiulus cucumeris (Oudemans) (Acari: Phytoseiidae) fed on pollen of castor bean, tulip, apple, Christmas cactus, horse-chestnut, maize, and birch were assessed under laboratory conditions. Deprivation of food and pollen of castor bean plants resulted in 100 % juvenile mite mortality. Feeding mites with tulip and horse-chestnut pollen resulted in the shortest development and the highest total fecundity. Adult mites fed on birch, tulip, maize, and apple pollen lived significantly longer compared with those fed on pollen of horse-chestnut and Christmas cactus. The intrinsic rate of natural increase ranged between 0.1013 ♀♀/♀/day for maize and 0.1806 ♀♀/♀/day for horse-chestnut pollen as food. Net reproductive rate was the lowest when fed with maize pollen and highest when fed with horse-chestnut pollen. Population doubling time was highest on maize pollen and shortest on horse-chestnut pollen. Our study revealed that birch, tulip, horse-chestnut, apple, and maize pollen can be used by N. cucumeris from early spring to late summer as a suitable alternative food in periods when prey in the field are scarce or absent.

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Acknowledgments

Sincere thanks go to Linnea Skoglund (Dept. Plant Sciences & Plant Pathology, Montana State University, USA) for linguistic corrections, and the reviewers for their highly appreciated comments and corrections of the manuscript. This study was in part supported by a PhD grant for IG from the European Commission Erasmus Mundus External Cooperation Window (IAMONET-RU).

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  1. Nar B. Ranabhat

    Present address: Department of Land Resources and Environmental Science, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, 59717-3120, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Phytomedicine, University of Hohenheim, 70599, Stuttgart, Germany

    Nar B. Ranabhat, Irina Goleva & Claus P. W. Zebitz

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  1. Nar B. Ranabhat
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  2. Irina Goleva
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  3. Claus P. W. Zebitz
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Correspondence to Claus P. W. Zebitz.

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Ranabhat, N.B., Goleva, I. & Zebitz, C.P.W. Life tables of Neoseiulus cucumeris exclusively fed with seven different pollens. BioControl 59, 195–203 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526-013-9556-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526-013-9556-5

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