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Entomopathogenic fungal conidia marginally affect the behavior of the predators Orius majusculus (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) and Phytoseiulus persimilis (Acari: Phytoseiidae) foraging for healthy Tetranychus urticae (Acari: Tetranychidae)

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Abstract

We determined how conidia of arthropod-pathogenic fungi on leaves affected the behavior of two predators—Orius majusculus (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) and Phytoseiulus persimilis (Acari: Phytoseiidae)—when offered a choice between preying on two-spotted spider mites, Tetranychus urticae (Acari: Tetranychidae), in the presence or absence of infective conidia of Metarhizium brunneum (Ascomycota: Hypocreales) and Neozygites floridana (Entomophthoromycota: Neozygitaceae). The results indicate no significant relation between the presence of conidia and predator behavior. The only indication of interference is between the generalists O. majusculus and M. brunneum, with a trend towards more time spent feeding and more prey encounters turning into feeding events on leaf discs without conidia than on leaf discs with conidia. Our results show that the presence of fungal conidia does not alter the preying behavior of the predators, and using predators and fungi together is not limited by any interference between organisms in the short term.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Karin Westrum (NIBIO) and Natasha Iwanicki (University of São Paulo, ESALQ) for assistance throughout the experiment. Professor Italo Delalibera Jr. and his group at ESALQ-USP are acknowledged for providing the N. floridana isolate ESALQ 1420 used in this study. We also thank the anonymous reviewers and associate editor of the journal for devoting their time into improving the manuscript. This study is part of the research project IMBICONT (Improved Biological Control for IPM in Fruits and Berries) (Project Number 1024151001) funded by the Innovation Fund, Denmark, and also supported by the project BERRYSYS (project number 190407/110) funded by the Norwegian Foundation for Research Levy on Agricultural Products (FFL) and the Agricultural Agreement Research Funds (JA) and the project SMARTCROP (Project Number 244626) funded by The Research Council of Norway.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Thorvaldsensvej 40, 1871, Frederiksberg, Denmark

    Stine K. Jacobsen, Jørgen Eilenberg & Lene Sigsgaard

  2. Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO), Biotechnology and Plant Health, Ås, Norway

    Ingeborg Klingen

  3. Data Science Laboratory, Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, Denmark

    Bo Markussen

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  1. Stine K. Jacobsen
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  2. Ingeborg Klingen
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  3. Jørgen Eilenberg
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  4. Bo Markussen
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  5. Lene Sigsgaard
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Correspondence to Stine K. Jacobsen.

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Jacobsen, S.K., Klingen, I., Eilenberg, J. et al. Entomopathogenic fungal conidia marginally affect the behavior of the predators Orius majusculus (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) and Phytoseiulus persimilis (Acari: Phytoseiidae) foraging for healthy Tetranychus urticae (Acari: Tetranychidae). Exp Appl Acarol 79, 299–307 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-019-00441-w

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