Experimental and Applied Acarology

, Volume 64, Issue 3, pp 287–298 | Cite as

Evaluation of the predacious mite Hemicheyletia wellsina (Acari: Cheyletidae) as a predator of arthropod pests of orchids

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Abstract

The cheyletid predator Hemicheyletia wellsina was found in association with orchid pests in a Florida greenhouse. The life history of H. wellsina was determined using the two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae, as prey in the laboratory. Hemicheyletia wellsina is arrhenotokous, with mated females producing a female-biased sex ratio of 3.4:1. Adult longevity averaged 30.2 days, with females producing an average of 18.5 eggs. Adult females live up to 17 days without food, surviving an average of 9.7 days. Hemicheyletia wellsina will readily feed on the phytoseiid Metaseiulus occidentalis, suggesting intraguild predation by H. wellsina on phytoseiids could be important in pest management programs. The average prey consumption of H. wellsina is 1.5 T. urticae females per day. The results of this study provide information on an under-studied group of mite predators. Although H. wellsina does not have the qualities that would be necessary for its use in an augmentative or classical biological control program, its use in naturally occurring biological control could be beneficial.

Keywords

Orchidaceae Tetranychus urticae Predator Cheyletidae Biology 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Cal Welbourn of the Division of Plant Industry, Gainesville FL and Dr. Andre Bochkov of the Department of Parasitology, Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences for species identification. We also thank the members of the Hoy laboratory, Dr. Ke Wu, Aaron Pomerantz, Al Estep, and Godfrey Maina for their help and advice with research and colony maintenance. We thank James Colee of the University of Florida IFAS Statistics department for statistical consulting, and Lyle Buss of the University of Florida Department of Entomology and Nematology for assistance with photographs. This project was supported by the Davies, Fischer and Eckes Endowment in biological control to Marjorie A. Hoy.

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Copyright information

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of Entomology and NematologyUniversity of FloridaGainesvilleUSA

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