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Ambulatory dispersal behavior ofNeoseiulus fallacis (Acarina: Phytoseiidae) in relation to prey density and temperature

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Abstract

Ambulatory dispersal behavior ofNeoseiulus fallacis (Garman) was studied in the laboratory to evaluate within-plant movement in relation to temperature and prey density. Adult femaleN. fallacis were confined in 2.5-cm-diameter arenas on the abaxial surface of excised corn leaves. Four temperatures (23, 28, 33, and 39° C) and prey densities ranging from 0 to 55 spider mite eggs per cm2 were used. The walking paths of these mites were traced, digitized and used to calculate turning angles, walking speeds and turning rates. A computer simulation of walking behavior used this information to model mite ambulatory behavior and predict dispersal rates.Neoseiulus fallacis behavior while on whole corn leaves was quantified to verify the results of the simulation. The results showed thatN. fallacis will follow a leaf or arena edge (edge-walking) at all temperatures and prey densities. In addition, this behavior was used to the exclusion of the other types of behavior such as resting, and random-walk type search when prey egg density was less than 4 eggs per cm2. The exclusion of edge-walking behavior from the model caused the model to underestimate substantially the dispersal rates leaves. These data suggest that there are at least two recognizable types of ambulatory search used byN. fallacis—the random-walk type, which is used when prey density is high (searching within prey patches), and the edge-walking behavior, which is used when prey density is low. This behavior allows the mite to travel rapidly from leaf to leaf in search of new prey patches.

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Author notes

  1. James S. Berry

    Present address: USDA/ARS Rangeland Insect Laboratory, Montana State University, 59717-0001, Bozeman, MT, U.S.A.

  2. Thomas O. Holtzer

    Present address: Department of Entomology, Colorado State University, 80523, Fort Collins, CO, U.S.A.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Entomology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 68583-0816, Lincoln, NE, (U.S.A.)

    James S. Berry & Thomas O. Holtzer

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  1. James S. Berry
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  2. Thomas O. Holtzer
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Berry, J.S., Holtzer, T.O. Ambulatory dispersal behavior ofNeoseiulus fallacis (Acarina: Phytoseiidae) in relation to prey density and temperature. Exp Appl Acarol 8, 253–274 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01202136

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