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Life history of the predatory mite Phytoseiulus fragariae on Tetranychus evansi and Tetranychus urticae (Acari: Phytoseiidae, Tetranychidae) at five temperatures

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Abstract

Tetranychus evansi Baker and Pritchard and Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae) are important pests of Solanaceae in many countries. Several studies have demonstrated that T. urticae is an acceptable prey to many predatory mites, although the suitability of this prey depends on the host plant. T. evansi, has been shown to be an unfavorable prey to most predatory mites that have been tested against it. The predator Phytoseiulus fragariae Denmark and Schicha (Acari: Phytoseiidae) has been found in association with the two species in Brazil. The objective of this work was to compare biological parameters of P. fragariae on T. evansi and on T. urticae as prey. The study was conducted under laboratory conditions at 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30°C. At all temperatures, survivorship was lower on T. evansi than on T. urticae. No predator reached adulthood at 10°C on the former species; even on the latter species, only about 36% of the predators reached adulthood at 10°C. For both prey, in general, duration of each life stage was shorter, total fecundity was lower and intrinsic rate of population increase (r m ) was higher with increasing temperatures. The slower rate of development of P. fragariae on T. evansi resulted in a slightly higher thermal requirement (103.9 degree-days) on that prey than on T. urticae (97.1 degree-days). The values of net reproduction rate (R 0), intrinsic rate of increase (r m ) and finite rate of increase (λ) were significantly higher on T. urticae, indicating faster population increase of the predator on this prey species. The highest value of r m of the predator was 0.154 and 0.337 female per female per day on T. evansi and on T. urticae, respectively. The results suggested that P. fragariae cannot be considered a good predator of T. evansi.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank “Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Ministério da Ciência e Tecnologia do Brasil” and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) for financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Escola Superior de Agricultura “Luiz de Queiroz”, Departamento de Entomologia, Fitopatologia e Zoologia Agrícola, Universidade de São Paulo, Avenida Pádua Dias, 11, CP. 9, 13418-900, Piracicaba, SP, Brazil

    Geraldo José Nascimento de Vasconcelos, Gilberto José de Moraes & Ítalo Delalibera Júnior

  2. ICIPE – African Insect Science for Food and Health, P.O. Box 30772, 00100, Nairobi, Kenya

    Markus Knapp

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  1. Geraldo José Nascimento de Vasconcelos
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  2. Gilberto José de Moraes
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  3. Ítalo Delalibera Júnior
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  4. Markus Knapp
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Correspondence to Geraldo José Nascimento de Vasconcelos.

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de Vasconcelos, G.J.N., de Moraes, G.J., Júnior, Í.D. et al. Life history of the predatory mite Phytoseiulus fragariae on Tetranychus evansi and Tetranychus urticae (Acari: Phytoseiidae, Tetranychidae) at five temperatures. Exp Appl Acarol 44, 27–36 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-007-9124-8

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