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Environmental factors affecting the life-tables ofTetranychus urticae (Acari: Tetranychidae) III. Host-plant nutrition

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Abstract

First, the literature of the last two decades on nutritional effects of host plants on spider mites is briefly reviewed. Second, experiments are described that subjected micro-propagated apple trees to four different levels of each macronutrient N, P and K. Spider mites (Tetranychus urticae Koch) feeding on leaf disks of these plants were checked for their developmental time, egg production and longevity. Plant analysis revealed that the concentration of N, P and K corresponded to the respective treatments. The content of phenolic compounds in the leaves increased with N and P deficiency. In the N experiment, spider-mite preimaginal developmental rate and oviposition rate were both positively correlated with leaf N. Often, fecundity was positively correlated with N and carbohydrate content of the leaves, and negatively with the phenolic content. Longevity of the two-spotted spider mite was not significantly affected by any treatment. The K experiments yielded only minor differences in plant contents as well as in spider-mite biology.

From these mite data, file-tables were constructed and statistically analyzed by the Jackknife technique. The life-table analysis showed a gradual decline in the intrinsic rate of natural increase (r m) with N and P deficiency. With all experiments pooled,r m was clearly correlated to leaf N and particularly to the content of phenolic compounds in the leaves. Nitrogen shortage had the most distinct influence on mite population growth: in a range of 1.5–3.0% leaf N,r m increased by a factor of 4, the number of multiplications per generation (R 0) by 11, and the doubling time of the population was prolonged 4-fold on severely N deficient leaves.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Landscape Ecology, Swiss Federal Institute of Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, Zürcherstrasse 111, 8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland

    B. Wermelinger

  2. Department of Plant Sciences, Crop Science, Research Station Eschikon, Federal Institute of Technology ETH, 8315, Lindau-Eschikon, Switzerland

    J. J. Oertli

  3. Department of Plant Sciences, Phytomedicine, Federal Institute of Technology ETH, Clausiusstrasse 21, 8092, Zürich, Switzerland

    J. Baumgärtner

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  1. B. Wermelinger
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  2. J. J. Oertli
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  3. J. Baumgärtner
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Wermelinger, B., Oertli, J.J. & Baumgärtner, J. Environmental factors affecting the life-tables ofTetranychus urticae (Acari: Tetranychidae) III. Host-plant nutrition. Exp Appl Acarol 12, 259–274 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01193472

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