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Factitious food for mass production of predaceous phytoseiid mites (Acari: Phytoseiidae) commonly found in Brazil

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Abstract

Phytoseiid mites are commonly used as biological control agents of mite and small insect pests. To facilitate the production of phytoseiids, alternative food sources have been evaluated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the suitability of different food sources for the rearing of the phytoseiids Amblyseius tamatavensis Blommers, Euseius concordis (Chant) and Neoseiulus anonymus (Chant and Baker). This study evaluated the levels of oviposition of these predators when fed with 15 Astigmatina (Sarcoptiformes) mite species, one species of a bacteriophagous nematode, and pollen from five plant species. The highest oviposition rates of A. tamatavensis were obtained when fed on the mites Thyreophagus cracentiseta Barbosa, OConnor & Moraes and Aleuroglyphus ovatus (Troupeau) (2.6 and 2.1 eggs/female/day, respectively). The five highest oviposition levels of E. concordis occurred when the food source was pollen, especially of Ricinus communis L. (1.7 eggs/female/day). The evaluated oviposition levels of N. anonymus were at most 0.5 eggs/female/day on all food sources. The construction of life tables of A. tamatavensis and E. concordis with the two most favorable food sources showed that in both cases the values of rm were higher when the predator was fed with T. cracentiseta and R. communis, respectively. The possible use of pollen of Elaeis guineensis L. should be further evaluated, given the acceptance of this type of pollen by E. concordis and the ease of obtaining large amounts of this pollen in areas where this crop is grown.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to M.F.C. Barbosa for the identification of the astigmatine mites. To CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior) for the fellowship provided to the first author. The second author is a CNPq researcher (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Brazil).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Depto Entomologia e Acarologia, Escola Superior de Agricultura “Luiz de Queiroz”, Universidade de São Paulo, Piracicaba, SP, 13418-900, Brazil

    Marcela Massaro, João Pedro Ignez Martin & Gilberto José de Moraes

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  1. Marcela Massaro
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  2. João Pedro Ignez Martin
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  3. Gilberto José de Moraes
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Correspondence to Marcela Massaro.

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Massaro, M., Martin, J.P.I. & de Moraes, G.J. Factitious food for mass production of predaceous phytoseiid mites (Acari: Phytoseiidae) commonly found in Brazil. Exp Appl Acarol 70, 411–420 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-016-0087-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-016-0087-5

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