The passion fruit plant is a host for several different phytophagous mites, mainly those belonging to the Tarsonemidae, Tenuipalpidae and Tetranychidae families. Among the Tetranychidae species are Tetranychus mexicanus (McGregor, 1950) and Tetranychus desertorum Banks, 1900. The occurrence of Tetranychus marianae McGregor, 1950 was detected on yellow passion fruit Passiflora edulis Sims f. flavicarpa Degener plants under field and greenhouse conditions at the headquarters of Embrapa Cassava & Fruits Tropical Research in Cruz das Almas County, State of Bahia, Northeast Brazil. Prior records of T. marianae on the passion fruit crop in Brazil as well as the biological aspects of this species are unknown. The study on the biology of T. marianae on P. edulis f. flavicarpa was carried out under controlled environmental condition of 25 ± 1ºC temperature, 80 ± 10% RH and 12 hours photophase. The egg to adult time span lasted 10.73 ± 0.18 days, with a 92% survival figure. The sexual ratio was 81% females. The mean female longevity was 24.53 days and the daily mean oviposition was 3.69 eggs/female. The intrinsic rate of increase (r m) was 0.172; the finite rate of increase (l) was 1.187 individuals/female/day; the mean time span of one generation (T) was 22.81 days; and the net rate of reproduction (Ro) was 50.14.

The coconut mite, Aceria guerreronis Keifer, is one of the main pests of the coconut tree (Cocos nucifera L.) worldwide. Its control is mainly based on the use of acaricides. However, due to the habitat of this pest mite, which is protected by fruit bracts that act as a physical barrier, chemical control is often inefficient. Thus, natural enemies have been studied as an alternative to acaricides. We evaluated the functional and numerical responses of Amblyseius aerialis (Muma) to increasing densities of A. guerreronis (40, 80, 160, 240 and 360) and additionally the oviposition rates of the phytoseiid A. aerialis over 11 days on different food sources: coconut pollen, A. guerreronis and a mix of pollen and A. guerreronis. Our results showed that Amblyseius aerialis showed a type III functional response, where prey consumption increasing as the density of A. guerreronis increased, with a maximum consumption of up to 175 prey per predator. All the prey densities allowed female oviposition. The number of eggs laid by A. aerialis increased with increasing prey density and stabilized between 240 and 360 A. guerreronis individuals, with an average oviposition of 1.7 eggs/female. Furthermore, our results showed that all the food sources (coconut pollen, A. guerreronis and a mix of pollen and A. guerreronis) supported oviposition. The mean oviposition was approximately 1.5 eggs/female on all the food sources. Our study suggests that A. aerialis can be effective in the biological control of A. guerreronis. However, further studies are needed to investigate whether A. aerialis can explore the habitat of A. guerreronis and if that prey can support the development of immature stages and the reproduction of A. aerialis.

ABSTRACT. Intra and interpopulational rnorphological variations of Ellseills citrifolills D en rnark & Murna and Euseills concordis (C h ant) (Acar i,Phytoseiidae). The determination of morphologic variability within and between populations of phytoseiid mites is important for the precise species identification. Euseius citrifolius Denmark &Muma, 1970 and Euseius concordis (Chant, 1959) cO!lcordis fro m Jaguariúna had some ofthe setae generally shorter than those of other populations of the same species. Measurements of males resulting from heterogarrti c crosses indicated that E. citrif'olius and E. concordis reproduce by pseudo-arrhenotoky. KEY WORDS . Mite, phytoseiid, predator, pseudo-arrenotoky, taxonomy Ácaros da fam ília Phytoseiidae são eficientes inimigos naturais de ácaros pragas de vários cultivos. A identificação de ácaros dessa família é normalmente realizada pela avaliação de caracteres morfológicos . Entretanto, variações nos caracteres morfológicos entre indivíduos de uma população ou entre populações de uma espécie são sempre esperadas. O que comumente não se conhece, entretanto, é a amplitude esperada de variação de cada caráter considerado.

Distribution of Amblyseius manihoti (Acari, Phytoseiidae) on manioc and development of sampling plan Sampling plans were developed for Amblyseius manihoti, a predator of the cassava green mite Mononychellus progresivus Doreste (Acari, Tetranychidae). Analysis of intra‐plant distribution showed a more stable and constant distribution of A. manihoti on the leaves 9–12 (numbering starting from the first fully developed leaf), hence leaves belonging to this stratum were chosen as the sampling unit. Within this unit, A. manihoti displayed aggregated distributions between plants. The proposed binomial and the enumerative sampling procedures permitted reliable estimates of A. manihoti densities. For population monitoring, 100 sample units per field were sufficient to provide satisfactory estimates of densities.

The present study evaluated the mite fauna associated with nance, Byrsonima crassifolia (L.) Kunth, in the state of Pará, Eastern Amazon. Mites were collected from leaves of nance clones in the municipalities of Belém and Tomé-Açu from 2012 to 2014. The collected mites were mounted on microscope slides in Hoyer’s medium. A total of 2,749 mites were collected, distributed in 32 species belonging to eight families, in addition to specimens of the suborder Oribatida, which represented 73% of the total collected. Eighteen species of predators of the families Ascidae, Cunaxidae, Phytoseiidae and Stigmaeidae are reported. Phytoseiidae was the most diverse family, with ten species, with a predominance of Amblyseius aerialis (Muma, 1955). Thirty-one mite species are new records in B. crassifolia in the state of Pará, and the Tydeidae Afrotydeus kenyensis (Baker, 1970) and Pseudolorryia nicaraguensis (Baker, 1970) are reported for the first time in Brazil.

Twenty-four papers refer to phytoseiid mites from different plant species in the state of Bahia, northeastern Brazil, but none of those refer to taxonomic surveys on ornamental plants. The aim of this study was to determine phytoseiids from tropical ornamentals in the southern coastal region of Bahia state, as well as to present a checklist and an identification key to the species recorded in that state. Samples were collected at eight localities of five municipalities. A total of seventeen species in nine genera was found on fifteen plant species of the families Costaceae, Heliconiaceae, Musaceae and Zingiberaceae. The most frequent and abundant phytoseiid species were Iphiseiodes metapodalis (El-Banhawy), Amblyseius operculatus De Leon and Iphiseiodes zuluagai Denmark & Muma, respectively. The checklist and the identification key to the Phytoseiidae species of Bahia were prepared based on the published literature.

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This study presents and discusses the results of a survey for the presence of Diaphorina citri Kuwayama and its natural enemies in Citrus spp. citrus and Murraya sp. myrtle plants in Pará State, Brazil. From 2013 to 2017, observations were made in five mesoregions of the State, and where D. citri was present, branches were examined to quantify eggs, nymphs and mummies with parasitoid emergence holes and to obtain parasitoids. D. citri adults were used to detected the bacterium through nested polymerase chain reaction (NESTED-PCR). Psyllids were found in citrus and myrtle plants. A total of 583 parasitoid specimens of Tamarixia radiata (Waterston) were obtained. The bacterial detection test was negative for Candidatus Liberibacter spp. Psyllids and parasitoids were present in the Lower Amazon, Metropolitan area, Northeastern Pará, Southeastern Pará and Southwestern Pará mesoregions. The presence of D. citri in citrus, with was previously absent in this host, alters the risk situation for Huanglongbing (HLB) in the State. These results will aid in developing preventive or containment measures through phytosanitary protection.