BACKGROUND: A wide range of supplementary food resources can be offered to generalist predatory mites to improve their survival and reproduction and enhance their persistence in the environment. We investigated the relative suitability of different pollen types for the survival and reproduction of Neoseiulus californicus and its life history on a mixed diet of pollen and prey. We also evaluated the population dynamics of Tetranychus urticae in the presence of N. californicus with or without pollen, and in comparison to Phytoseiulus macropilis.RESULTS: Survival and reproduction of N. californicus adults were satisfactory on exclusive diets of T. urticae, cattail pollen, palm pollen and bee pollen. However, mites did not reproduce when fed only pollen during both immature and adult stages. Both predatory mites successfully controlled T. urticae. Although the specialist P. macropilis was more efficient in suppressing the pest population in the short term, it abandoned plants at low prey densities, whereas N. californicus performed better and persisted longer under prey scarcity. CONCLUSION: N. californicus is an efficient biological control agent of T. urticae and the provision of supplementary food could retain them in the crop prior to the arrival of the pest or in periods of prey scarcity.

Lime sulfur showed adequate control and, therefore, has potential for use as a management tool against D. suzukii infestations in organic production systems. This old, alternative insecticide preparation not only caused adult fly mortality, but also reduced the number of eggs laid on lime sulfur-treated plants. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Ricoseius loxocheles (De Leon) (Acari: Phytoseiidae) is often found in coffee crops and is known to feed on coffee leaf rust, Hemileia vastatrix Berkeley and Broome (Uredinales). As the occurrence of coffee leaf rust is limited primarily to the rainy season, the mite may use other food sources to survive during the periods of low pathogen prevalence. It is well known that phytoseiid mites can survive on a variety of food sources, such as herbivorous mites, fungi and pollen. We evaluated the ability of R. loxocheles to survive and reproduce on a diet of Brevipalpus phoenicis Geijskes (Acari: Tenuipalpidae), cattail pollen (Typha spp.), clover rust (Puccinia oxalidis), bee pollen (Santa Bárbara dehydrated pollen, Santa Bárbara, MG, Brazil) and coffee leaf rust. Ricoseius loxocheles did not survive or reproduce on any B. phoenicis stages tested (egg, larva, adult). The survival and oviposition of R. loxocheles were directly affected by the presence of coffee rust urediniospores, but not by the presence of the prey. Survival and oviposition of the phytoseiid were similar when fed cattail pollen, clover rust and coffee leaf rust but was lower when fed bee pollen. Our results show that R. loxocheles is not a predator of B. phoenicis but it is able to utilize other resources besides coffee leaf rust.

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BACKGROUND The application of lime sulfur is a common practice used to control arthropod pests in organic production of fruits. However, the unintended effects of this insecticide preparation on non‐targeted organisms have not received the adequate attention. Here, we evaluated the lime sulfur toxicity on the phytophagous mites Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae) and on two predatory mite species [i.e., Neoseiulus californicus (McGregor) and Phytoseiulus macropilis (Banks)] (Acari: Phytoseiidae) of natural occurrence in strawberry plants. We also assessed the repellency and potential effects on the oviposition rates and the egg viability of mites that were exposed to field‐used lime sulfur concentrations (i.e., 2%). RESULTS The lime sulfur exhibited higher toxicity to the predators N. californicus (LC50 = 5.4 [4.5%–6.8%]) and P. macropilis (LC50 = 5.0 [4.0%–6.5%]) than to the phytophagous T. urticae (LC50 = 12.4 [9.0%–17.1%]). However, the exposure to field‐applied concentrations resulted in higher reductions on the oviposition rate of T. urticae (36%) than on the predatory mites (N. californicus = 18%. P. macropilis = 19%). Interestingly, although the egg viability of P. macropilis was less affected (i.e., reduction of 50%) by such lime sulfur exposures, these mites were unable to avoid lime sulfur‐treated areas. Egg viability of N. californicus was only 18.6%. CONCLUSION Lime sulfur at field‐applied concentrations harmed T. urticae fecundity and fertility and it showed selectivity against naturally occurring predatory mites, which reinforces its potential as a tool for integrated mite pest management. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry