We investigated the effect of temperature on development and demographic parameters such as the intrinsic rate of natural increase (r (m)) of the two spider mite species Tetranychus merganser Boudreaux and T. kanzawai Kishida at eleven constant temperatures ranging from 15 to 40°C at intervals of 2.5°C. Both male and female T. merganser and T. kanzawai completed development from egg to adult at temperatures ranging from 15 to 37.5°C. The longest developmental duration of immature stages was found at 15°C and the shortest developmental duration was found at 35°C for both species. Using linear and non-linear developmental rate models, the lower thermal thresholds for egg-to-adult (female and male) and egg-to-egg development were estimated as 12.2-12.3°C for T. merganser and as 10.8°C for T. kanzawai. The highest developmental rates were observed at around 35°C, whereas the upper developmental thresholds were around 40°C for both species. In fact, at 40°C, a few eggs of either species hatched, but no larvae reached the next stage. The r (m)-values of T. merganser ranged from 0.072 (15°C) to 0.411 day(-1) (35°C), whereas those of T. kanzawai ranged from 0.104 (15°C) to 0.399 (30°C). The r (m)-values were higher for T. kanzawai than for T. merganser at temperatures from 15 to 30°C, but not at 35°C (0.348 day(-1)). Total fecundity of T. merganser was also higher than that of T. kanzawai at 35°C. These results indicate that higher temperatures favor T. merganser more than T. kanzawai.

Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) and Frankliniella intonsa (Trybom) are sympatric pests of many greenhouse and field crops in Korea. We compared the influence of constant (27.3°C) and fluctuating temperatures (23.8-31.5°C, with an average of 27.3°C) on the life table characteristics of F. occidentalis and F. intonsa held at a photoperiod of 16:8 (L:D) h and 45±5% relative humidity. The development times of both F. occidentalis and F. intonsa were significantly affected by temperature fluctuation, species, and sex. The development time from egg to adult of F. intonsa was shorter than that for F. occidentalis at both constant and fluctuating temperatures. Survival of immature life stages was higher under fluctuating than constant temperature for both thrips species. The total and daily production of first instars was higher in F. intonsa (90.4 and 4.2 at constant temperature, and 95.7 and 3.9 at fluctuating temperatures) than that of F. occidentalis (58.7 and 3.3 at constant temperature, and 60.5 and 3.1 at fluctuating temperatures) under both constant and fluctuating temperatures. The percentage of female offspring was greater in F. intonsa (72.1-75.7%) than in F. occidentalis (57.4-58.7%) under both temperature regimes. The intrinsic rate of natural increase (rm) was higher at constant temperature than at fluctuating temperature for both thrips species. F. intonsa had a higher rm value (0.2146 and 0.2004) than did F. occidentalis (0.1808 and 0.1733), under both constant and fluctuating temperatures, respectively. The biological response of F. occidentalis and F. intonsa to constant and fluctuating temperature was found to be interspecifically different, and F. intonsa may have higher pest potential than F. occidentalis based on the life table parameters we are reporting first here.

The impact of daily temperature fluctuations on arthropod life history parameters is inadequately studied compared with the ample amount of research that has been conducted on the effects of constant temperatures. Fluctuating temperatures are likely to be more realistic, as they are ecologically more similar to what these arthropods experience in nature. Here, we compared the impact of 11 constant temperatures that ranged from 10 to 35 °C with fluctuating temperatures with the same corresponding mean temperature and an amplitude of 10 °C between high (12 h) and low (12 h) temperatures on the development and life history parameters of Tetranychus urticae under continuous light conditions. No eggs hatched at constant 10 °C, whereas 81.5% of eggs successfully completed development at fluctuating 10 °C (15/5 °C). Egg-to-female adult development was faster under fluctuating temperatures from 12.5 to 27.5 °C than under constant temperatures, whereas the opposite trend was observed at >30 °C. The lower thermal thresholds (T) were 11.63 and 8.63 °C, and thermal constants (K) were 127.81 and 150.69 degree-days for egg-to-female adults at constant and fluctuating temperatures, respectively. The numbers of oviposition days were significantly higher at fluctuating 15 °C than at the corresponding constant temperature, whereas the opposite trend was observed from 20 to 30 °C. The intrinsic rate of increase (r) was higher at fluctuating than at constant 15 °C. The net reproductive rate (R ) was also higher at fluctuating than at constant 15 and 35 °C, but showed an opposite trend at 20 and 25 °C. We conclude that fluctuating temperatures should be considered to accurately predict spider mite population dynamics in nature.

Use of the mycopathogen Beauveria bassiana (strain GHA), marketed as BotaniGard(®) ES, was evaluated as a plant protection strategy against the spider mite Tetranychus urticae Koch, which is considered one of the most economically important and cosmopolitan pests of many crops. Tetranychus urticae were treated with four concentrations of conidia (1 × 10(5), 1 × 10(6), 1 × 10(7), or 1 × 10(8) conidia/ml), and virulence was assessed on mites held at four relative humidity levels (35, 55, 75, and 95 ± 2 % RH) at 25 ± 1 °C. At 1 × 10(8) spores/ml, the LT50 value was 9.7 h at 95 % RH, which was significantly lower than values for other RH levels. At 1 × 10(7) spores/ml, the LT50 value was 43.8 h at 95 % RH, which was significantly different from values at 55 and 35 % RH. The efficacy of B. bassiana product was also verified on mites infesting potted bean plants with a concentration of 1 × 10(8) spores/ml. In double spray treatment where applications were made 2 × on days 5 and 10 after mite infestation, the nymphal and adult population of T. urticae were reduced to zero on days 20 and 15, respectively. With a single spray on day 5, the nymphal population was also greatly reduced, but increased rapidly after day 20. Single and double sprays with B. bassiana reduced leaf damage as measured by image analysis by 33 and 94 % compared to no treatment, respectively. These results suggest that 1 × 10(8) spores/ml was the most effective dose and that two applications, at a 5-day interval, provided control of T. urticae in our laboratory assay.

Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae) causes severe damage in both greenhouse and field crops. Previous studies have found that a phytoseiid predatory mite, Phytoseiulus persimilis Athias-Henriot, and an entomopathogenic fungus, Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuillemin, are both potential candidates for the control of this pest and have shown varying degrees of success. We assessed the compatibility of these two biological control agents for control of T. urticae on potted bean plants, examining the following treatments: i) a low release rate of P. persimilis (10 prey:1 predator), ii) a high release rate of P. persimilis (5:1), iii) a single application of B. bassiana (1 × 108 spore/ml), iv) a single application of B. bassiana after application of the low release rate of P. persimilis, and v) a non-treatment control (no application of either B. bassiana or P. persimilis). A single application of B. bassiana reduced the egg and adult populations of T. urticae initially, but mite populations rebounded again after few days. Phytoseiulus persimilis at the high release rate eliminated the pest population completely, while the low release rate failed to control spider mites. The combined application of B. bassiana and low release rate of P. persimilis also successfully controlled T. urticae population (p < 0.001), with lowest corrected leaf damage (1.5%).

Temperature has significant effects on the development, survival, and reproduction of ectothermic organisms. In this study, we examined the effect of temperature on the demographic characteristics of two predatory mite species, Neosciulus womersleyi (Schicha) and N. longispinosus (Evans), reared on Tetranychus urticae Koch. The developmental and reproductive traits of both species were examined at 10 constant temperatures between 15 °C and 37.5 °C. The preadult development time of N. womersleyi and N. longispinosus decreased with increasing temperature until 32.5 °C and 35 °C, respectively. The lower developmental threshold (T0) and thermal constant (K) estimated by using a linear model were 11.61 °C and 69.36 DD for N. womersleyi and 11.92 °C and 61.5 DD for N. longispinosus, respectively. Total preoviposition period and total longevity of females and males of N. womersleyi and N. longispinosus decreased with increasing temperature. The mean generation time (T) first decreased with temperature until 32.5 and 35 °C for N. womersleyi and N. longispinosus, respectively, and then increased at higher temperatures. The R0 and r values first increased with temperature until 32.5 and 30 °C for N. womersleyi and N. longispinosus, respectively, and then decreased at higher temperatures. The R0 and r values for N. longispinosus at 37.5 °C were 0.3 offspring and -0.143 d-1, respectively. These results show that N. longispinosus is less fit than N. womersleyi at 37.5 °C.

The effects of three economically important host plants, jute (Corchorus capsularis L.), bean (Lablab purpureus L.) and papaya (Carica papaya L.), on the development, reproduction and demographic parameters of the spider mite Tetranychus truncatus Ehara (Acari: Tetranychidae) were investigated under laboratory conditions of 30 ± 1°C, 60–80% RH and a photoperiod of 16L: 8D using age-stage, two-sex life table analysis. Both male and female T. truncatus successfully completed development from egg to adult on the three host plants. The development time from egg to adult for female T. truncatus was longer on Jute than on bean and papaya. Male and female longevities were higher on jute and bean than on papaya. Fecundity of T. truncatus was higher on jute than on bean and papaya. Adult pre-oviposition period was lower on bean and the number of oviposition days were higher on jute. The net reproduction rate of T. truncatus was significantly higher on jute than on bean and papaya, whereas intrinsic rate of natural increase and the finite rate of increase were higher on bean than on the other two host plants. The mean generation time of T. truncatus was higher on jute than on bean and papaya. These results based on the intrinsic rate of natural increase indicate that jute and bean were more suitable than papaya as hosts for T. truncatus, to helping develop management and control strategies for this pest.

To understand the effect of fluctuating temperature on the population characteristics of Tetranychus pacificus, we determined their life tables under constant temperatures between 10 and 35°C and fluctuating temperatures (12 h per day at each of 5°C above and 5°C below the corresponding constant temperature). Tetranychus pacificus eggs did not hatch when held at a constant temperature of 10°C, whereas 77.6% of the T. pacificus eggs reached an adult life stage at fluctuating temperature 10°C ± 5°C. Female preadult development was faster under fluctuating temperatures 12.5, 15, and 20°C than under constant temperatures, whereas it was not significantly different at temperatures ≥ 22.5°C. The lower developmental thresholds (T0) for female preadult development were 10.24 and 5.73°C for the constant and fluctuating temperatures, respectively, while the thermal summations (K) were 215.10 and 265.64 degree days, respectively. The net reproductive rates (R0) at constant temperatures 15 and 35°C were significantly higher than those at the corresponding fluctuating temperatures. However, for 20, 25, and 30°C, the R0 values were not significantly different between constant and fluctuating temperatures. The intrinsic rate of increase (r) and finite rate of increase (λ) at fluctuating temperatures 10, 20, and 30°C were higher compared to the corresponding constant temperature. However, the values of r and λ at constant 25 and 35°C were higher than those at fluctuating temperature. The differential responses of life history between constant and fluctuating temperatures help to understand the population dynamics of T. pacificus under natural conditions.