A new diet for reproduction of two predaceous mitesAmblyseius gossipi andAgistemus exsertus [Acari: Phytoseiidae, stigmaeidae]

Abstract

Laboratory studies revealed that the acarid mite, Tyrophagus casei Oudemans is an adequate diet for development and reproduction of the stigmaeid mite, Agistemus exsertus Gonzalez. A combination of pollen grains of castor bean Ricinus comrnunis L. and T. casei is a sufficient plant-animal diet for the development and reproduction of the phytoseiid mite, Amblyseius gossipi Elbadry. When the later predator was restricted to such animal prey it developed to the adult stage, but females failed to lay eggs. KEY-WORDS :Agistemus exsertus, Amblyseius gossipi, Tyrophagus casei, Mass rearing, Diet, Reproduction.The interest in predaceous mites and their manipulation for biological control has expanded greatly. Development of programs to control mite pests by mass release of phytoseiids has received much attention (Gould, 1980 ;van Lenteren et al., 1980 ; Woets & van Lenteten, 1981). In Egypt, previous studies showed that Amblyseius gossipi Elbadry is the most common phytoseiid mite on several crops and could adequately control some mite pests (Rasmy & Elbanhawy, 1975 ;Rasmy et al., 1982). It was also reported that the stigmaeid mite, Agistemus exsertus Gonzalez is a useful predator on several crops in that area (Hafez et aL, 1983).Studies of Wafa et al. (1969) and Rasmy (1975) showed that both predaceous mites could be reared on pollen. It is noteworthy that Sehliesske (1981) mass-reared the phytoseiid mites Amblyseius cucumeris Oudemans and A. mackenziei Schuster & Pritchard on grain mites. These studies were undertaken therefore to develop more convenient methods to mass-rear these predaceous mites and to find an adequate alternate prey to aid in establishment of the released predator using the acarid mite, Tyrophagus casei Oudemans as a diet. To claim such relationships between, these predators and T. casei, laboratory studies were conducted to determine the reproductive rates on the prey. MATERIALS AND METHODSThe acarid mite, T. casei was mass-reared on slices of parmesan cheese kept in plastic containers under conditions of 12~ and 80 % RH in an incubator. The cheese slices served for about 3 months in the rearing units, then they were replaced with new ones. To collect T.

Effects of Diet on the Biology and Life Tables of the Predacious Mite Agistemus exsertus (Acari: Stigmaeidae)

“…As noted by some authors that maximum fecundity of 134.5, 97.0 and 90.50 eggs/female of A. exsertus was recorded at 27-29 °C, respectively, when fed on eriophyid mite Eriophyes dioscoridis Soliman and Abou-Awad, artificial diet composed (milk + yeast + amino acids + sugar) and eggs of T. urticae (El-Bagoury and Reda, 1985;Reda, 1990;Abou-Awad and El-Sawi, 1993). A. exsertus has been reported to feed on dates pollen and the acarid mite Tyreophagous casei Oudemans and the daily rate of reproductivity averaged 3.0 eggs / °+/ day for both diets (Abou-El-ghar et al, 1969;Rasmy et al, 1987). The reproductive rate of A. exsertus feed on eggs of P. zizyphus in this study, fall within the range of the predator known to feed on eggs of Eutetranychus orientalis klein, Brevipalpus plucher (C. and F.) and Bemisia tabaci (Genn.…”

Starvation and fertilization affecting reproduction in Amblyseius swirskii Athias‐Henriot and A. gossipi El‐Badry (Acari, Phytoseiidae)

“…Amblyseius swirskii Athias-Henriot and Amblyseius gossipi El-Badry are the dominant phytoseiid mites on deciduous fruit trees and the citrus orchards in Egypt. Several workers reported that these predators have a considerable importance in biological control of acarine pests (SWIRSKI et al 1967; EL-BADRY et al 1968;YOUSEF and SHEHATA 1971;RAGUSA and SWIRSKI 1976;YOUSEF et al 1982; ABOU-AWAD 1983;METWALLY et al 1984; ABOU-AWAD 1984-1985;RASMY et al 1987). Many reports show that in phytoseiids the rate of egg production and the total number of egg production depend o n the number of prey consumed (MCMURTRY et al 1970).…”

Studies on copulation, egg production and sex‐ratio of the predacious mite Agistemus exsertus Gonzalez (Acari, Stigmaeidae)

“…The predatory mite, Agistemus exsevtus is considered the most common species in Egypt and was collected nearly from the many of host plants of economic importance, where it was found associated with heavy infestations of tetranychid mites and scale insects (ZAHER and EL-BADRY 1962). Its effectiveness on phytophagous mites was studied by several authors (AFIFI et al 1969;ZAHER et al 1971;RASMY 1975;SOLIMAN et al 1976;HANNA et al 1980;YOUSEF et al 1982;EL-BAGOURY and REDA 1985;RASMY et al 1987;EL-BAGOURY et al 1989).…”