Ácaros predadores da família Phytoseiidae (Acari: Mesostigmata) para o controle do biótipo B da mosca-branca Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) no Brasil

Abstract

Predatory mites of the family Phytoseiidae (Acari: Mesostigmata) for the control of biotype B of the whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) in Brazil The whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) is considered a major agricultural pest. Its control is mainly done with the use of insecticides, which however have not provided satisfactorily. An alternative could be the use of predatory mites of the family Phytoseiidae as control agents. The predatory mite Amblyseius swirskii Athias-Henriot is an effective control agent of this pest in other countries, nonetheless this species has not being found in Brazil. Its introduction could enable the biological control of whitefly in the country. However, preliminary studies carried are still necessary to evaluate its effectiveness as a control agent of B. tabaci biotype B, found in Brazil. One population of A. swirskii collected in the Republic of Benin and the other commercially available in the Netherlands, have been recently introduced to Brazil for studies. On the first study reported in this paper, two populations were compared in relation to their ability to prey and oviposit when fed with B. tabaci eggs of different ages and with other food sources. The best performance was presented by the Netherlands population, but for both populations, higher predation and oviposition levels were observed on younger eggs (< 24h). In the second study, we evaluated the biotic potential of the same population when fed with B. tabaci eggs or pollen of Typha domingensis Persoon as well as the effect of both populations on the larvae of Euseius concordis (Chant), phytoseiid commonly found in Brazil. The intrinsic rate of population increase was relatively high on both food types, being slightly higher on eggs of B. tabaci than on pollen (respectively 0.29 and 0.25 female/female/day). Adults females of both populations preyed on their on larvae and also the highest levels of E. concordis, regardless of the presence of pollen. In the third study, we evaluated the potential of Brazilian populations of phytoseiids as predators of B. tabaci, as well as their performance on other food sources. The phytoseiid species evaluated were Amblydromalus limonicus (Garman & McGregor), Amblyseius herbicolus (Chant), Amblyseius largoensis (Muma), Amblyseius tamatavensis Blommers and Neoseiulus tunus (De Leon). All species preyed on eggs of B. tabaci, but best results were observed for A. herbicolus, A. tamatavensis and N. tunus. The results suggest that these species are promising as control agents of B. tabaci. In the fourth study, we evaluated the biotic potential of A. tamatavensis when fed on eggs of B. tabaci and its performance in controlling this pest in young bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) plants. The intrinsic rate of population increase was comparable to that of A. swirskii fed with the same prey. On the other hand, the release of this predator resulted in a reduction of 60 to 80 % in pest density, suggesting that A. tamatavensis is promising as a control agent B. tabaci. We c...

Macrochelid Mites (Mesostigmata: Macrochelidae) as Biological Control Agents

“…Filipponi and Delupis ( 1963 ) observed that the food preferred by a species was not always the same as that ensuring its greatest reproductive rate. This has also been reported by other authors for other groups of Mesostigmata (Cavalcante 2014 ). Filipponi and Delupis ( 1963 ) also observed that the food preferred by immatures did not always coincide with that preferred by adults.…”

Potencial de diferentes fontes de alimento para a produção massal de ácaros predadores fitoseídeos (Acari: Phytoseiidae)

“…No Brasil, é uma espécie amplamente distribuída, sendo sua presença relatada nos estados da Bahia, Ceará, Pará, Pernambuco, Rio Grande do Norte, Roraima, São Paulo, Sergipe e Tocantins . Este predador tem apresentado resultados promissores em estudos sobre o controle da mosca-branca Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Cavalcante, 2014). Sendo esta uma praga de grande importância econômica, que causa danos a diversas culturas, como algodão, feijão, soja, plantas ornamentais e hortaliças (Brown;Frohlich;Rosell, 1995;de Barro et al, 2011;Lourenção;Sakate;Valle, 2014).…”

“…Dentre eles podemos citar a criação de ácaros predadores em unidades fechadas, em que ácaros do grupo Astigmatina são oferecidos como alimento aos predadores, semelhantes às descritas por Ramakers e Van Lieburg (1982), . Este predador está sendo estudado para o controle da mosca-branca Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius), com resultados promissores (Cavalcante, 2014). Este predador pode ser criado por um processo semelhante ao método descrito por McMurtry e As unidades experimentais utilizadas foram as mesmas descritas para a criação de Thyreophagus n.…”