Amblyseius swirskii in greenhouse production systems: a floricultural perspective

Abstract

The predatory mite Amblyseius swirskii Athias-Henriot is a biological control agent that has the potential to play an important role in pest management in many greenhouse crops. Most research on this predatory mite has focused on its use and efficacy in greenhouse vegetables. However, an increasing number of growers of greenhouse ornamental crops also want to adopt biological control as their primary pest management strategy and find that biological control programs developed for vegetables are not optimized for use on floricultural plants. This paper reviews the use of A. swirskii in greenhouse crops, where possible highlighting the specific challenges and characteristics of ornamentals. The effects of different factors within the production system are described from the insect/mite and plant level up to the production level, including growing practices and environmental conditions. Finally, the use of A. swirskii within an integrated pest management system is discussed.

Integrated pest management in western flower thrips: past, present and future

“…Owing to the inadequate control achieved, a number of other mites have been studied in order to find a superior WFT predator. Species such as A. limonicus , A. swirskii , A. degenerans and A. montdorensis proved to be effective predators of WFT . Compared with N .…”

Alternative food and biological control by generalist predatory mites: the case of Amblyseius swirskii

“…This is because N. cucumeris is a more cost-effective biological control agent under climate conditions prevalent in this crop during winter. Subsequently, Buitenhuis et al (2015) review the use of A. swirskii in greenhouse crops in North America, with emphasis on greenhouse ornamentals, and conclude that an important reason for the success of this predator is its capacity to control several pests concurrently.…”

Cold‐born killers: exploiting temperature–size rule enhances predation capacity of a predatory mite

“…In this study, we focused on a phytoseiid predatory mite Amblydromalus limonicus (Garman & McGregor) and its prey, western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis Pergande (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), which is a major pest in a wide range of agricultural crops worldwide . Phytoseiid thrips predators are usually only able to successfully subdue first instars of F. occidentalis . The larger second‐instar larvae are killed at a much lower rate, or not at all, due to more effective physical defenses and/or the use of rectal fluids to deter their predators .…”