Biological aspects and life tables of the predacious mites,Typhlodromips swirskii(Athias-Henriot) andEuseius scutalis(Athias-Henriot) feeding on two scale insect species and plant pollen

Abstract

Biological aspects and life table parameters of the predacious mites, Typhlodromips swirskii (Athias-Henriot) and Euseius scutalis (Athias-Henriot) (Acari: Phytoseiidae) consuming eggs of the Maskell scale insect, Insulaspis pallidula (Green) and the red date scale insect, Phoenicococcus marlatti Cockerell (Homoptera: Diaspididae, Phoenicococcidae) as well as pollen grains of date palm, Phoenyx dactylifera L. were determined under laboratory conditions. The life cycle and pre-oviposition period of T. swirskii were the shortest, while the oviposition period and female longevity were the longest as well as the egg production was the highest when fed on pollen compared with eggs of I. pallidula and P. marlatti. On the other hand, the life cycle, preoviposition and oviposition periods as well as the female longevity of E. scutalis were the best when devoured P. marlatti followed by pollen and I. pallidula. However, the total and daily fecundity of E. scutalis were the highest after consuming pollen compared with eggs of P. marlatti and I. pallidula. The sex ratio of females to total in the progeny of T. swirskii and E. scutalis was the highest when consumed I. pallidula followed by pollen and P. marlatti. Life table parameters were the most favourable for T. swirskii and E. scutalis feeding on date palm pollen compared with eggs of I. pallidula and P. marlatti.

Biodiversity of mites in mango orchards (Mangifera indica L.) and evaluation of some mineral and essential oils against Cisaberoptus kenyae Keifer (Acari: Eriophyidae) management

“…Our results concluded that E. scutalis feeds on egg and immature stages of A. destructor, apparently the dominant species in neighboring agro-ecosystem where it was found in high numbers. Our findings confirm that of Abou-Elella et al (2013) that E. scutalis feeds also on eggs of scale insects. The thrips, Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood (Thripidae) was found as prey source for E. scutalis collected in this study (Chowdhury 2015).…”

Suitability of date palm pollen as an alternative food source for the predatory mite Cydnoseius negevi (Swirski and Amitai) (Acari: Phytoseiidae) at a low relative humidity

“…Similar trends were reported by Mutisya et al (2014) while studying biology of T. aripo feeding on cassava green mite, M. progresivus Doreste. However, the total mean fecundity and adult longevity of C. negevi fed on date palm pollen, even at 60 % RH, was recorded greatly lower in the present study as compared when it fed on castor bean pollen, Ricinus communis L at 70-75 % RH (Abou Awad Abou-Awad et al, 1989Abou-Elella et al, 2013Riahi et al, 2017Riahi et al, 2016Abou-Elella et al, 2014Fouly et al, 2013Abou-Elella et al, 2013 Al shammery, 2011 Fouly, 1997Zaher et al, 1969…”

“…Often, fecundity, oviposition period, and longevity of phytoseiid mites were found to be higher and longer at high humidity than at low (Kumari and Sadana 1991;Schausberger 1998;Mutisya et al 2014) as found in this study. However, total mean fecundity values were higher in three previous studies conducted at 70-75 % RH when E. scutalis fed on date palm pollen than recorded in the present study even at high RH (65%), but the longevity found was the same (Al-Shammery 2011;Abou-Elella et al 2013;Fouly et al 2013) (Table 4). Interestingly, Hussein et al (2016) found that total mean fecundity of C. negevi females fed on date palm pollen at 65 % RH was very low (9 eggs/ female for all its life) although female longevity was longer than what was observed in the present study (Table 4).…”

“…The biology and life table parameters of several phytoseiid mite species feeding on date palm pollen have been studied so far, e.g., Amblyseius swirskii Athias-Henriot, Typhlodromus (Anthoseius) bagdasarjani Wainstein & Arutunjan (Abou-Elella et al 2013;Riahi et al 2016;, Euseius scutalis (Athias-Henriot) (Al-Shammery 2011;Abou-Elella et al 2013;Abou-Elella et al 2014;Fouly et al 2013), E. finlandicus (Oudemans) (Abou-Elella et al 2014), and Proprioseiopsis asetus (Chant) (Fouly 1997) (Table 4). Moreover, several studies have been conducted on C. negevi feeding on different preys, e.g., tetranychid and eriophyid mites, and small insects (Table 5) (Momen 1997;Abou-Awad et al 1989;Negm et al 2014;Metwally et al 2015) (Table 5).…”

Comparison of natural prey Tetranychus turkestani, date palm pollen, and bee pollen diets on development, reproduction, and life table parameters of the predator Amblyseius swirskii

“…Although the T. turkestani diet was best for A. swirskii reproduction, this observation does not diminish the value of the date palm pollen diet. In prior research, A. swirskii fecundity was greatest on a diet of date palm pollen rather than eggs of two scale insects Insulaspis pallidula (Green) and Phoenicococcus marlatti Cockerell (Homoptera: Diaspididae) (Abou-Elella et al 2013). Similarly, A. swirskii fecundity was greater on a diet of date palm pollen than a diet of T. urticae eggs or immatures, but less than on a diet of E. orientalis immatures or adults (Ali and Zaher 2007).…”