Biology, Predation, and Life Table of Cydnoseius negevi and Neoseiulus barkeri (Acari: Phytoseiidae) on the Old World Date Mite, Oligonychus afrasiaticus (Acari: Tetranychidae)

Abstract

The old world date mite, Oligonychus afrasiaticus (McGregor) (Acari: Tetranychidae) is a severe spider mite pest of date palm in most of the Middle East and North Africa. Considering that nothing is known about the performance of phytoseiid predators against O. afrasiaticus , biology, predation, and life table parameters of Cydnoseius negevi (Swirski and Amitai) and Neoseiulus barkeri Hughes (Acari: Phytoseiidae), collected from date palm orchards, were studied under laboratory conditions (25, 35°C and 35 ± 10% RH) as a first step to understand their effectiveness against all mobile life stages of O. afrasiaticus . For both predators, oviposition period was significantly shorter at 35°C than at 25°C. The following parameters were obtained for C. negevi and N. barkeri at 25 and 35°C, respectively: female longevity, 31.8, 20.1, 35.7, 27.4 d; fecundity, 21.6, 38.0, 18.8, 34.8 eggs per female; oviposition period, 23.9, 13.7, 25.9, 18.1 d. Total predation of C. negevi and N. barkeri female was 246.0, 270.0, 227.6, 205.3 prey at 25 and 35°C, respectively. Rectal plugs were observed attached to the opisthosoma of some adult females of N. barkeri , which often cause the mite to stick to the surface. Life table parameters were estimated as net reproductive rate ( R0 ) 10.44, 17.35, 10.19, 13.84, intrinsic rate of increase ( rm ) 0.14, 0.19, 0.13, 0.16 d −1 , finite rate of increase (λ) 1.15, 1.21, 1.12, 1.17 d −1 , generation time ( T ) 17.03, 15.17, 17.83, 16.61 d, doubling time (DT) 04.95, 03.64, 05.33, 04.33 d for C. negevi and N. barkeri at 25 and 35°C, respectively. The values of intrinsic rate of increase and net reproductive rate were higher in C. negevi than N. barkeri at both temperature regimes. Therefore, it could be concluded that C. negevi performance was better than N. barkeri against O. afrasiaticus and can be considered as a valuable addition to the existing methods for spider mites control.

Toxin-Pathogen Synergy Reshaping Detoxification and Antioxidant Defense Mechanism of Oligonychus afrasiaticus (McGregor)

“…Oligonychus afrasiaticus (McGregor) is a widespread species of spider mites infesting the fruits of date palm in Middle East (Saudi Arabia [ 2 ], Oman [ 3 ], Iraq [ 4 ], Iran [ 5 ], Egypt [ 6 ], Israel [ 7 ], Yemen [ 8 ]), and North Africa (Tunisia [ 9 ], Algeria [ 10 ]). The infestation of old world date mites starts after fruit set and multiply logarithmically on the kimri stage of the fruit by spinning silken webs around date bunches [ 11 ].…”

PESTICIDES TOXICITY FOR Neoseiulus barkeri (ACARI: PHYTOSEIIDAE) AND NON-TARGET ORGANISMS

“…The predatory mite, Neoseiulus barkeri Hughes (Acari: Phytoseiidae) is a generalist predator (McMurtry et al, 2013). Number of studies revealed the predatory potential of N. barkeri against wide range of pests including Thrips tabaci (Hansen, 1988;Bakker and Sabelis, 1989;Bonde, 1989;Jafari et al, 2013), broad mite, Polyphagotarsonemus latus (Fan and Petitt, 1994), bulb scale mites, Steneotarsonemus laticeps (Messelink and Holstein-Saj, 2007;Messelink, 2012), date mite, Oligonychus afrasiaticus (Negm et al, 2014) and Aleuroglyphus ovatus (Xia et al, 2012). Keeping in view, the predatory potential of this predatory mite, the focus is to use selective pesticides along with it which are least toxic for this predator.…”

Efecto de la humedad relativa en la viabilidad de huevos de Neoseiulus sp. y Proprioseiopsis iorgius (Acari: Phytoseiidae) en condiciones de laboratorio

“…Existen variaciones en susceptibilidad a las condiciones de baja humedad entre las especies y "strains" que habitan diferentes regiones climáticas. En las especies de zonas húmedas, la eclosión de las larvas a una humedad relativa por debajo del 60% y temperaturas que van desde 20 a 32 ºC es cero o muy baja, mientras que la eclosión de larvas de especies de zonas áridas ocurre a humedades de alrededor del 30% y a temperaturas que van de 20 a 25 ºC (Negm et al, 2014). De acuerdo con los antecedentes anteriores se planteó evaluar el efecto de la humedad relativa en la viabilidad de huevos de Neoseiulus sp.…”

“…Esto es especialmente cierto para ácaros de la familia Phytoseiidae y particularmente para sus huevos (Ferrero et al, 2010). La tolerancia de los huevos a una baja humedad relativa en la familia Phytoseiidae puede relacionarse con el ambiente en el que han evolucionado sus especies (Negm et al, 2014). Al respecto, C. picanus, otro fitoseido colectado en el ambiente desértico de Pica por Ragusa (Ragusa, 2000) mostró una gran tolerancia a la baja humedad relativa con un 40% de eclosión de larvas a 42,35 ± 5,01% HR (23,7 hPa) y 29,44 ± 1,47 ºC (Tello et al, 2009).…”