In search of artificial domatia for predatory mites

Predators and Parasitoids-in-First: From Inundative Releases to Preventative Biological Control in Greenhouse Crops

“…Oviposition occurred on rayon rather than on jute. Bresch et al (2018) found wool, silk, polyamide, viscose and polyester to be equally suitable as natural domatia for oviposition by N. californicus. However, none of them improved spider mite control by N. californicus and polyamide even benefitted the pest.…”

“…Many studies have demonstrated that the presence of domatia increases the population of predators, that in turn protect the plant against herbivores and in some instances pathogens and weeds (Lundstrom, 1887;Rozario, 1995;Kreiter et al, 2003;Ferreira et al, 2008Ferreira et al, , 2011Shenoy and Borges, 2010;Parolin et al, 2013). Predatory mites tend to occur more abundantly on plants bearing acarodomatia (O'Dowd and Willson, 1997;Norton et al, 2000;Roda et al, 2001;Romero and Benson, 2005;Avery et al, 2014) and their survival and reproduction on such plants is enhanced (Pemberton and Turner, 1989;Karban et al, 1995;Agrawal, 1997;Cortesero et al, 2000;Avery et al, 2014;Bresch et al, 2015Bresch et al, , 2018. Domatia also act as oviposition substrate.…”

Food and habitat supplementation promotes predatory mites and enhances pest control

“…They were irradiated to prevent moth development and purchased from Bioline Agrosciences (France). Sheep wool was used as the artificial habitat (Kawashima et al, 2006;Bresch et al, 2019).…”

“…Past research has explored how predatory mites living in glabrous crop plants are affected by artificially adding materials that mimic the properties of domatia (hereafter, artificial habitats) (Agrawal, 1997;Agrawal and Karban, 1997). The materials that have been tested are cotton, shade netting, polyamide, polyester, and sheep's wool (Roda et al 2001;Kawashima et al, 2006;Liu et al, 2018;Bresch et al, 2019). Wool may serve as an excellent artificial habitat because it was found to have an equally positive impact on oviposition as natural domatia (Kawashima et al, 2006;Bresch et al, 2019).…”

“…The materials that have been tested are cotton, shade netting, polyamide, polyester, and sheep's wool (Roda et al 2001;Kawashima et al, 2006;Liu et al, 2018;Bresch et al, 2019). Wool may serve as an excellent artificial habitat because it was found to have an equally positive impact on oviposition as natural domatia (Kawashima et al, 2006;Bresch et al, 2019). Furthermore, combining habitat structural complexity and dietary diversity can promote predatory mite abundance (Pozzebon et al, 2015).…”