Laboratory studies of Blattisocius keegani (Fox) (Acari: Ascidae) reared on eggs of navel orangeworm: potential for biological control

Abstract

Blattisocius keegani (Fox) is a predatory mite in the family Ascidae (Acari), noted for potential biological control of Coleopteran stored product pests. Performance of B. keegani on eggs of navel orangeworm, Amyelois transitella Walker (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), was investigated. Mites completed development from egg to adult in 9.2±0.22 days at 25°C and 50-60% relative humidity, and in 6.33±0.29 days at 32.2°C, 30% relative humidity. Mites provisioned with three or five eggs consumed a median of 1.25 to 1.5 eggs, with a maximum of three eggs consumed over 24 h. Regression analyses indicated egg-laying by B. keegani was significantly correlated with the number of A. transitella eggs consumed, and female mites laid an average of 5.82±0.44 eggs over 72 h. Blattisocius keegani, developed on fresh and frozen eggs, laid significantly more eggs when provided with fresh eggs (F3,26=6.16, P=0.0026) and were able to develop on frozen Ephestia kuehniella Zeller (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) eggs as an alternative host. Mites were equally fecund when fed eggs stored at 0° or -20°C. Provisioning of adult moth bodies in addition to egg prey items increased mite fecundity, although it was demonstrated that B. keegani are phoretic on adult moths as well. The results are the first experimental evidence of B. keegani as a predator of Lepidopteran eggs, as a phoretic species, and of their potential for biological control of navel orangeworm.

Potential of Ascidae, Blattisociidae and Melicharidae (Acari: Mesostigmata) as Biological Control Agents of Pest Organisms

“…Stein ( 1960 ) reported it to prey on an unspecifi ed species of this group, whereas Trivedi et al ( 1994 ) mentioned it to feed on eggs of Phthorimaea operculella (Zeller). It has been shown to develop and reproduce on Amyelois transitella (Walker) and A. kuehniella (Thomas et al 2011 ). However, although attacking a relatively large number of eggs of A. kuehniella each day, very low oviposition was reported by Esteca et al ( 2014 ) for that predator on the same prey.…”

Selection of Predatory Mites for the Biological Control of Potato Tuber Moth in Stored Potatoes

“…Most of the available species belong to the Macrochelidae and Laelapidae families [21,22]. Nevertheless, there are other species, which belong to the same family or to other families, that have a potential practical application but have not yet been studied properly [22].Several studies have considered the use of species belonging to the Blattisociidae family as a potential control agent of mites and pest insects under storage conditions [23][24][25], although little knowledge exists about the biology of many species in this genus [26]. In some laboratory studies, predation by Blattisocius tarsalis (Berlese), B. dendriticus Berlese and B. keegani Fox has been researched for their potential as biological control agents [23,26,27].…”

“…Nevertheless, there are other species, which belong to the same family or to other families, that have a potential practical application but have not yet been studied properly [22].Several studies have considered the use of species belonging to the Blattisociidae family as a potential control agent of mites and pest insects under storage conditions [23][24][25], although little knowledge exists about the biology of many species in this genus [26]. In some laboratory studies, predation by Blattisocius tarsalis (Berlese), B. dendriticus Berlese and B. keegani Fox has been researched for their potential as biological control agents [23,26,27]. Recently, the potential of B. mali (Oudemans) in control P. operculella has been studied with promising results [25].Another group that includes abundant predatory mites is the Macrochelidae family in the order Mesostigmata; these species have also proven to be important biological control agents in Diptera species and other pest insects [15,28,29].…”

Non-phytoseiid Mesostigmata within citrus orchards in Florida: species distribution, relative and seasonal abundance within trees, associated vines and ground cover plants and additional collection records of mites in citrus orchards

“…Adults, protonymphs and deutonymphs of B. keegani fed on eggs of coleopteran stored product pests: Cryptolestes turcicus (Grouvelle), C. ferrugineus (Stephens), Tribolium confusum (J. duVal), T. castaneum (Herbst. ), Trogoderma parabile Beal and Oryzaephilus surinamensis L. as well as the navel orangeworm, Amyelois transitella Walker (Barker 1967;Thomas et al 2010). The mite is phoretic on adult moths.…”

“…Thus, mesostigmatid mites are found in a wide array of microhabitats. Many species of mites in the families: Ascidae, Blattisociidae, Laelapidae, Macrochelidae, Melicharidae, Pachylaelapidae and Parasitidae are recognized as predators of different insects and mites in various horticultural crops (Chant 1963;DeLeon 1963;Barker 1967;Halliday and Holm 1987;Enkegaard et al 1997;Krantz 1998;Lawson-Balagbo et al 2007; Thomas et al 2010;Mohamed 2013).…”