Life table and predatory efficiency of Stethorus gilvifrons (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), an important predator of the red spider mite, Oligonychus coffeae (Acari: Tetranychidae), infesting tea

Abstract

The ladybird beetle, Stethorus gilvifrons, is a major predator of the red spider mite, Oligonychus coffeae, infesting tea. Biology, life table and predatory efficiency of S. gilvifrons were studied under laboratory conditions. Its average developmental period from egg to adult emergence was 19.2 days. After a mean pre-oviposition period of 5.3 days, each female laid an average of 149.3 eggs. Adult females lived for 117.3 days and males for 41.5 days. The life table of the beetle was characterized by an intrinsic rate of increase (r) of 0.066 day(-1), net reproductive rate (R (0)) of 72.2 eggs/female, gross reproduction rate (Sigmam ( x )) of 82.3 eggs/female, generation time (T) of 64.9 days, doubling time of 10.5 days and finite rate of increase (lambda) of 1.07 day(-1). Population dynamics of S. gilvifrons and its prey, O. coffeae, was monitored by sampling 25 tea leaves from each experimental block grown under the prevailing field conditions. Populations of S. gilvifrons reached a peak during January to March and had low incidence during June to November. Peaks in the populations of S. gilvifrons coincided with the abundance of O. coffeae in tea fields. Weather factors such as low temperature, high humidity and heavy rainfall adversely affected the populations of S. gilvifrons. The predatory efficiency of S. gilvifrons increased during the growth of larval instars. An adult female consumed 205.0 eggs, 92.2 larvae, 81.8 nymphs and 52.4 adult mites per day.

Effects of Three Artificial Diets on Life History Parameters of the Ladybird Beetle Stethorus gilvifrons, a Predator of Tetranychid Mites

“…The results of the current study indicated that S. gilvifrons fed on AD1 that lacked E. kuehniella eggs had very close female developmental time (15.50 days), immature survival (70.23%), female longevity (31.18 days), total fecundity (42.09 eggs), egg hatch (72.0%), sex ratio (53.62% female) and r (0.119 d −1 ) values compared to those reported by Ebrahimifar et al [38], suggesting that the nutritional quality of two the artificial diets (AD1 and AD2) was similar. On the other hand, the r values of S. gilvifrons on the artificial diet (AD1) calculated here (0.119 d −1 ) or on a factitious diet (date palm pollen plus E. kuehniella eggs) reported by Ebrahimifar et al [38] The results of our experiments showed that the number of larval instars of S. gilvifrons fed on artificial diets were the same as those reported for this species fed natural prey Oligonychus coffeae (Nietner) [16], T. turkestani and Eutetranychus orientalis Klein [26], T. urticae [44], O. afrasiaticus [21], and T. cinnabarinus [18]. It has been noted that inadequate foods can increase the number of larval instars [45,46], therefore the artificial diets presented to S. gilvifrons in the current study had adequate nutritional quality in comparison to the natural prey (tetranychid mites).…”

“…The results of our experiments showed that the number of larval instars of S. gilvifrons fed on artificial diets were the same as those reported for this species fed natural prey Oligonychus coffeae (Nietner) [ 16 ], T. turkestani and Eutetranychus orientalis Klein [ 26 ], T. urticae [ 44 ], O. afrasiaticus [ 21 ], and T. cinnabarinus [ 18 ]. It has been noted that inadequate foods can increase the number of larval instars [ 45 , 46 ], therefore the artificial diets presented to S. gilvifrons in the current study had adequate nutritional quality in comparison to the natural prey (tetranychid mites).…”

“…can decrease the density of tetranychid mite populations, as shown for Stethorus punctillum Weise on vineyards in Europe [ 8 , 9 ], citrus in China [ 10 ], and raspberries in Canada [ 11 , 12 ]. Other species such as Stethorus punctum punctum (LeConte) on apple in the USA [ 13 ], Stethorus punctum picipes Casey on avocado in the USA [ 14 , 15 ], and Stethorus gilvifrons (Mulsant) on tea in India [ 16 ] and date palm in Iran [ 17 ] are also known to reduce tetranychid mite density.…”

Biological Studies of the Oligonychus litchii (Trombidiformes:Tetranychidae) on Four Commercial Litchi Cultivars

“…All host plants were irrigated at the same time and no fertilizers or pesticides were used during the experiments. A modified leaf-disc method was used to rear O. litchii in this study (Perumalsamy et al 2010;Rahman et al 2013). A sheet of cotton wool gauze was set in a large Petri dish (46 cm in diam), and distilled water was added to the Petri dish to keep the gauze water-saturated.…”

Herbivore-induced plant volatiles emitted from avocado shoots infested by Oligonychus yothersi (Acari: Tetranychidae) increases the attraction of micro-coleopterans

“…The predators belong to Stethorus, Parastethorus and Oligota genera are considered highly effective natural enemies of tetranychid mites (Biddinger et al, 2009;Perumalsamy et al, 2009a;Perumalsamy et al, 2009b). These are incorporated as biological control agents in Integrated Pest Management programs (IPM) since they prey all the stages of tetranychid mites (Hoy, 2011).…”