Life table characteristics of Macrolophus caliginosus preying upon Tetranychus urticae

Abstract

The life table characteristics of the polyphagous mirid Macrolophus caliginosus Wagner (Heteroptera: Miridae) preying on various stages of Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae) with tomato as host plant were described at 22 °C. The following average parameters were obtained: Female longevity: 28.7 days; fecundity: 0.7 eggs/female/day; egg mortality: 2.6%; pre‐oviposition period: 5.5 days; oviposition period: 18.1 days; post‐oviposition period: 3.2 days; juvenile development time: 26.8 days; juvenile mortality: 34.9%; and sex ratio (♀/(♀+♂)) 0.46. Life table parameters were estimated as net reproduction rate (R0): 6.15; intrinsic rate of increase (rm): 0.031 day−1; finite rate of increase (≤): 1.032; mean generation time (Tc): 58.17 days; and doubling time (T2) 22.2 days. The parameters obtained were in accordance with those reported for M. caliginosus fed on another mite species (T. turkestani Ugarov & Nikolski (Acari: Tetranychidae)). However, compared to the performance of M. caliginosus fed on common glasshouse insect pests, a diet consisting of only mites appeared to be inferior. However, being a voracious predator, M. caliginosus may be a valuable addition to existing methods of mite control.

Thermal effect on the development and reproduction of an indigenous mirid bug, Pilophorus typicus Distant (Heteroptera: Miridae), a potential biological control agent in Japan

“…caliginosus, a polyphagous predator of small insects, is currently used commercially in Europe for the control of whiteflies. The preoviposition period of P. typicus at 22.5°C was similar to that of M. caliginosus at 22°C, but longevity and the oviposition period of P. typicus at 22.5°C were largely longer than that of M. caliginosus at 22°C, and fecundity per female of P. typicus at 22.5°C was greater than that of M. caliginosus at 22°C (Hansen et al, 1999). For the reproductive capacity, the T value of P. typicus at 22.5°C was similar to that of M. caliginosus at 22°C (Hansen et al, 1999), whereas the R 0 and r m values of P. typicus at 22.5°C were still larger than those of M. caliginosus at 22°C, (Hansen et al, 1999).…”

The life table of the lucerne beetle, Gonioctena fornicata (Brüggem) (=Phytodecta fornicatus Brüggem) (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae) on alfalfa under laboratory conditions

“…The Age-specific number of eggs laid by a female during the oviposition period was described by the Enkegaard equation: (-b.x) (Enkegaard ,1993;Hansen et al, 1999) where F(x) is the Daily age-specific fecundity rate (eggs/female/day), x is the female's age in days, a and b are constants. Day 1 is the first day of the oviposition period.…”

Generalist Predators, Food Web Complexities and Biological Pest Control in Greenhouse Crops

“…Although anthocorid bugs are mainly released for thrips control, they can also contribute to the control of whiteflies (Arnó et al, 2008), aphids (Alvarado et al, 1997), and spider mites (Venzon et al, 2002). The omnivorous predator M. pygmaeus is also released often, and is know to suppress whiteflies (Gerling et al, 2001), aphids (Alvarado et al, 1997), thrips (Riudavets & Castañé, 1998) and spider mites (Hansen et al, 1999). Finally, generalist predatory mites are commonly released in sweet pepper.…”