The Mesostigmatid Mite Protogamasellus mica, an Effective Predator of Free-Living and Plant-Parasitic Nematodes

Abstract

Protogamasellus mica was extracted from a sugarcane field in Australia and cultured on bacterial-feeding nematodes. Studies with various nematodes in laboratory arenas showed that one mite and its progeny reduced nematode numbers by between 26 and 50 nematodes/day. A bacterivore (Mesorhabditis sp.), a fungivore (Aphelenchus avenae), and two plant parasites (root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne javanica and root-lesion nematode, Pratylenchus zeae) were all reduced at much the same rate despite the fact that the nematodes are quite different in size and motility and belong to different trophic groups. When sugarcane was grown in the greenhouse for 8 wk, stunt nematode (Tylenchorhynchus annulatus), a plant parasite that feeds ectoparasitically on roots, was almost eliminated from pots inoculated with the mite, and numbers of microbivores and root-lesion nematode were markedly reduced. Huge reductions in nematode populations were also observed when mites were added to microcosms containing small quantities of defaunated soil. These results show that P. mica multiplies rapidly when nematodes are available as a food source and has the capacity to play a role in regulating populations of both plant-parasitic and free-living nematodes. Future research should focus on understanding the crop and soil management practices required to enable this mite and other predatory species to thrive.

Diversidade de ácaros edáficos no bioma Pantanal e potencial de algumas espécies para o controle biológico de pragas de solo

“…Portanto, as densidades mais altas de Protogamasellus em setembro de 2018 e março de 2019 podem estar relacionadas a variações sazonais dos mesmos fatores mencionados anteriormente. A avaliação experimental desses fatores na bioecologia de Protogamasellus e outros ácaros é necessária, pois informações geradas podem contribuir para o manejo desses predadores para fins de controle de pragas Stirling et al, 2017). Larvas de moscas da família Sciaridae, popularmente conhecidas por "fungus gnats", tem causado danos a distintas espécies vegetais, alimentando-se da parte subterrânea destas (Gillespie & Quiring, 1990;Wright & Cambers, 1994;Ali et al, 1999;Cabrera et al, 2005).…”

Feeding design in free-living mesostigmatid chelicerae (Acari: Anactinotrichida)

“…Some uropodine mites feed on plant sap (Forsslund 1943). Many gamasines readily feed on nematode prey (Imbriani and Mankau 1983;Walter 1987;Krantz and Walter 2009;Stirling et al 2017;Manwaring et al 2020) their actions prejudicing the use of nematodes as biocontrol agents (Epsky et al 1988). In all grasping forms, chelate chelicerae are used in feeding upon small prey or other food stuffs and port material into the labral area for potential straining (Flechtmann et al 1994) and uptake via the pre-oral groove (Evans and Loots 1975).…”

Prediction of Nematode Population Dynamics using Weather Variables in Leguminous Crops

“…Tylenchorhynchus is one such genus of soil dwelling nematodes that are well known plant parasites. Many species of Tylenchorhynchus are found to feed ectoparasitically on roots causing diseases in the plants (Stirling et al, 2017). Since Tylenchorhynchus inhabit the same soil as plants, they can cause stress or disease in the roots of the plants.…”