Does Long-Term Feeding on Alternative Prey Affect the Biological Performance of Neoseiulus barkeri (Acari: Phytoseiidae) on the Target Spider Mites?
The predatory mite Neoseiulus barkeri (Hughes) is a good biological control agent for many small sucking pests. We aimed to determine whether rearing long term on alternative prey versus target prey species affected the performance of N. barkeri. Therefore, we investigated the prey preference, life tables, and population parameters of N. barkeri between alternative prey Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Schrank) and three species of spider mites, Tetranychus urticae Koch, Panonychus citri (McGregor), and Eotetranychus kankitus Ehara. We found that N. barkeri preferred the tetranychid mites to the alternative prey. Between the tetranychid mites, the predator consumed more P. citri and E. kankitus than T. urticae. When reared on T. urticae, the total developmental time and longevity of N. barkeri were the longest, whereas the intrinsic rate of increase was the lowest, indicating that the biotic fitness of predatory mite preyed on target of T. urticae was higher than on alternative prey of T. putrescentiae. However, total developmental time, longevity, and fecundity did not differ between N. barkeri reared on T. putrescentiae and P. citri, although these parameters were higher than those for mites reared on E. kankitus, indicating that the predatory mite reared on T. putrescentiae may not be affected to control P. citri, and that coexistence of P. citri and E. kankitus may enhance the control efficiency of N. barkeri. Altogether, our results demonstrated that long-term feeding on the alternative prey T. putrescentiae did not affect the performance of the predatory mite N. barkeri on various target spider mites.
Key Laboratory of Entomology and Pest Control Engineering, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China (yayinglee@sina.com; zghsailing@163.com; tcxb8023@163.com; lmx19960817@163.com; liuhuai@swu.edu.cn; wangjinjun@swu.edu.cn).
Ya-Ying
YY
Li
Key Laboratory of Entomology and Pest Control Engineering, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China (yayinglee@sina.com; zghsailing@163.com; tcxb8023@163.com; lmx19960817@163.com; liuhuai@swu.edu.cn; wangjinjun@swu.edu.cn).
Guo-Hao
GH
Zhang
Key Laboratory of Entomology and Pest Control Engineering, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China (yayinglee@sina.com; zghsailing@163.com; tcxb8023@163.com; lmx19960817@163.com; liuhuai@swu.edu.cn; wangjinjun@swu.edu.cn).
Chuan-Bei
CB
Tian
Key Laboratory of Entomology and Pest Control Engineering, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China (yayinglee@sina.com; zghsailing@163.com; tcxb8023@163.com; lmx19960817@163.com; liuhuai@swu.edu.cn; wangjinjun@swu.edu.cn).
Ming-Xiu
MX
Liu
Collaborative Innovation Center of Special Plant Industry, Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences, Chongqing 402160, China (liung906@163.com).
Yi-Qing
YQ
Liu
Key Laboratory of Entomology and Pest Control Engineering, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China ( yayinglee@sina.com ; zghsailing@163.com ; tcxb8023@163.com ; lmx19960817@163.com ; liuhuai@swu.edu.cn ; wangjinjun@swu.edu.cn ).|Corresponding author, e-mail: liuhuai@swu.edu.cn.
Huai
H
Liu
Key Laboratory of Entomology and Pest Control Engineering, College of Plant Protection, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China (yayinglee@sina.com; zghsailing@163.com; tcxb8023@163.com; lmx19960817@163.com; liuhuai@swu.edu.cn; wangjinjun@swu.edu.cn).
Jin-Jun
JJ
Wang
D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D015993:Life Tables; D008136:Longevity; D008297:Male; D008925:Mites / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D010058:Oviposition; D010572:Pest Control, Biological; D011235:Predatory Behavior; D040102:Tetranychidae / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology
citrus red mite; mold mite; predatory mite; twospotted spider mite