Acarological Society of Iran Persian Journal of Acarology 2251-8169 3 1 2026 02 01 Feeding preferenceof Phytoseiulus persimilis Athias-Henriot (Acari: Phytosei-idae) towards untreated and Beauveria bassiana-treated Tetranychus urticae(Acari: Tetranychidae) on cucumber leaves 91 97 241568 10.22073/pja.v3i1.10134 EN Marjan Seiedy Department of Animal Biology, School of Biology, College of Science, University of Tehran,Tehran, Iran, 0000-0002-7661-9905 Journal Article Determination of the host preference of predatory mites when receiving signals related to either untreated and <em>Beauveria bassiana</em>-treated <em>Tetranychus urticae</em> (Acari: Tetranychidae) is important in predicting the predatory mite’s reaction when encountering pathogens due to their coincident presence in greenhouses and fields. Here, we have studied the preference of female predatory mite, <em>Phytoseiulus</em> <em>persimilis</em> Athias-Henriot (Acari: Phytoseiidae)<strong> </strong>when choosing between untreated and <em>B. bassiana</em>-treated <em>T. urticae</em> (72 hours after treatment of spider mite by fungus) on leaves. This investigation showed a highly significant preference of <em>P. persimilis</em> towards untreated <em>T. urticae</em> (P< 0.0001). We concluded that the predatory mite is capable to recognize fungus-treated prey and prefers to prey on the uninfected ones. This suggests that the predatory mite and the fungus may be compatible agents of biological control. https://www.persianacarology.org/article_241568_a386a51e0625b799d570f182bfe92a21.pdf