Comparative biology and growth rate ofthetwo predatory mites,CydnoseiusnegeviandNeoseiulus californicus(Acari: Phytoseiidae),reared on two pea cultivars

Abdel-Khalek, Amira; Abou-Elella, Gomaa; El-Saiedy, Elsayed

doi:10.22073/pja.v8i3.45254

Comparative biology and growth rate ofthetwo predatory mites,CydnoseiusnegeviandNeoseiulus californicus(Acari: Phytoseiidae),reared on two pea cultivars

Authors

Amira Abdel-Khalek ¹

Gomaa Abou-Elella ²

Elsayed El-Saiedy ¹

¹ Pest and Plant Protection Department, National Research Centre(NRC), Dokki, Cairo, Egypt;E-mails: amira_afifi777@hotmail.com, gomaa_abou64@yahoo.com, elsaidyelsayed@yahoo.com

² Pests and Plant Protection Department, National Research CPest and Plant Protection Department, National Research Centre(NRC), Dokki, Cairo, Egypt;E-mails: amira_afifi777@hotmail.com, gomaa_abou64@yahoo.com, elsaidyelsayed@yahoo.comentre (NRC), Cairo, Egypt

10.22073/pja.v8i3.45254

Abstract

Laboratory experiments were conducted to investigate the influence of two pea cultivars, regular and sweet as substrates on biological aspects and life table analysis of two phytoseiid species, Cydnoseius negevi (Swirski & Amitai) and Neoseiulus californicus (McGregor) fed on nymphs of Tetranychus urticae Koch under laboratory conditions of 27 ± 1 ℃, 70–80 % RH and 16L:8D h photoperiod. The development was faster and reproduction of N. californicus was higher compared with C. negevi. The predatory mite N. californicus showed the highest fecundity when reared on sweet pea cultivar, while C. negevi exhibited the lowest fecundity when reared on regular pea cultivar. Rearing C. negevi on the two pea cultivars led to the greatest female longevity than that of N. californicus. Feeding capacity of females during oviposition period was the highest for N. californicus on sweet pea, but it was the lowest for C. negevi on regular pea cultivar. Life table analysis showed that the shortest mean generation time (T) for N. californicus (13.01 days) compared with C. negevi (14.65 days) on sweet pea cultivar. Also, the intrinsic rate of increase (r_m) of N. californicus was 0.29 female/female/day, but the r_m value was 0.24 female/female/day for C. negevi on sweet pea substrate. Therefore, it can be concluded that the two predatory mites, C. negevi and N. californicus, are efficient biological control agents against T. urticae on the two pea cultivars.

Keywords

Development

intrinsic rate of increase

longevity

phytoseiid mites

Tetranychus urticae