PREDATORY MITES AGAINST SPIDER MITES

MORPHOLOGICAL AND BEHAVIORAL ADAPTATIONS

Jawwad Hassan Mirza

Ph.D. Scholar (ID# 435108485)

Acarology Laboratory

Department of Plant Protection

King Saud University, Riyadh, KSA

SEMINAR I (PLPT-694)

THE SPIDER MITE• (3)Tetranychidae (About 70 genera, >1200 spp)

• Major pests food and cash crops

• (2)Damage by making webs of varying complexity

• (1)Silk threads 0.03–0.06 µm in diameter

• (4)Few species from Saudi Arabia

• Oligonychus Berlese and Tetranychus Dufour important pest genera

1. Gerson, 1979; 2. Saito, 1983; 3. Bolland et al, 1998 ; 4. Alatawi, 2011

THE PREDATORY MITE

• (2)Phytoseiidae (About 91 genera, > 2400 species)

• Predates on phytophagous mites, thrips, whiteflies

• Important Biological Control Agents

• (1)Very few species from Saudi Arabia

• Cydnoseius negevi Swirski and Amitaimass reared and studied at Acarology Research Laboratory

1. Alatawi, 2011; 2. Demite et al, 2014 ;

PREDATORY MITES SPIDER MITES

OFFENSE

OFFENSE

DEFENSE

DEFENSE• Web Invasion• Predation of prey• Morphological and Behavioral Modifications• Intraguild Predation

• Bi-Parental Care• Temporary Evacuation• Varying Web Structures• Attacking Invaders

PREDATORY AND SPIDER MITE INTERACTION

OBJECTIVES

• Understanding the Life styles of Predators and Spider Mites

• Distinguishing between Generalist and Specialist Predatory Mites

• Gaining the knowledge for the selection of compatible predator for mite pests

• Finding the best combination of predators in the field

LIFE TYPES OF SPIDER MITE

Saito, 1983

LITTLE WEB TYPE (LW)

Saito, 1983

Aponychus firmianae

Aponychus spp; Eurytetranychus spp

Panonychus spp

Yezonychus spp

COMPLICATED WEB TYPE (CW)

Saito, 1983

Eotetranychus spp

Tetranychus spp; Eotetranychus spp

Schizotetranychus spp

Panonychus sppOligonychus spp

WEB NEST TYPE (WN)Oligonychus spp

Schizotetranychus spp

Eotetranychus spp; Schizotetranychus spp

Saito, 1983

Schizotetranychus celarius

Schizotetranychus recki

LIFE STYLES OF PREDATORY MITE

McMurty and Moraes, 2012

Phytoseiulus persimilis Typhlodromus bambusae Galendromus occidentalis Neoseiulus californicus

SECRET OF A PREDATOR’S SUCCESS

• MORPHOLOGY– Dorsal Chaetotaxy– Palps and Chelicerae– 1st pair of leg

• BEHAVIOR– Use of legs or palps– Predating In/Out of the web– Tri-Model Predation

• CO-EVOLUTION

• COLD STORAGE DURATION

Saito, 1990; McMurty et al, 2013; Furuichi et al, 2005

WHAT MAKES A PREDATOR… SPECIAL?

• Forced entry in the web

• Spend more time if face complex webs

• Resting in the nest of prey

• Waiting in the nest for the motile stages

• Escape from Intraguild Predation

• Feeding on eggs in absence of motile forms

McMurty et al, 2013; Furuichi et al, 2005

THE SPECIALIST PREDATORSMorphological and Behavioral Adaptations

Phytoseiulus persimilis Athias-Henriot

• Specialist Predator = Tetranychus spp

• Web Internal Feeder

• Collected thread/s on palps

cut by chelicerae

• Slits or spindle shaped holes

• Compatibility = Neoseiulus spp

Saito, 1990; Shimoda et al, 2009; McMurty et al, 2013;

Long dorsal setae facilitate movement

Thread cutting by palps and cherlicerae

Shimoda et al, 2009

Galendromus helveolus Chant

• Always found inside the nest of O. persea

• Co-evolved = Multiple Attack modes

• Feeds on eggs and quiescent stages

• Shorter legs = prefers to feed inside web

• Slits or spindle shaped holes

• Compatibility = N. californicus

Montserrat et al, 2008

Neoseiulus species

• N. californicus Mcgregor, N. womersleyi Schicha

• Opportunistic Predator

• First pair of legs used for O. persea

• Palps used for T. urticae

• Mostly encounters prey outside the nest

• Invasion through prey entry holes

Co-Evolution

Shimoda et al, 2009

Neoseiulus californicus in Action

Shimoda et al, 2010

ENTRY HOLES of N. californicus

Shimoda et al, 2009

THE GENERALISTS

N. cucumeris Oudemans Typhlodromus vulgeris Ehara

• Feed on food sources outside the web

• Physical Injuries by Entrapment

• Hindered free movement

• Reduced foraging activityShimoda et al, 2010

WHAT WE LEARNED?

• Knowledge of Life type of prey, selection of best predator

• Best Predator = Least hindered by Tetranychid Webs

• Combination of compatible predators enhances Biological Control

WE CAN… WE WILL

• Life styles, webbing structure of

O. afrasiaticus not studied

• Web encounter of C. negevi not known

• C. negevi being well distributed with O. afrasiaticus

• Behavioral studies of C. negevi with O.afrasiaticus can give solutions to mite problem in Saudi Arabia

REFERENCES

• Alatawi, F.J., 2011. Phytophagous and predaceous mites associated with vegetable crops from Riyadh. Saudi Arabia Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences. 18(3): 239–246.

• Bolland, H.R., Gutierrez, J. and Flechtmann, C.H.W., 1998. World catalogue of the spider mite family (Acari: Tetranychidae). Leiden, Brill Academic Publishers: 392 p. Demite, P.R., McMurtry, J.A. & Moraes, G.J. de (2014) Phytoseiidae Database: a website for taxonomic and distributional information on phytoseiid mites (Acari). Zootaxa, 3795 (5): 571–577.

• Furuichi, H., S. Yano, A. Takafuji and M. Osakabe, 2005. Prey preference of the predatory mite Neoseiuluswomersleyi Schicha is determined by spider mite webs. JEN 129(6): 336–339. doi: 10.1111/j.1439-0418.2005.00978.

• McMurtry, J.A., G.J. DE Moraes and N.F. Sourassou, 2014. Revision of the lifestyles of phytoseiid mites (Acari: Phytoseiidae) and implications for biological control strategies. Systematic & Applied Acarology. 18(4): 297–320. http://dx.doi.org/10.11158/saa.18.4.1

• Montserrat, M. F. de la Peña, J. I. Hormaza, and J. J. González-Fernández, 2008. How do Neoseiulus californicus(Acari: Phytoseiidae) females penetrate densely webbed spider mite nests? Exp Appl Acarol 44:101–106. DOI 10.1007/s10493-008-9137-y

• Saito, Y., 1983. The concept of life types in Tetranychinae: An attempt to classify the spinning behavior of Tetranychinae. Acarologia, 2: 377-391.

• Shimoda, T., H. Kishimoto, J. Takabayashi, H. Amano and M. Dicke, 2009. Comparison of thread-cutting behavior in three specialist predatory mites to cope with complex webs of Tetranychus spider mites. Exp Appl Acarol . 47:111–120. DOI 10.1007/s10493-008-9205-3.

• Saito, Y. 1990. Two new spider mite species of the Schizotetranychgus celarius complex (Acari: Tetranychidae). Appl. Entomol. Zool. 25: 389–396.

• McMurtry, J.A., Moraes, G.J. de &Famah Sourassou, N. (2013) Revision of the lifestyles of phytoseiid mites (Acari: Phytoseiidae) and implications for biological control strategies. Systematic & Applied Acarology, 18, 297–320.

• Shimoda et al, 2010. A key volatile infochemical that elicits a strong olfactory response of the predatory mite Neoseiulus californicus, an important natural enemy of the two-spotted spider mite Tetranychus urticae. Exp ApplAcarol. 50(1):9-22.