| The immature stage performance of predatory mite Phytoseius plumifer (Phytoseiidae) on different pollen grains |
| Paper ID : 1038-IPCA5 (R5) |
| Authors |
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Saba Shamsedin Beyranvand *1, Shahriar Jafari2, Yaghoub Fathipour3, Narges Eini4 1Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Lorestan University, Khorramabad, Iran 2. Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Lorestan University, Khorramabad, Iran 3Department of Entomology, Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran 4Lorestan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, Khorramabad, Iran, |
| Abstract |
| The predatory mite Phytoseius plumifer (Canestrini and Fanzago) is an effective predator of some phytophagous mites in several countries around the world. Plant pollen grains are an important alternative food for predatory mites of the family Phytoseiidae, which ensures its population survival and growth during periods of prey scarcity. This study aimed to find a suitable diet for rearing the immature stages of this predator under laboratory conditions. The pollen grains of maize, marshmallow, pistachio, cypress, lilium, olive, thorn apple, walnut and saffron were compared with natural prey (Tetranychus turkestani Ugarov & Nycolsky (Tetranychidae), Ephestia kuehniella Zeller (Pyrlidae) eggs, Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Acaridae) and Sitotroga cerealella Olivier (Gelechiidae) eggs, for rearing the predatory mite P. plumifer under laboratory conditions (25 ±1°C, 65±5% RH, 16: 8 (L: D) h. All the data was analyzed using the two-sex life table theory. The results indicated that the second generation of P. plumifer was able to develop to reach adulthood on pollen grains of pistachio, olive, saffron, thorn apple, walnut, and T. turkestani. The incubation period was significantly different among pollen and T. turkestani, it was the longest (2 days) on walnut and shortest on saffron (1.37 days). No significant difference was found for the larval periods on pollen grains and T. turkestani. The duration of protonymph and deutonymph stages showed significant differences in tested pollen grains and T. turkestani. The highest and lowest overall development times of P. plumifer were 8.18 days on walnut and 7.08 days on olive, respectively. The survival rate percentage of total immature stages ranged from 80 on pistachio to 100 on olive and saffron. Based on the results, plant pollen grains can serve as a useful and cost-effective food source for the rearing of the predatory mite P. plumifer. |
| Keywords |
| mass rearing, survival rate, duration of immature stages, natural prey, Phytoseius plumifer |
| Status: Abstract Accepted |
