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16 June 2022 Egg Predation by Phytoseiid Predatory Mites: Is There Intraguild Predation Towards Predatory Bug Eggs?
Dominiek Vangansbeke, Marcus V. A. Duarte, Juliette Pijnakker, Apostolos Pekas, Felix Wäckers
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Abstract

Phytoseiid predatory mites are efficient biocontrol agents of important thrips pests, such as the western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis Pergande (Thysanoptera: Thripidae). Until recently, it was believed that first instars, and to a lesser extent second instars, were the most vulnerable developmental stages of thrips to be attacked by phytoseiids. However, recent evidence showed that some phytoseiids can detect and prey upon thrips eggs inserted in the leaf tissue. As phytoseiid predatory mites often co-occur with other beneficial insects, such as mirid and anthocorid predatory bugs which also insert their eggs inside leaf material, this raises the question whether phytoseiid predatory mites may also feed on predatory bug eggs. Here we first tested the potential of Amblyseius swirskii Athias-Henriot, Transeius montdorensis Schicha, and Amblydromalus limonicus Garman and McGregor (Acari: Phytoseiidae) to kill eggs of F. occidentalis in leaf tissue. Secondly, we tested whether those phytoseiids were capable of killing eggs of Orius laevigatus Fieber (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae), Macrolophus pygmaeus Rambur and Nesidiocoris tenuis (Reuter) (Hemiptera: Miridae), three biocontrol agents that also insert their eggs inside plant tissue. Our results showed that A. swirskii and A. limonicus could kill thrips eggs, whereas T. montdorensis could not. Furthermore, we show that the presence of phytoseiid predatory mites does not affect the hatch rate of predatory bugs that insert their eggs inside leaves.

© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
Dominiek Vangansbeke, Marcus V. A. Duarte, Juliette Pijnakker, Apostolos Pekas, and Felix Wäckers "Egg Predation by Phytoseiid Predatory Mites: Is There Intraguild Predation Towards Predatory Bug Eggs?," Journal of Economic Entomology 115(4), 1087-1094, (16 June 2022). https://doi.org/10.1093/jee/toac092
Received: 17 December 2021; Accepted: 5 May 2022; Published: 16 June 2022
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KEYWORDS
generalist predator
intraspecific interaction
Phytoseiidae
predatory bugs
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