Cost-effective and efficient factitious prey for mass production of Neoseiulus cucumeris (Acari: Phytoseiidae): assessing its quality compared with natural prey

Egyptian Journal of Biological Pest Control

Yaghoub Fathipour¹  Elham Riahi¹  Shima Yazdanpanah¹  Myron P. Zalucki² 

[1] Department of Entomology, Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University, P. O. Box 14115-336, Tehran, Iran;School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, 4072, St. Lucia, QLD, Australia;

关键词: Mass rearing;    Neoseiulus cucumeris;    Tyrophagus putrescentiae;    Tetranychus urticae;    Ephestia kuehniella;    Predation capacity;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s41938-022-00518-6

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundUsing alternative diets for the mass production of phytoseiid predatory mites may facilitate their cost-effective rearing. Factitious prey is often used as an alternative food source for mass rearing of generalist phytoseiids. The generalist predator, Neoseiulus cucumeris (Oudemans), is a commercially available biocontrol agent against various pests. We assessed the suitability of two factitious prey, Ephestia kuehniella Zeller eggs and Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Schrank), as diets for long-term rearing (up to 30 generations) of N. cucumeris, when compared with a natural prey, Tetranychus urticae Koch.ResultsThe predator completed its development on all tested diets successfully. Under laboratory conditions, Tyrophagus putrescentiae could support the development and oviposition of the predator for up to 30 generations even better than its natural prey T. urticae. However, the eggs of E. kuehniella were not suitable for this predator because of the longer pre-adult period and adults failed to reproduce.ConclusionsSince rearing on T. putrescentiae for a long time had no adverse effects on the predator’s performance, this factitious prey could be considered as a suitable and cost-effective diet for mass production of N. cucumeris.

【 授权许可】

CC BY