Predation of Typhlodromus longilaterus Athias-Henriot (Parasitiformes, Phytoseiidae) females on eggs and juveniles of the tetranychid mites Tetranychus urticae (Koch) and Panonychus citri (McGregor) (Acariformes, Tetranychidae)

Abstract

Typhlodromus longilaterus is a generalist phytoseiid mite described by Athias-Henriot in 1957 and commonly found in Israel on spontaneous herbaceous plants. As very little is known about this species, the present study reports preliminary results on the predation capacity of phytoseiid females on eggs and juveniles of two tetranychid mites very common in the Mediterranean area, Tetranychus urticae and Panonychus citri. After 24 hours the phytoseiid females preyed on 15% of offered eggs of both tetranychids, while the prey ratio was higher on T. urticae eggs after this period (33.4% and 33.5% vs 20.8% and 16.2% after 2 and 3 days for T. urticae and P. citri respectively). The phytoseiid showed its preference also for nymphs of T. urticae preying on 44-50% of nymphs offered, while the predation range was lower on nymphs of P. citri (from 30.3 to 36.3%)