This article was downloaded by: [The Aga Khan University] On: 09 October 2014, At: 06:07 Publisher: Taylor & Francis Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Archives Of Phytopathology And Plant Protection Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/gapp20 Survival, development and reproduction of Euseius finlandicus (Oudemans) (Acari: Phytoseiidae) fed on various kinds of food substances G.M. Abou-Elellaa, M.F. Hassanb, M.S. Nawarb & I.M. Zidana a Pests and Plant Protection Dept., National Research Centre, Dokki, Cairo, Egypt. b Faculty of Agriculture, Zoology and Agric. Nematology Dept., Cairo University, Giza, Egypt. Published online: 02 Aug 2013. To cite this article: G.M. Abou-Elella, M.F. Hassan, M.S. Nawar & I.M. Zidan (2014) Survival, development and reproduction of Euseius finlandicus (Oudemans) (Acari: Phytoseiidae) fed on various kinds of food substances, Archives Of Phytopathology And Plant Protection, 47:7, 857-868, DOI: 10.1080/03235408.2013.823715 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03235408.2013.823715 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. 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Terms & http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/gapp20 http://www.tandfonline.com/action/showCitFormats?doi=10.1080/03235408.2013.823715 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03235408.2013.823715 Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms- and-conditions D ow nl oa de d by [ T he A ga K ha n U ni ve rs ity ] at 0 6: 07 0 9 O ct ob er 2 01 4 http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions Survival, development and reproduction of Euseius finlandicus (Oudemans) (Acari: Phytoseiidae) fed on various kinds of food substances G.M. Abou-Elellaa*, M.F. Hassanb, M.S. Nawarb and I.M. Zidana aPests and Plant Protection Dept., National Research Centre, Dokki, Cairo, Egypt bFaculty of Agriculture, Zoology and Agric. Nematology Dept., Cairo University, Giza, Egypt (Received 3 July 2013; final version received 6 July 2013) Laboratory experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of diet on the biology of the phytoseiid mite, Euseius finlandicus (Oudemans). The predatory mite was able to develop and reproduce better when fed on the eriophyid mites, Aceria olivi (Zaher and Abou-Awad), Aceria dioscoridis (Soliman and Abou-Awad) and Cisaberoptus kenyae (Keifer). The developmental time of immature stages was the shortest when fed on motile stages of eriophyid mite species, followed by the spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch, and then pollen grains of Ricinus communis L., Phoenix dactylifera L. and Helianthus annuus L. Total egg production was highest when the predator fed on A. olivi, A. dioscoridis and C. kenyae recording at the rate of 51.0 50.0 and 43.84 eggs/female, respectively, but lowest on pollen grains, R. communis, P. dactylifera and H. annuus at the rate of 11.96, 5.3 and 2.0 eggs/ female, respectively. But, the reproduction was nil on the tetranychid mite, T. urti- cae. Also, sex ratio of the progeny favoured females, when the predatory mite was reared on the eriophyid preys. E. finlandicus recorded the highest intrinsic rate of increase (rm = 0.31 females/female/day) when fed on A. dioscoridis, followed by (0.30 and 0.23 females/female/day) when fed on A. olivi and C. kenyae, respectively. In contrast, the lowest intrinsic rate of increase (rm =�0.31) was noted when fed on H. annuus pollen grains. The eriophyid mite, as a prey, recorded the shortest developmental time and highest oviposition rate of E. finlandicus. Keywords: Euseius finlandicus (Oudemans); Phytoseiidae; survival; development; reproduction; life table parameters; phytophagous mites; pollen grains Introduction Phytoseiid mites are natural enemies of several phytophagous mite pests on several crops and have an important role in natural control (Rasmy & El-Banhawy 1974; Rasmy 1977; Helle & Sabelis 1985; McMurtry & Croft 1997; Abou-Elella 1998; Croft & Luh 2004). The predatory phytoseiid mite, Euseius finlandicus (Oudemans), is one of the most important predators of phytophagous mites worldwide, especially in orchards (McMurtry 1983). Mites of the genus Euseius are characterised as specialised pollen feeders (type IV) and generalist predators (McMurtry & Croft 1997; Croft et al. 2004). E. finlandicus fed on tetranychid, eriophyid, tyroglyphid and tarsonemid mites, pollen, fungal spores *Corresponding author. Email:
[email protected] This paper is a part of MSc. thesis for the junior author Islam Mohammed Zidan, it will be submitted to the Dept. of Zoology and Agricultural Nematology, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University. Archives of Phytopathology and Plant Protection, 2014 Vol. 47, No. 7, 857–868, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03235408.2013.823715 � 2013 Taylor & Francis D ow nl oa de d by [ T he A ga K ha n U ni ve rs ity ] at 0 6: 07 0 9 O ct ob er 2 01 4 and hyphae, eggs and larvae of insects and honeydew has important role in the biological control of spider and eriophyid mites (Kostiainen & Hoy 1994; Schausberger 1997, 1998; Broufas & Koveos 2000; Abdallah et al. 2001; Broufas & Koveos 2001). E. finlandicus is widespread on deciduous fruit trees and one of the few Euseius species occurring in temperate climates on apple, peach, grape and cherry (Schausberger 1992; Broufas & Koveos 2000; Abdallah et al. 2001; Broufas & Koveos 2001; Özman & Çobanoğlu 2001). Also, the predatory mite E. finlandicus feeds, develops and reproduces on different plant pollens (Schausberger 1992; Kostiainen & Hoy 1994; Abdallah et al. 2001). Some Euseius species show preference and reproduce better on eriophyid mites than on tetranychid prey (Dicke et al. 1990). Feeding on eriophyid mites resulted in short developmental time and high oviposition rates of E. finlandicus compared to feeding on tetranychid mites (Abdallah et al. 2001). The reproductive potential of some phytoseiid species is highest on pollen, whereas in some cases, on spider mites alone, are unsuitable for development unless supplemen- tary food is present (Zhimo & McMurtry 1990). In the present work, the predatory mite, E. finlandicus, has been firstly recorded in Egypt to play a significant role in the biological control of acarine pests on some crops, such as mango and olive trees. Therefore, laboratory studies were performed to investigate the effect of food types on various biological aspects of E. finlandicus to evaluate the potential of this predator as biocontrol agent. Materials and methods Adult females of E. finlandicus were collected from heavily infested mango and olive leaves in Dakahlia and Giza governorates. The predatory mite E. finlandicus was obtained from a laboratory culture maintained on mulberry leaves, Morus alba L., infested with the eriophyid mite Aceria dioscoridis (Soliman and Abou-Awad) as prey. The leaves were placed upside down in Petri dishes (1�) on moisture cotton which has been replaced by new ones every 15–21 days at 28 ± 2 °C and 70–80% RH. The eriophyid mite A. dioscoridis was offered as prey for the mite colonies daily. For different biological tests, newly emerged, mated females of E. finlandicus were left for 24 h and their deposited eggs were used. Leaf discs of M. alba of 2-cm diameter were placed in Petri dishes with upper surface downwards on the water-saturated cotton wool. Eggs were transferred singly to the rearing discs and the newly hatched larvae were supplied either with sufficient number of Aceria olivi (Zaher and Abou-Awad), obtained from infested olive leaves, or the gall mite, A. dioscoridis, obtained from galls of spike- nard Pluchea discoridis L., or Cisaberoptus kenyae Keifer from infested mango leaves and Tetranychus urticae Koch obtained from infested potato leaves in the laboratory as prey types. Other larvae were supplied with pollen grains of Ricinus communis L., Phoenix dactylifera L. and Helianthus annuus L. were collected from fresh flowers as an alternative diet. Eggs and crawlers of the scale insects Parlatoria ziziphus (Lucas) and Chrysomphalus ficus Ashmead were collected from heavily infested leaves of citrus. Nymphs of citrus brown mite Eutetranychus orientalis (Klein) were collected from the infested leaves of citrus. Mixed stages of the flat scarlet mite Cenopalpus pulcher Canestrini and Fanzago were collected from infested leaves of apple and quince. First, the nymphal instar of onion thrips Thrips tabaci Lindeman was obtained 858 G.M. Abou-Elella et al. D ow nl oa de d by [ T he A ga K ha n U ni ve rs ity ] at 0 6: 07 0 9 O ct ob er 2 01 4 from infested garlic and onion. Eggs of the sweet potato whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) were obtained from heavily infested tomato leaves. Thirty newly emerged predatory larvae were tested with every prey. Replacement of consumed preys with fresh ones was carried out daily. Development and the number of laid eggs were recorded twice a day. To study the effect of various kinds of food substances on reproduction, emerged females were copulated with newly emerged males and were kept for oviposition. Deposited eggs per female were recorded and offsprings were kept for sex determination. Observations were recorded twice daily. All experiments were conducted under laboratory conditions of 28 ± 1 °C and 70–80% RH. Life table parameters were calculated according to a BASIC computer programme (Abou-Setta et al. 1986). Constructing a life table, using rates of age-specific (Lx) and fecundity (Mx) for each age interval (x) was assessed. The following population growth parameters were determined: the mean generation time (T ), gross reproductive rate (GRR) (=Σmx), the doubling time (DT), the net reproductive increase (Ro), the intrinsic rate of increase (rm) and the finite rate of increase (λ) were calculated according to (Birch 1948; May 1976; Carey 1993). Results Influence of food source on developmental time The predacious mite, E. finlandicus, was able to develop successfully from egg to adult stage when fed on motile stages of the eriophyid mites, A. dioscoridis, A. olivi or C. kenya, and pollen grains of castor bean R. communis, date palm P. dactylifera and sunflower H. annuus, nymphs of the tetrranychid mite T. urticae and eggs of the scale insect P. ziziphus (Table 1). On the contrary, development was not completed when predatory larvae were fed on eggs of T. urticae, nymphs of E. orientalis, nymphs of the whitefly B. tabaci, nymphs of T. tabaci, eggs of the scale insects C. ficus and C. pulcher (Table 2). When females were reared on eriophyid mite, pollen grains of castor bean and date palm or nymphs of T. urticae, the mean total developmental time was significantly shorter than those reared on pollen grains of H. annuus and eggs of P. ziziphus (p < 0.01). Survivorship during immature development varied among mites reared on the erio- phyid mites, pollen grains, nymphs of T. urticae and eggs of scale insects of P. ziziphus. Survivorship was significantly lower by 30.7% on tetranychid mites, whereas it was higher (87.1–94.2%) on motile stages of eriophyid mites. Adult longevity was shortest when fed on nymphs of T. urticae followed by eggs of scale insect, then pollen grains and eriophyid mites. Influence of food source on oviposition and longevity Mating was essential to induce oviposition and frequent mating was important to complete reproduction. The pre-ovipositon period was similar for all food types without significant differences (Table 3). It is also of interest to note that the duration of ovipo- sition period was significantly longer when fed on eriophyid mites compared to feeding on pollen diets and other prey species. But, the post-oviposition period was almost the same with all food types. It is worth noting that feeding the predator on motile stages of eriophyid mites exhibited the highest fecundity, whereas the lowest oviposition rates Archives of Phytopathology and Plant Protection 859 D ow nl oa de d by [ T he A ga K ha n U ni ve rs ity ] at 0 6: 07 0 9 O ct ob er 2 01 4 Ta bl e 1. A ve ra ge du ra tio n in da ys of th e im m at ur e st ag es of E . fi nl an di cu s re ar ed on va ri ou s ki nd s of fo od at 28 ± 2 °C . F oo d ty pe s D ev el op m en ta l du ra tio n (i n da ys ) To ta l lif e cy cl e A du lt su rv iv al (% ) E gg L ar va P ro to ny m ph D eu to ny m ph A ce ri a di os co ri di s 2. 00 ± 0. 00 a 1. 05 ± 0. 14 c 1. 15 ± 0. 23 b 1. 10 ± 0. 29 b 5. 3 ± 0. 37 c 94 .2 0 A ce ri a ol iv i 2. 00 ± 0. 00 a 1. 10 ± 0. 20 c 1. 15 ± 0. 23 b 1. 05 ± 0. 14 b 5. 3 ± 0. 30 c 89 .7 0 C is ab er op tu s ke ny ae 2. 00 ± 0. 00 a 1. 25 ± 0. 30 b c 1. 30 ± 0. 30 b 1. 00 ± 0. 00 b 5. 55 ± 0. 33 c 87 .1 0 R ic in us co m m un is 2. 00 ± 0. 00 a 1. 10 ± 0. 17 c 1. 26 ± 0. 26 b 1. 30 ± 0. 33 b 5. 65 ± 0. 52 c 75 .5 0 P ho en ix da ct yl ife ra 2. 00 ± 0. 00 a 1. 22 ± 0. 30 b c 1. 17 ± 0. 26 b 1. 39 ± 0. 42 b 5. 78 ± 0. 69 c 50 .9 0 H el ia nt hu s an nu us 2. 00 ± 0. 00 a 2. 56 ± 0. 90 a 3. 71 ± 1. 15 a 3. 00 ± 63 .6 6a 10 .0 0 ± 0. 00 a 29 .2 0 Te tr an yc hu s ur tic ae (n ym ph s) 2. 00 ± 0. 00 a 1. 62 ± 0. 42 b c 1. 71 ± 0. 74 b 1. 11 ± 0. 37 b 5. 57 ± 0. 75 c 30 .7 0 P ar la to ri a zi zi ph us (e gg s an d cr aw le rs ) 2. 00 ± 0. 00 a 2. 10 ± 0. 60 ab 2. 25 ± 0. 99 b 2. 64 ± 1. 83 a 7. 57 ± 3. 01 b 59 .4 0 F (d f) 9. 87 (7 , 16 6) 18 .0 1 (7 , 14 7) 8. 50 (7 , 11 5) 13 .5 0 (7 , 10 9) p = 0. 01 0. 00 00 ⁄⁄ ⁄ 0. 00 00 ⁄⁄ ⁄ 0. 00 00 ⁄⁄ ⁄ 0. 00 00 ⁄⁄ ⁄ L S D = 0. 01 0. 79 0. 99 1. 85 2. 23 ⁄ D if fe re nt le tte rs in ve rt ic al co lu m ns de no te si gn ifi ca nt di ff er en ce (F -t es t, P= 0. 00 1) 860 G.M. Abou-Elella et al. D ow nl oa de d by [ T he A ga K ha n U ni ve rs ity ] at 0 6: 07 0 9 O ct ob er 2 01 4 was observed with feeding on different pollen grains, especially H. annuus (Table 4 and Figures 1 and 2). However, the sex ratio of the progeny of females fed on eriophyid mites favoured females. Statistical analysis showed that feeding on various kinds of food significantly affected the reproduction and sex ratio of E. finlandicus (p6 0.01). In contrast, predatory females fed on nymphs of tetranychid mites and eggs of the scale insect P. ziziphus failed to lay eggs, as well as adult longevity was extremely short (Tables 3 and 4). Influence of food source on life table and reproductive parameters Life table parameters presented in Table 4 and Figures 1 and 2 are in harmony with the aforementioned findings. The mean of generation time (T ) of E. finlandicus reared on different pollen grains was shorter than that in the case of rearing on eriophyid mites. The net reproductive rate (Ro) for mites reared on A. dioscoridis was considerably higher (28.09 times), and those reared on H. annuus pollen had the lowest values (0.048 times). The intrinsic rate of natural increase (rm) and, subsequently, the finite rate of increase (λ) were relatively higher (0.31 and 1.36) when individuals fed on A. dioscoridis compared with those fed on P. dactylifera and H. annuus pollen grains. On the other hand, the DT varied from 2.27 to 3.01 on eriophyid mites, compared with 4.45 in the case of feeding on R. communis pollen grains. In contrast, the date palm and sunflower pollen led to the longest doubling time. Also, GRR was highest on eriophyid mites than those fed on different pollen grains. Discussion The present study clearly indicates that E. finlandicus seems to have a higher degree of dependence on eriophyid mites than pollen grains and tetranychid mites. Several phy- toseiid species have been reported to consume, develop and oviposit well when offered eriophyid mites as prey (Rasmy & El-Banhawy 1974; Abou-Awad & El-Banhawy 1986; Reda & El-Bagoury 1986; Momen & El-Sawi 1993; Sabelis 1996; Abou-Elella 1998; Abou-Awad et al. 2009). The study conducted by Schausberger (1997) showed that feeding is a perquisite for moulting of E. finlandicus larvae. Current findings agree with previous studies. Total Table 2. Developmental duration and survival percentage of E. finlandicus fed on various kinds of food at 28 ± 2 °C. Food types Developmental duration Total life cycle Adult survival (%)n Egg Larva Protonymph Deutonymph Tetranychus urticae (eggs) 27 27 3 – – – 0 Eutetranychus orientalis (nymphs) 28 28 16 – – – 0 Bemisia tabaci (eggs) 23 23 7 1 – – 0 Thrips tabaci (1st instar) 19 19 1 – – – 0 Chrysomphalus ficus (eggs & crawlers) 20 20 10 – – – 0 Cenopalpus pulcher (mixed stages) 16 16 2 1 – – 0 Archives of Phytopathology and Plant Protection 861 D ow nl oa de d by [ T he A ga K ha n U ni ve rs ity ] at 0 6: 07 0 9 O ct ob er 2 01 4 T ab le 3. L on ge vi ty an d fe cu nd ity of E . fi nl an di cu s fe m al es re ar ed on va ri ou s ki nd s of fo od at 28 ± 2 °C . F oo d ty pe s A du lt fe m al e lo ng ev ity (i n da ys ) L if e sp an A du lt lo ng ev ity P os t- ov ip os iti on O vi po si tio n P re -o vi po si tio n A ce ri a di os co ri di s 2. 30 ± 0. 86 a 35 .4 0 ± 6. 16 b 30 .1 0 ± 6. 19 b 5. 15 ± 3. 06 a 22 .6 5 ± 4. 52 b A ce ri a ol iv e 2. 10 ± 0. 35 a 34 .3 0 ± 6. 31 b 29 .0 0 ± 6. 31 b 5. 15 ± 4. 10 a 21 .7 5 ± 4. 32 b C is ab er op tu s ke ny ae 3. 95 ± 1. 47 a 42 .8 5 ± 4. 58 a 37 .3 0 ± 4. 51 a 3. 35 ± 1. 62 a 30 .0 0 ± 3. 91 a R ic in us co m m un is 4. 15 ± 2. 07 a 17 .3 1 ± 4. 58 cd 11 .8 5 ± 4. 39 c 1. 23 ± 0. 51 a 6. 46 ± 4. 81 c P ho en ix da ct yl ife ra 3. 70 ± 1. 46 a 21 .3 0 ± 5. 11 c 15 .8 0 ± 5. 26 c 4. 80 ± 3. 55 a 7. 30 ± 3. 85 c H el ia nt hu s an nu us 4. 80 ± 7. 20 a 38 .6 0 ± 14 .9 6a b 18 .2 0 ± 5. 13 c 8. 20 ± 2. 68 a 5. 20 ± 8. 03 c Te tr an yc hu s ur tic ae (n ym ph s) – 11 .0 0 ± 1. 74 d 5. 81 ± 1. 70 c – – P ar la to ri a zi zi ph us (e gg s & cr aw le rs ) – 24 .5 0 ± 5. 37 c 17 .0 0 ± 6. 53 c – – F (d f) 4. 62 (5 , 82 ) 35 .5 6 (7 , 10 8) 35 .0 4 (7 , 10 8) 2. 79 (5 , 82 ) 38 .1 2 (5 , 82 ) p = 0. 01 0. 00 09 ⁄⁄ ⁄ 0. 00 00 ⁄⁄ ⁄ 0. 00 00 ⁄⁄ ⁄ 0. 02 22 ⁄ 0. 00 00 ⁄⁄ ⁄ L S D = 0. 01 3. 07 9 12 .2 0 12 .1 7 7. 02 9 10 .2 5 ⁄ D if fe re nt le tte rs in ve rt ic al co lu m n de no te si gn ifi ca nt di ff er en ce (F -t es t, P= 0. 00 1) 862 G.M. Abou-Elella et al. D ow nl oa de d by [ T he A ga K ha n U ni ve rs ity ] at 0 6: 07 0 9 O ct ob er 2 01 4 Ta bl e 4. C om pa ri so n of lif e ta bl e pa ra m et er s of E . fi nl an di cu s fe d on va ri ou s ki nd s of fo od at 28 ± 2 °C . F oo d ty pe s n T ot al nu m be r of eg gs /♀ D ai ly nu m be r of eg gs /♀ r m R o λ T D T G R R S ex ra tio (♀ /to ta l % ) A ce ri a di os co ri di s 16 50 .0 0 ± 7. 63 a 2. 29 ± 0. 58 a 0. 31 28 .0 9 1. 36 10 .9 0 2. 27 34 .6 5 58 A ce ri a ol iv i 15 51 .2 0 ± 4. 70 a 2. 13 ± 0. 3a b 0. 30 27 .6 6 1. 35 11 .0 1 2. 30 39 .7 0 64 C is ab ro pt us ke ny ae 19 43 .8 4 ± 7. 63 b 1. 49 ± 0. 30 c 0. 23 22 .5 0 1. 26 13 .5 3 3. 01 35 .1 8 60 R ic in us co m m un is 11 9. 17 ± 7. 34 c 1. 80 ± 0. 64 b c 0. 16 3. 85 1. 17 8. 66 4. 45 14 .0 7 57 .3 P ho en ix da ct yl ife ra 10 5. 50 ± 2. 64 c 0. 82 ± 0. 27 d �0 .0 00 95 0. 99 0. 99 9. 65 �7 31 .8 4 4. 59 50 H el ia nt hu s an nu us 10 2. 00 ± 1. 00 c 0. 61 ± 0. 37 d �0 .3 1 0. 04 8 0. 73 9. 69 �2 .2 1 0. 71 20 F (d f) 16 2. 37 (5 , 76 ) 21 .2 4 (5 , 76 ) p = 0. 01 0. 00 00 ⁄⁄ ⁄ 0. 00 00 ⁄⁄ ⁄ L S D = 0. 01 10 .7 7 0. 79 ⁄ D if fe re nt le tte rs in ve rt ic al co lu m n de no te si gn ifi ca nt di ff er en ce (F -t es t, P= 0. 00 1) Archives of Phytopathology and Plant Protection 863 D ow nl oa de d by [ T he A ga K ha n U ni ve rs ity ] at 0 6: 07 0 9 O ct ob er 2 01 4 development time of E. finlandicus was shortest when fed on motile stages of different eriophyid mites but longest on other prey species and pollen grains. This observation 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 1 6 11 16 21 26 31 Mite age M x 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 L x Mx Lx Cisaberoptus kenyae 0 0.5 1 1.5 1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 Mite age M x 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 L x Mx Lx Aceria dioscorides 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 1 6 11 16 21 26 31 Mite age M x 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 L x Mx Lx Aceria olivi Figure 1. Life table parameters of E. finlandicus fed on different eriophyid mites, A. olivi, C. keynae and A. dioscoridis, at 28 ± 2 °C and 70–80% RH. 864 G.M. Abou-Elella et al. D ow nl oa de d by [ T he A ga K ha n U ni ve rs ity ] at 0 6: 07 0 9 O ct ob er 2 01 4 Figure 2. Life table parameters of E. finlandicus fed on different pollen grains, R. communis, P. dactylifera and H. annuus, at 28 ± 2 °C and 70–80% RH. Archives of Phytopathology and Plant Protection 865 D ow nl oa de d by [ T he A ga K ha n U ni ve rs ity ] at 0 6: 07 0 9 O ct ob er 2 01 4 agrees closely with those of (Schausberger 1992; Momen & Hussein 1999; Abdallah et al. 2001; Abou-Elella 2003). Females of E. finlandicus did not oviposit unless they had coupled. Amano and Chant (1978) reported that mating occurred immediately after emergence and it is nec- essary for oviposition. In addition, the rate of predation of predatory mite positively increased after mating because egg production requires much food, not only because of the number of eggs produced, but also because of the amount of food infested per egg (Sabelis 1985). Moreover, feeding the predator on the eriophyid mite species resulted in highest reproductive rate. Also, high reproduction rate was recorded when fed on eriophyid mites for Euseius scutalis A. H.; Amblyseius olivi Nasr and Abou-Awad; A. (=Typhlo- drompis) swirskii A. H.; A. denemarkii Zaher and El-Borolossy; Typhlodromus trans- vaalensis (Nesbit) and Proprioseiopsis (Amblyseius) lindiquisti Schuster and Pritchard (Abou-Awad & El-Banhawy 1986; Reda & El-Bagoury 1986; Momen & El-Sawi 1993; Abou-Elella 1998; Momen & Hussein 1999; Abou-Elella 2003; Abou-Awad et al. 2009). In the present study, the lowest rate of oviposition was noted when predatory mite was reared on pollen grains, e.g. R. communis, P. dactylifera and H. annuus. So, these pollen were suitable food for development but unsuitable for oviposition. Similar find- ings were reported by Broufas and Koveos (2000) when E. finlandicus was maintained on apple and pear pollens which led to the lowest fecundity. Also, according to Swirski et al. (1967), the reproductive rate of A. swirskii on citrus pollen was very low, but it was higher on pollen of stone and pome fruits and on maize. On the other hand, many Eueuis species have the highest reproductive potential on pollen grains (Abo-Setta and Childers 1987, 1989; McMurtry & Croft 1997). McMurtry & Rodriguez (1987) reported that Euseius species show the highest reproductive potential on pollen, but the current study indicated that E. finlandicus gave the highest fecundity and shortest developmental time on eriophyid mites. Population increase of Euseius species is often correlated with pollen fall out onto the foliage rather than in the presence of prey species McMurtry and Croft (1997). According to Dicke et al. (1990), there are many phytoseiid mites that survive and develop better without animal prey. Some researchers reported that the presence of alter- native food should help phytoseiids to survive periods of prey scarcity, and thus prevent severe declines in phytoseiid population during shortages of primary foods (McMurtry & Scriven 1964; McMurtry & Croft 1997; Abou-Elella 1998). This study reported that eriophyid mites provided commensurate nutritional effects on the survivorship and reproduction of E. finlandicus females. Life table parameters are in harmony with the aforementioned findings. The popula- tion of E. finlandicus could multiply with (Ro = 28.09, 27.66 and 22.50) net reproduc- tive rate with the generation time (T= 10.90, 11.01 and 13.53) and the intrinsic rate of increase (rm= 0.31, 0.30 and 0.23 females/female/day) when the predator fed on eriophyid mites A. dioscoridis, A. olivi and C. kenyae, respectively. In contrast, feeding on pollen grains, R. communis, P. dactylifera and H. annuus, resulted in the lowest intrinsic rate of increase (rm). Similar results were recorded by Abou-Awad et al. (1999) on the predatory mite T. swirskii, Abou-Elella (2003) on the predatory mite A. lindiquisti and Abou-Awad et al. (2009) on the predatory mite T. swirskii. Similarly, the doubling time varied from 2.3 to 3.01 in all the eriophyid mites, but on pollen it was much longer. These results agree with Broufas and Koveos 2000 when 866 G.M. Abou-Elella et al. D ow nl oa de d by [ T he A ga K ha n U ni ve rs ity ] at 0 6: 07 0 9 O ct ob er 2 01 4 E. finlandicus were reared on apple pollen. Also, this pollen gave the lowest intrinsic rate of natural increase (rm). The present study demonstrates that the type of food distinctly affects the develop- ment, adult longevity, fecundity and sex ratio of the phytoseiid mite, E. finlandicus. The survival and reproduction of this predator on different food sources point to its potential for application in biological control. Therefore, this information encourages further studies into using this predator in biological control against eriophyid mites in orchards. References Abdallah AA, Zhang ZQ, Masters GJ, McNeill S. 2001. 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