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Continuous rearing of the predatory mite Neoseiulus californicus on an artificial diet

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Abstract

Neoseiulus californicus (McGregor) (Acari: Phytoseiidae) is one of the most efficient biological control agents of tetranychid mites and is commercially used in various countries around the world. In this study, four artificial diets were tested as an alternative food source for rearing N. californicus, and life table studies were performed to evaluate the nutritional value of the diets. Further, the performance of N. californicus reared for seven consecutive generations on the artificial diet enriched with Ephestia kuehniella Zeller eggs was assessed. The egg and larval periods of N. californicus did not differ among the natural prey (Tetranychus urticae Koch) and artificial diets, but the developmental times of the nymphal stages were significantly longer on any of the artificial diets than on the natural prey. The total fecundity of N. californicus was reduced when the predator was fed on any of the artificial diets as compared with T. urticae (54.33 eggs per female). Among the artificial diets, fecundity of N. californicus was best on a basic artificial diet enriched with E. kuehniella (AD2) (41.32 eggs per female). Moreover, AD2 did not significantly affect the longevity and reproduction of N. californicus females after long-term rearing on this artificial diet. The predation and reproduction capacities of N. californicus reared on AD2 for up to four generations were significantly reduced when the predator was switched to natural prey on the first day, but generally improved from the second to third day on. In conclusion, artificial diets supplemented with an extract of E. kuehniella eggs (20%) may have potential for use in the mass rearing of N. californicus.

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Acknowledgements

Zi-Wei Song and Dun-Song Li were supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2017YFD0201000), the Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province, China (2015A020209071), the Key Science and Technology Project of Yunnan Tobacco Company (2017YN13). The authors acknowledge the Grant for Overseas Training Projects from the Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences for supporting the international cooperation. Duc Tung Nguyen and Patrick De Clercq were supported by additional funds from the Vietnam National Foundation for Science and Technology Development (NAFOSTED) and the Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO) under grant number FWO.106-NN.2015.01. Thanks also go to Thomas Spranghers for providing the prepupae of the black soldier fly and his useful suggestions, and to Wim Jonckheere and Viet Ha Nguyen for support during the laboratory experiments. Professor Hsin Chi from Omer Halisdemir University is acknowledged for providing the updates for the TWOSEX-MSChart program and for his kind advice on the analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of High Technology for Plant Protection/Plant Protection Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 7 Jinying Road, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, 510640, China

    Zi-Wei Song & Dun-Song Li

  2. Laboratory of Agrozoology, Department of Plants and Crops, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Zi-Wei Song & Patrick De Clercq

  3. Department of Entomology, Vietnam National University of Agriculture, Trau Quy, Gia Lam, Hanoi, Vietnam

    Duc Tung Nguyen

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  1. Zi-Wei Song
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  2. Duc Tung Nguyen
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  3. Dun-Song Li
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  4. Patrick De Clercq
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Correspondence to Dun-Song Li or Patrick De Clercq.

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Song, ZW., Nguyen, D.T., Li, DS. et al. Continuous rearing of the predatory mite Neoseiulus californicus on an artificial diet. BioControl 64, 125–137 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526-019-09923-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526-019-09923-7

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