Acaricide-Mediated Colonization of Mite-Infested Coconuts by the Predatory Phytoseiid Neoseiulus baraki (Acari: Phytoseiidae)

• Published in: Journal of economic entomology Vol. 112; no. 1; pp. 213 - 218
• Main Authors: Monteiro, Vaneska B., Lima, Debora B., Melo, José W. S., Guedes, Raul Narciso C., Jr, Manoel G. C. Gondim
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: US Entomological Society of America 12.02.2019; Oxford University Press
• Subjects: Abamectin; Acari; Acaricides; Analysis; Azadirachtin; biocontrol agent; Biological control; Colonization; Dispersal; Females; Fruit; Fruits; HORTICULTURAL ENTOMOLOGY; Insecticides; intraplant dispersal; Mites; Neoseiulus baraki; Pests; Phytoseiidae; Plants; predator; Predators; recapture; walking activity; Water treatment; Brazil; walking activity; recapture; predator; intraplant dispersal; biocontrol agent
• ISSN: 0022-0493; 1938-291X
• DOI: 10.1093/jee/toy291

Walking is important to dispersal on plants and colonization of new plants by predatory mites, and this activity is potentially affected by the presence of acaricides. This possibility was investigated in coconut fruits infested with the coconut mite, Aceria guerreronis Keifer (Acari: Eriophyidae), where colonization by the predator Neoseiulus baraki (Athias-Henriot) (Acari: Phytoseiidae) was monitored. The following acaricides were evaluated for influence on the process of colonization by the predatory mite: abamectin, azadirachtin, and fenpyroximate. Water-treated fruits were used for comparison. Experiments were conducted with and without freedom of choice on coconut fruits with the release and recapture of females of N. baraki marked with fluorescent ink. A confinement experiment was also carried out on coconut bunch rachis sprayed or not sprayed with the acaricides. The predatory mite N. baraki avoided contact with acaricide-contaminated areas. After the predators were released on the fruits or bunch rachis, larger numbers were recaptured under the bracts than on the surface of the fruits. The number of predators recaptured in all experiments was lower in the treatments with acaricides than in the control. Among the acaricides tested, azadirachtin least affected N. baraki colonization. Therefore, the presence of the tested acaricides indeed interferes with N. baraki dispersal within plants and the coconut fruit colonization.