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Effect of long-term rearing of Euseius scutalis (Acari: Phytoseiidae) on cattail pollen on its functional and numerical responses fed on Tetranychus turkestani (Acari: Tetranychidae)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 December 2025

Zahra Gorji ,
Parviz Shishehbor ,
Farhan Kocheili  and
Elham Riahi Open the ORCID record for Elham Riahi [Opens in a new window]
Zahra Gorji
Affiliation:
Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran
Parviz Shishehbor
Affiliation:
Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran
Farhan Kocheili
Affiliation:
Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran
Elham Riahi*
Affiliation:
Department of Entomology, Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
*
Corresponding author: Elham Riahi; Email: elham.riahi@modares.ac.ir
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Abstract

Predatory mites are important biological control agents of spider mites in various crops. Long-term mass rearing on alternative foods, such as plant pollen, may affect their predatory efficiency, but data on Euseius scutalis are scarce. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate whether long-term rearing of E. scutalis on cattail pollen influences its functional response when fed on Tetranychus turkestani. Functional and numerical responses of the predatory mite E. scutalis reared on cattail (Typha latifolia) pollen over 30 generations on different densities (2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, and 128) of T. turkestani were evaluated. The results indicated a type II functional response for E. scutalis on T. turkestani in all generations (G1, G10, G20, and G30) tested. The attack rate (a) of E. scutalis increased as the number of generations increased. The handling time decreased as the number of generations increased from G1 (0.330 h) to G10 (0.318 h), then increased in G20 (0.572 h) and then decreased again in G30 (0.385 h). In G1 and G30, the number of eggs deposited by the predator increased as prey density increased. However, in G10 and G20, egg deposition increased up to 64 prey and then slightly decreased at 128 prey. The results indicated that the quality of E. scutalis did not lessen against T. turkestani after different periods of rearing on cattail pollen. Based on this study, we recommend cattail pollen as a good candidate for the large-scale rearing of E. scutalis for use in biological control programmes against T. turkestani.

Keywords

alternative foodattack ratehandling timepredatory performanceTypha latifolia

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Type
Research Paper
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Bulletin of Entomological Research , First View , pp. 1 - 7
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© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press.

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