Life history of Kampimodromus aberrans as a predator of Phytoptus avellanae (Acari: Phytoseiidae, Phytoptidae).

The biology of Kampimodromus aberrans (Oudemans), a predator of the big bud mite, Phytoptus avellanae Nalepa, was studied under laboratory conditions. All experiments were conducted on hazelnut leaf discs in an incubator at 25 +/- 1 degrees C, with 16:8 h L:D, at an average daily relative air humidity of 76%. Observations were made twice daily for the immature stages and daily for the adults to determine developmental time, survival and fecundity. The mean developmental time for females was 6.90 days and for males was 7.10 days, and mean adult longevity for females was 11.67 days. The mean total and daily egg production were 12.67 and 1.85 eggs, respectively. The net reproduction rate (R0) was 7.09 females/female, intrinsic rate of increase (rm) was 0.153 female/female/day and mean generation time (T0) was 12.80 days. The mortality rate of immature stages was 0.66% and the sex ratio was 0.51 female.