Depto. Agronomia, Av. Dom Manoel de Medeiros s/n, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Dois irmãos, 52171-900 Recife, PE, Brazil.
Exp Appl Acarol. 2011 Mar;53(3):245-52. doi: 10.1007/s10493-010-9399-z. Epub 2010 Sep 14.
Aceria guerreronis Keifer (Acari: Eriophyidae) is a major pest of coconut fruits (Cocos nucifera L.) in many countries of the Americas, Africa, and parts of Asia. Considerable attention has been given to studies of biological control agents of A. guerreronis. Proctolaelaps bulbosus Moraes, Reis and Gondim Jr. is a predator recently discovered in association with A. guerreronis. Nothing is known about its biology. The aim of this study was to determine suitable food sources for P. bulbosus, among items commonly found on coconut fruits, including A. guerreronis. Food sources evaluated included the mites A. guerreronis, Steneotarsonemus concavuscutum Lofego and Gondim Jr., and Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Schrank), the fungus Rhizopus aff. stolonifer (Ehrenb.) Vuill and coconut pollen; the mite Tetranychus urticae Koch was also included in the assessments, for being a commonly used prey for mass production and laboratory rearing of predatory mites. Proctolaelaps bulbosus was able to develop up to adulthood when fed A. guerreronis, R. aff. stolonifer and T. putrescentiae. It had the highest population growth rates when feeding on the former (R (o) = 17.5; r (m) = 0.392). These results indicate that A. guerreronis is the most suitable food for P. bulbosus among the possible food sources found on coconut fruits and that P. bulbosus can survive in the absence of eriophyid using R. aff. stolonifer as a food source.
梨冠网蝽 (Acari: Eriophyidae) 是美洲、非洲和亚洲部分地区许多国家椰子果实 (Cocos nucifera L.) 的主要害虫。人们对梨冠网蝽的生物防治剂进行了大量研究。Proctolaelaps bulbosus Moraes、Reis 和 Gondim Jr. 是最近与梨冠网蝽相关联的捕食性螨虫。关于它的生物学特性目前还一无所知。本研究的目的是确定 P. bulbosus 的适宜食物来源，这些食物来源通常存在于椰子果实上，包括梨冠网蝽。评估的食物来源包括螨类梨冠网蝽、凹陷刻盾盲蝽 Lofego 和 Gondim Jr. 和 Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Schrank)、真菌 Rhizopus aff. stolonifer (Ehrenb.) Vuill 和椰子花粉；也将叶螨 Tetranychus urticae Koch 包括在评估中，因为它是大规模生产和实验室饲养捕食性螨虫常用的猎物。当喂食梨冠网蝽、Rhizopus aff. stolonifer 和 T. putrescentiae 时，P. bulbosus 能够发育到成虫阶段。当喂食前者时，它的种群增长率最高 (R (o) = 17.5；r (m) = 0.392)。这些结果表明，在椰子果实上发现的可能食物来源中，梨冠网蝽是 P. bulbosus 最适宜的食物，并且在没有梨冠网蝽的情况下，P. bulbosus 可以使用 Rhizopus aff. stolonifer 作为食物来源生存。
