Department of Evolutionary and Population Biology, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Business Unit Greenhouse Horticulture, Wageningen University and Research, Bleiswijk, The Netherlands.
Exp Appl Acarol. 2022 Jul;87(2-3):143-162. doi: 10.1007/s10493-022-00723-w. Epub 2022 Aug 8.
Biological pest control is becoming increasingly important for sustainable agriculture. Although many species of natural enemies are already being used commercially, efficient biological control of various pests is still lacking, and there is a need for more biocontrol agents. In this review, we focus on predatory soil mites, their role as natural enemies, and their biocontrol potential, mainly in vegetable and ornamental crops, with an emphasis on greenhouse systems. These predators are still underrepresented in biological control, but have several advantages compared to predators living on above-ground plant parts. For example, predatory soil mites are often easy and affordable to mass rear, as most of them are generalist predators, which also means that they may be used against various pests and can survive periods of pest scarcity by feeding on alternative prey or food. Many of them can also endure unfavourable conditions, making it easier for them to establish in various crops. Based on the current literature, we show that they have potential to control a variety of pests, both in greenhouses and in the field. However, more research is needed to fully understand and appreciate their potential as biocontrol agents. We review and discuss several methods to increase their efficiency, such as supplying them with alternative food and changing soil/litter structure to enable persistence of their populations. We conclude that predatory soil mites deserve more attention in future studies to increase their application in agricultural crops.
生物防治在可持续农业中变得越来越重要。尽管已经有许多种天敌被商业化应用，但对各种害虫的有效生物防治仍然缺乏，因此需要更多的生物防治剂。在这篇综述中，我们重点介绍了捕食性土壤螨类，它们作为天敌的作用及其在蔬菜和观赏作物中的生物防治潜力，特别强调了温室系统。这些捕食者在生物防治中仍然代表性不足，但与生活在地上植物部分的捕食者相比，它们具有几个优势。例如，捕食性土壤螨类通常易于大规模繁殖且成本低廉，因为它们大多数是泛食性捕食者，这也意味着它们可以用于防治各种害虫，并且在害虫稀少时可以通过取食替代猎物或食物来生存。其中许多还可以耐受不利条件，因此更容易在各种作物中定殖。根据目前的文献，我们表明它们具有控制各种害虫的潜力，无论是在温室中还是在田间。然而，为了充分理解和欣赏它们作为生物防治剂的潜力，还需要更多的研究。我们综述并讨论了几种提高它们效率的方法，例如为它们提供替代食物和改变土壤/凋落物结构以维持其种群的持久性。我们得出结论，捕食性土壤螨类值得在未来的研究中得到更多关注，以增加它们在农业作物中的应用。
