Effects of host plant and temperature on growth and reproduction of the strawberry spider mite Tetranychus turkestani Ugarov & Nikolski (Acari: Tetranychidae)

Habitat fragmentation increases the isolation of natural populations resulting in reduced genetic variability and increased species extinction risk. Behavioral innovation through learning, i.e., the expression of a new learned behavior in a novel context, can help animals colonize new suitable and increasingly fragmented habitats. It has remained unclear, however, how reduced genetic variability affects learning for colonizing more or less suitable habitats. Here, we show that inbreeding in a subsocial invertebrate, the spider mite Tetranychus urticae, reduces novel host plant colonization and reproductive fitness. When provided with the possibility to learn from previous experience with a host plant species, outbred mites showed aversive learning ability, but inbred mites did not adapt their behavior. We further found a putative general cost of learning in both inbred and outbred mites. Our results reveal that inbreeding affects the learning component of behavioral innovation for host plant colonization.

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Cucumber cultivar responses to two tetranychid mites, two-spotted spider mite and strawberry spider mite in greenhouses

Systematic and Applied Acarology ◽

10.11158/saa.24.8.4 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 24 (8) ◽

pp. 1383-1393

Author(s):

Seyed Saeid Modarres Najafabadi ◽

Abdoolnabi Bagheri ◽

Majeed Askari-Seya Hooei

Keyword(s):

Spider Mite ◽

Block Design ◽

Evaluation Criteria ◽

Injury Rate ◽

Egg Laying ◽

Cucumis Sativus L ◽

Cultivar Responses ◽

Two Spotted Spider Mite ◽

Tetranychus Turkestani ◽

Tetranychus Urticae Koch

Cultivating resistant host plants has been considered as an important strategy for sustainable pest management of mites. The current study was conducted to evaluate the response of 43 cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) cultivars against two important tetranychid species, two-spotted spider mite (Tetranychus urticae Koch.) and strawberry spider mite (Tetranychus turkestani Ugarov & Nikolski). The experiment was implemented in a Randomized Complete Block design (RCB) with 43 treatments replicated 4 times in a greenhouse during 2015-2016. Two main evaluation criteria, cultivar injury rate (from 1 to 5) and number of eggs/female/day (EFD) on each cultivar, were used to compare responses. The results revealed that the highest number of eggs/female/day (EFD) for both mites was observed on Taha cultivar (9.0±0.40 and 9.5±0.28 for T. urticae and T. turkestani, respectively). The highest injury rate was also observed on this cultivar (4.8±0.26 and 5.0±0.0 for T. urticae and T. turkestani, respectively). In contrast, the lowest EFD number for T. urticae (2.8±0.47) and T. turkestani (2.5±0.28) was seen on Samer star and Davos cultivars, respectively. However, no host preference for egg-laying was observed on Iver and Samer star cultivars for T. turkestani. These two cultivars had the lowest injury level too (1.2±0.25 for Samer star and 1.5±0.28 for Negeen to T. urticae and T. turkestani, respectively). The obtained results demonstrated that Taha was the most susceptible cultivar colonized easily by both two tetranychid species. In contrast, Samer star and Negeen were the most resistant cultivars, strongly recommended for cultivation in greenhouses.

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Functional and Numerical Responses of Stethorus gilvifrons Mulsant Feeding on Strawberry Spider Mite, Tetranychus turkestani Ugarov and Nikolski

Pakistan Journal of Biological Sciences ◽

10.3923/pjbs.2007.4563.4566 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 10 (24) ◽

pp. 4563-4566 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

F. Sohrabi ◽

P. Shishehbor .

Keyword(s):

Spider Mite ◽

Stethorus Gilvifrons ◽

Tetranychus Turkestani

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