scholarly journals Functional and numerical responses of the predator Amblyseius swirskii to its prey Tetranychus turkestani in the laboratory

Acarologia ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 901-909
Author(s):  
Atefeh Rahmani Piyani ◽  
Parviz Shishehbor ◽  
Farhan Kocheili ◽  
Eric W. Riddick
Keyword(s):  
Biological Control ◽  
Host Density ◽  
Maximum Level ◽  
Handling Time ◽  
Petri Dish ◽  
Amblyseius Swirskii ◽  
Safe Alternative ◽  
Augmentative Biological Control ◽  
Environmentally Safe ◽  
Tetranychus Turkestani

The tetranychid Tetranychus turkestani Ugarov and Nikolskii is a serious pest of many important crops around the world. Management of T. turkestani by augmentative biological control using predators such as the phytoseiid Amblyseius swirskii (Athias-Henriot) is envisioned as an environmentally safe alternative to acaricides. Foundational knowledge on T. turkestani – A. swirskii interactions in the laboratory are necessary to predict the outcome of A. swirskii augmentative releases in the field. In this study, the functional and numerical responses of adult A. swirskii females feeding on immature stages of T. turkestani were determined in the laboratory. Prey densities were 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, or 128 individuals per Petri dish arena. The functional response of A. swirskii to prey showed a Holling's type II response. The attack rate and handling time estimates from the random predator equation were 0.1148/h and 0.3146 h, respectively, indicating that A. swirskii consumed 76.28 individuals per day at the maximum level. The number of eggs laid by the predator, i.e., the numerical response, increased as host density increased up to a maximum of 33.10 eggs per female; then oviposition rate leveled-off. This study suggests that A. swirskii is a suitable candidate for augmentative biological control of T. turkestani but follow-up experiments in greenhouses or open fields are necessary.

scholarly journals Functional response of the predatory mite Amblyseius swirskii (Acari: Phytoseiidae) to Eotetranychus frosti (Tetranychidae) and Cenopalpus irani (Tenuipalpidae)

Acarologia ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-39
Author(s):  
Fereshteh Bazgir ◽  
Jahanshir Shakarami ◽  
Shahriar Jafari
Keyword(s):  
Biological Control ◽  
Functional Response ◽  
Attack Rate ◽  
Biological Control Agent ◽  
Handling Time ◽  
Rate Coefficients ◽  
Immature Stages ◽  
Amblyseius Swirskii ◽  
Functional Responses ◽  
Phytoseiid Mites

Eotetranychus frosti and Cenopalpus irani Dosse are pests of apple trees that are widely distributed in apple orchards in Iran. The functional responses and predation rates of Amblyseius swirskii, one of the most commonly utilized phytoseiid mites for biological control, on these two pests were evaluated at 25 ± 1 °C, with 16:8 h L: D, and a relative humidity of 60 ± 10 % on apple leaves. The results of predation rate experiments on the two prey species indicated that the predator consumed significantly more eggs than larvae and protonymphs whereas consumption of deutonymphs were very rare. Likewise, the results of logistic regression analysis showed that A. swirskii exhibited a Type II functional response on all immature stages of E. frosti and C. irani. Handling time (Th) increased as prey size enlarged; the lowest handling times were determined as 0.4858 and 0.3819 h on eggs of E. frosti and C. irani, respectively, whereas the highest were found to be 1.4007 and 1.0190 h on deutonymphs, respectively. Amblyseius swirskii had the higher attack rate coefficient (α) on immature stages of C. irani than E. frosti. Attack rate coefficients (α) varied significantly between life stages of both pests with the highest attack rate obtained on eggs, followed by larvae, protonymphs, and deutonymphs. Results of this study suggest that A. swirskii could be a highly efficient biological control agent of E. frosti and C. irani at least at low prey densities.

scholarly journals Biocontrol of Postharvest Fruit Fungal Diseases by Bacterial Antagonists: A Review

Agronomy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saul Carmona-Hernandez ◽  
Juan Reyes-Pérez ◽  
Roberto Chiquito-Contreras ◽  
Gabriel Rincon-Enriquez ◽  
Carlos Cerdan-Cabrera ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biological Control ◽  
Biofilm Formation ◽  
Hydrolytic Enzymes ◽  
Safe Alternative ◽  
Inappropriate Use ◽  
Ecological Benefit ◽  
Competition For Space ◽  
Safety Parameters ◽  
Environmentally Safe ◽  
Production Losses

This review deals with the main mechanisms of action exerted by antagonistic bacteria, such as competition for space and nutrients, suppression via siderophores, hydrolytic enzymes, antibiosis, biofilm formation, and induction of plant resistance. These mechanisms inhibit phytopathogen growth that affects postharvest fruit since quality and safety parameters are influenced by the action of these microorganisms, which cause production losses in more than 50% of fruit tree species. The use of synthetic fungicide products has been the dominant control strategy for diseases caused by fungi. However, their excessive and inappropriate use in intensive agriculture has brought about problems that have led to environmental contamination, considerable residues in agricultural products, and phytopathogen resistance. Thus, there is a need to generate alternatives that are safe, ecological, and economically viable to face this problem. Phytopathogen inhibition in fruit utilizing antagonist microorganisms has been recognized as a type of biological control (BC), which could represent a viable and environmentally safe alternative to synthetic fungicides. Despite the ecological benefit that derives from the use of controllers and biological control agents (BCA) at a commercial level, their application and efficient use has been minimal at a global level.

Use of Functional Response Modeling to Evaluate the Effect of Temperature on Predation of Amblyseius swirskii (Acari: Phytoseiidae) Adults Preying on Tetranychus urticae (Acari: Tetranychidae) Nymphs

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Azadeh Farazmand ◽  
Masood Amir-Maafi
Keyword(s):  
Functional Response ◽  
Tetranychus Urticae ◽  
Attack Rate ◽  
Handling Time ◽  
Effect Of Temperature ◽  
Coefficient Of Determination ◽  
Temperature Threshold ◽  
Amblyseius Swirskii ◽  
Functional Responses ◽  
Wide Range

Abstract In this research, functional responses of Amblyseius swirskii Athias-Henriot preying on different Tetranychus urticae Koch nymphal densities (2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, and 128) were studied at eight constant temperatures (15, 20, 25, 27.5, 30, 32.5, 35 and 37.5°C) in a circular Petri dish (3-cm diameter × 1-cm height) under lab conditions. At all temperatures, the logistic regression showed a type II functional response. A nonlinear relationship was found between temperature and attack rate and the reciprocal of handling time. The reciprocal of handling time decreased exponentially with increasing temperature. In contrast, the attack rate grew rapidly with increasing temperatures up to an optimum, showing a decreasing trend at higher temperatures. In order to quantify the functional response of A. swirskii over a broad range of temperatures and to gain a better estimation of attack rate and handling time, a temperature-settled functional response equation was suited to our data. Our model showed that the number of prey consumed increased with rising prey density. Also, the predation rates increased with increasing temperatures but decreased at extremely high temperatures. Based on our model, the predation rate begins at the lower temperature threshold (11.73°C) and reaches its peak at upper temperature threshold (29.43°C). The coefficient of determination (R2) of the random predator model was 0.99 for all temperatures. The capability of A. swirskii to search and consume T. urticae over a wide range of temperatures makes it a good agent for natural control of T. urticae in greenhouses.

Mass Rearing Bemisia Parasitoids for Support of Classical and Augmentative Biological Control Programs

2014 ◽  
pp. 145-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
John A. Goolsby ◽  
Matthew A. Ciomperlik ◽  
Gregory S. Simmons ◽  
Charles J. Pickett ◽  
Juli A. Gould ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biological Control ◽  
Mass Rearing ◽  
Augmentative Biological Control ◽  
Control Programs

scholarly journals A Novel Way for Whey: Cheese Whey Fermentation Produces an Effective and Environmentally-Safe Alternative to Chlorine

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (14) ◽  
pp. 2800 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria S. Santos ◽  
Patrícia Fradinho ◽  
Sandro Martins ◽  
Ana G. Lima ◽  
Ricardo M. S. Boavida Ferreira ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lactic Acid ◽  
Cheese Whey ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Lactic Acid Production ◽  
Organic Content ◽  
Organic Load ◽  
Microbial Quality ◽  
Acid Fermentation ◽  
Safe Alternative ◽  
Environmentally Safe

Cheese whey has been described as an environmental hazard due to its high organic content. Although it has been suggested that whey can be used as food disinfectant, it continues to pose an environmental problem because it still contains a high organic load. Here, we aimed to develop a low-cost, scalable fermentation protocol to produce a disinfectant from dairy waste that has very little organic content and high levels of lactic acid. Fermentation was achieved with industrial whey from ewe, goat, and cow’s milk, using a specific mesophilic-lactic acid bacteria starter mix over 120 h, which yielded the highest lactic acid production and the lowest lactose content. Antibacterial activity was observed against Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella enterica, and Escherichia coli O157:H7, plus a total of thirteen other food pathogenic and spoilage strains, and antibacterial activities were determined to be highest after 120 h. We further validated this whey’s application as a disinfectant in shredded lettuce and compared its efficacy to that of chlorine, evaluating microbial quality, texture, color, and sensory perception, pH, and O2 and CO2 determinations. Results showed that not only was microbial quality better when using our whey solution (p < 0.05), but also the quality indicators for whey were statistically similar to those treated with chlorine. Hence, our work validates the use of an industrial waste whey as a low-cost, efficient, and environmentally safe disinfectant, with potential applications for minimally processed foodstuffs as an alternative to chlorine.

Mass rearing and augmentative biological control evaluation ofRhynocoris fuscipes(Hemiptera: Reduviidae) against multiple pests of cotton

2017 ◽  
Vol 73 (8) ◽  
pp. 1743-1752 ◽  
Author(s):  
Majesh Tomson ◽  
Kitherian Sahayaraj ◽  
Vivek Kumar ◽  
Pasco B Avery ◽  
Cindy L McKenzie ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biological Control ◽  
Mass Rearing ◽  
Augmentative Biological Control ◽  
Control Evaluation
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