TY  - JOUR
JF  - Acarologia
T1  - Functional response of the predatory mite Amblydromalus limonicus to Tetranychus urticae (Acari: Phytoseiidae, Tetranychidae)
VL  - 66
IS  - 2
SP  - 543
EP  - 551
PY  - 2026
SN  - 0044-586X
SN  - 2107-7207
PB  - Les Amis d'Acarologia
AU  - Santana, Rita
AU  - Pérez Salinas, Ruth
AU  - Mangui, José
AU  - Ortiz-Tirado, Paúl
AU  - Telenchana, Norma
AU  - López-Villacís, Cristina
UR  - https://doi.org/10.24349/y3eo-3v5m
DO  - 10.24349/y3eo-3v5m
DA  - 2026-05-11
ET  - 2026-05-11
KW  - Phytoseiid mite
KW  - prey functional response
KW  - Rogers’ Random Predator Equation
KW  - biological control
AB  - The two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae, is a major pest of ornamental and horticultural crops worldwide. Phytoseiid mites play a crucial role in its biological control; however, little is known about the predation dynamics of Amblydromalus species against T. urticae under Andean conditions. This study evaluated the functional response of Amblydromalus limonicus females when preying upon eggs and mobile stages (larvae and protonymphs) of T. urticae under controlled laboratory conditions. Experiments were conducted at 25 ± 2  °C and 65 ± 5 % RH using single predators exposed to increasing prey densities on rose-leaf discs. Logistic regression was applied to determine the type of functional response, and predation parameters were estimated using Rogers’ Random Predator Equation (RRE) to account for prey depletion. Bootstrapping (1,000 iterations) provided 95 % confidence intervals for attack rate and handling time. Amblydromalus limonicus exhibited a Holling type II functional response for both prey stages. The attack rate and handling time were 1.52 h⁻¹ and 0.050 h for eggs, and 0.80 h⁻¹ and 0.215 h for mobile stages, respectively, corresponding to theoretical maximum consumptions of 20.0 and 4.7 prey/day for the respective stages. The predator showed higher efficiency on eggs, suggesting a strong capacity for density-dependent regulation of T. urticae populations. These results highlight A. limonicus as a promising biological control agent for early-season or preventive releases in integrated mite management programmes.
ER -