TY  - JOUR
JF  - Acarologia
T1  - Is extrafloral nectar from crop-associated trees a suitable alternative food for predatory mites?
VL  - 66
IS  - Suppl
SP  - 269
EP  - 269
PY  - 2026
SN  - 0044-586X
SN  - 2107-7207
PB  - Les Amis d'Acarologia
AU  - Mateus de Castro, Matos
AU  - Rafael Stempniak, Iasczczaki
AU  - Heilyn Dayana, Carrero Sanabria
AU  - Angelo, Pallini
AU  - Madelaine, Venzon
AU  - Arne, Janssen
UR  - https://doi.org/10.24349/x01m-lpe9
DO  - 10.24349/x01m-lpe9
DA  - 2026-07-20
ET  - 2026-07-20
KW  - Conservation biological control
KW  - Phytoseiidae
KW  - Generalist predator
KW  - Beneficial plants
KW  - Intercropping
AB  - Conservation biological control aims to enhance populations of natural enemies in agroecosystems, providing a sustainable alternative to pesticide use. One strategy to support this approach is the incorporation of plants that offer alternative food resources, such as pollen and extrafloral nectar. These resources can sustain predators when prey availability is low, promoting their persistence and potentially improving pest suppression. Studies examining interactions between predatory mites of the family Phytoseiidae and beneficial plants have contributed to the development of conservation biological control strategies. In this study, we evaluated whether extrafloral nectar from Inga edulis and Senna cernua (Balb.) H.S. Irwin & Barneby (Fabaceae) can serve as a suitable food resource for two generalist predatory mite species, Amblyseius tamatavensis Blommers and Amblyseius largoensis (Muma) (Acari: Phytoseiidae). These mites are widely distributed and associated with a broad range of host plants and prey species, making them important biological control agents in several cropping systems. Specifically, we assessed whether extrafloral nectar could support their development, survival, and reproduction. To determine whether predatory mites could survive and develop when feeding on extrafloral nectar, developmental time and survival were compared among four diets: (1) extrafloral nectar of Inga edulis; (2) extrafloral nectar of Senna cernua; (3) pollen Ricinus communis pollen for A.largoensis and Typha spp. pollen for A. tamatavensis; and (4) no food. Oviposition rates were also compared among the same dietary treatments using identical experimental arenas. Young adult females (10–12 days old) were placed individually in arenas, and egg production was recorded every 24 hours for nine days. After six days of feeding exclusively on extrafloral nectar, females were subsequently provided with pollen to assess the effect of switching to a more nutritious food source. Extrafloral nectar from both plant species supported the development and survival of the two predatory mite species but did not sustain reproduction. Females feeding exclusively on extrafloral nectar did not oviposit; however, oviposition resumed once nectar-fed females were subsequently supplied with pollen. These results indicate that extrafloral nectar from I. edulis and S. cernua can maintain adult female survival in the absence of nutritionally richer food sources, allowing these predators to persist temporarily in the system until more suitable resources, such as pollen or prey, become available. This persistence may enhance the effectiveness of conservation biological control by maintaining predator populations during periods of low prey availability.
ER -