Interactions in a tritrophic acarine predator-prey metapopulation system III: effects of Tetranychus urticae (Acari: Tetranychidae) on host plant condition.

Spider mites are serious pests on many economically important plant species, because they may reduce plant productivity and, at high mite densities, overexploit and even kill the host plants. We have conducted a series of greenhouse experiments to quantify the effects of two-spotted spider mites (Tetranychus urticae) on host plants (Phaseolus vulgaris). The average amount of chlorophyll per cm2 leaf area was used as a measure of plant condition. It was shown that chlorophyll concentration decreases with plant age and intensity of spider mite feeding. Damage caused by spider mites was assessed visually, using the Leaf Damage Index (LDI) defined by Hussey and Parr (1963b), and a mathematical relationship between the visual measurements and the amount of chlorophyIV cm2 was fitted to data. The relationship may serve as a short-cut to estimate overall plant injury, expressed as the relative loss of chlorophyll/cm2 leaf area caused by spider mites (D). D takes values between 0 (no injury) and I (all leaves dead). A highly significant positive relationship between the instantaneous spider mite density and D was found, even though D is expected to reflect the cumulated density of mites (mite-days). A model of plant growth incorporating information about plant age and D predicts that plant area has a maximum when plant age is about 60 days, and that plant area decreases exponentially with an increase in D.