[Effects of spider mite and two substitute diets on the development and reproduction of Euseius nicholsi (Ehara et Lee) (Acari: Phytoseiidae)].

Three kinds of diets, i. e., two-spotted spider mite Tetranychus urticae Koch, Camellia oleifera Abel pollen, and mould mite Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Schrank), were used to feed Euseius nicholsi (Ehara et Lee) in laboratory at 25 degrees C and 80% RH to study the effects of these diets on the development and reproduction of E. nicholsi. The E. nicholsi could prey on T. putrescentiae egg, but could not complete its natural development due to the deficiency of the egg. Other two diets were the favorable foods for the normal growth and reproduction of E. nicholsi. The life cycle duration, longevity, oviposition duration, and average lifetime fecundity of the adult female E. nicholsi fed with C. oleifera pollen and T. urticae were 6.18 d, 24.79 d, 16.72 d and 23.03, and 5.67 d, 25.72 d 18.17 d and 25.38, respectively. The quantity of the experimental E. nicholsi populations fed with these two diets all showed an increasing trend, with the population tendency index being the highest (I = 14.28) for the population fed with C. oleifera pollen and the double population time being the shortest (t = 3.5201 days) for the population fed with T. urticae.