Predation on heterospecific larvae by adult females of Kampimodromus aberrans, Amblyseius andersoni, Typhlodromus pyri and Phytoseius finitimus (Acari: Phytoseiidae).

The predatory mites Kampimodromus aberrans (Oudemans), Amblyseius andersoni (Chant), Typhlodromus pyri Scheuten and Phytoseius finitimus Ribaga are important biological control agents in orchards and vineyards in Europe and elsewhere. They can coexist in the same habitat and engage in intraguild predation (IGP). In the laboratory we evaluated the longevity, fecundity and prey consumption of females of these predatory mites fed with heterospecific larvae considered as intraguild prey (IG-prey). The survival and age-specific oviposition curves of predatory mites fed with pollen were compared with those obtained on different IG-prey. We assessed the prey conversion rate into eggs expressed by the different IG-predator as an indicator of their capacity to persist when prey is diminishing. Results suggest that A. andersoni should be considered the superior intraguild predator but the least efficient in food conversion. Phytoseius finitimus appeared to suffer from intraguild predation, and its efficiency in food conversion was not superior to that of K. aberrans and T. pyri. The profiles of K. aberrans and T. pyri were less definite. The comparison between pollen and IG-prey diets confirmed the positive effect of pollen on the fecundity of all four predatory mite species. Fecundity was higher on pollen than on IG-prey. We can suggest that A. andersoni have the potential to exclude the other predatory mites only at high food resource availability, whereas low levels of food availability can favor the other species in IGP.