Biological and life table parameters of Typhlodromus laurentii and Iphiseius degenerans (Acari, Phytoseiidae) fed on Panonychus citri and pollen of Oxalis pes-caprae under laboratory conditions.

Typhlodromus laurentii and Iphiseius degenerans are two generalist phytoseiid mites, broadly spread in the Mediterranean area, especially in citrus orchards. In the present work we report results on various biological and life table parameters of the two phytoseiids, fed on pollen of Oxalis pes-caprae and various stages of the tetranychid Panonychus citri. Iphiseius degenerans had the shortest post embryonic development (6.53 days), the highest oviposition rate (1.83 eggs/female/day) and the shortest mean time between eggs laid (0.55 day) on Oxalis pollen, whereas the two food types did not influence these parameters in T. laurentii. However, Oxalis pollen showed a positive effect on the survivorship of the latter phytoseiid, with a median life time (LT50) of 44.51 days, which was two times longer than that registered on prey with the same phytoseiid, and on both food types with I. degenerans. This latter species had a better performance on the pollen (rm = 0.243, λ = 1.275, Ro = 22.88, DT = 2.85) than on prey (rm = 0.182, λ = 1.199, Ro = 17.43, DT = 3.81). On the other hand, the pollen influenced the net reproductive rate (25.43 females/female) of T. laurentii positively but showed the same effect as the prey on the other demographic parameters. Our results improve knowledge on the feeding behaviour of the above mentioned phytoseiids on two food sources that could represent the main possibility to maintain a consistent population of these predators during winter. Moreover, both phytoseiids were shown to be good biocontrol candidates of P. citri populations.