Time for coffee and tea
Biological control by chant
As it was thought that the phytoseiid mite Amblyseius herbicolus may be of use as a biological control of Brevipalpus phoenicis in coffee plantations Reis and colleagues decided to investigate the mite further. They were interested in its life cycle, its fertility and its predatory aspects.
It was found under the controlled conditions that the average life span of the female phytoseiid mite Amblyseius herbicolus (chant) was 37.9 days plus or minus 5.5 days. Interestingly no males were found in the population of mites, this supports previous reports by Moraes and Mesa that Amblyseius herbicolus breeds by thelytoky.
The life cycle consisted of Egg stage (1.5 days), larvae (1.2 days), protonymph (1 day) and protonymph (1.3 days). In total the average egg to adult transition period lasted approximately 6.9 days.
It was found that both the nymphs and adults of Amblyseius herbicolus (chant) predated Brevipalpus phoenicis, with the adult female being the most efficient predator. The phytoseiid mites only predated about 30% of the prey available to them, indicating that they are not prolific pests of the coffee mites.
The phytoseiid mite Amblyseius herbicolus was found to be an highly effective predator, being able to double its population every 4.6 days in the presence of its prey once established. The average generation time was 25.3 days.
It is thought by the authors that the phytoseiid mite will make an ideal biological control for the coffee pest coffee ring spot mite, and with other predatory mites its use should be integrated into the agroecological management of coffee plantations.
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