Life history of Typhlodromus athiasae as a predator of Tetranychus urticae (Acari: Phytoseiidae, Tetranychidae) under laboratory conditions

Abstract: The biology of predatory mite Typhlodromus athiasae Porath and Swirski (Acari: Phytoseiidae), a predator of the two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae), was studied under laboratory conditions. All experiments were conducted on bean leaf discs in an incubator at 25 ± 1 °C, 16 L:8 D photoperiod, and an average daily RH of 70 ± 10%. Observations on the immature stages were made twice daily and daily for the adults, in order to determine developmental time, survival and fecundity. The mean developmental time for females was 7.7 days and for males was 7.5 days, and mean adult longevity for females was 32 days. The mean total and daily egg production were 17.2 and 1.11 eggs, respectively. The net reproduction rate (R0) was 11.74 females/female, the intrinsic rate of increase (rm) was 0.137 female/female/day and mean generation time (T0) was 17.92 days. The the sex ratio was 0.68 female.