چگونگی تاثیر پرورش دراز مدت روی گرده گیاه کرچک بر عملکرد زیستی کنه شکارگر Neoseiulus cucumeris (Acari: Phytoseiidae)

The phytoseiid predatory mites are capable of controlling insect and mite pests, which have been classified as specialists and generalists. The generalist predatory mites can feed on different food and diets, including small arthropods, nematodes, fungi, and pollen. Neoseiulus cucumeris (Oudemans) is a well-known generalist phytoseiid predator, which feeds on a wide range of greenhouses pests as well as pollen. The ability to feed, develop and reproduce on pollen diet is an important characteristic of this predatory mite, which facilitate cost effectively production of the large number of this predator. The performance of N. cucumeris reared for 20 generations (G) on the castor-bean pollen was evaluated by comparing the life table parameters of the predator at these generations under laboratory conditions at 25±1°C, 60±5% RH, and a photoperiod of 16:8 (L: D) h. The parameters such as total pre-oviposition period (TPOP), oviposition days, total life span, fecundity and immature survival had no significant difference among the tested generations. The intrinsic rate of increase (r) of N. cucumeris in G10 and G20 was 0.186, and 0.200 day-1, respectively; whereas the values of this important parameter had no significant difference between G10 and G20. The values of the net reproductive rate (R0) of the predator in above-mentioned generations had no significant difference (35.79 and 31.86 eggs/individual/generation, respectively). The findings related to high oviposition, intrinsic rate of increase and net reproductive rate indicated that the castor-bean pollen is a suitable diet for longtime rearing of N. cucumeris. Furthermore, rearing N. cucumeris on this pollen may lead to a cost-effective mass production of this predator.