Cydnoseius negevi (Swirski & Amitai, 1961)

Alatawi, Fahad J., Basahih, Jamal S. & Kamran, Muhammad, 2018, Suitability of date palm pollen as an alternative food source for the predatory mite Cydnoseius negevi (Swirski & Amitai) (Acari: Phytoseiidae) at a low relative humidity, Acarologia 58 (2), pp. 357-365 : 358-359

Biology of Cydnoseius negevi fed on fresh date palm pollen in the laboratory

The experiment was conducted during August–September 2015 in a climate controlled chamber (BINDER®, Germany) at 30 ± 2 °C, two relative humidity levels, 35 % ± 5 and 60 % ± 5, RH, 14 L:10 D in small experimental units following Marafeli et al. (2011), with a few modifications. The experimental units consisted of a black plastic lid (3 cm diameter) placed on a petri dish

(9 cm diameter) without a cover. Wet cotton wool wrapped around the lid and distilled water was provided continuously in the Petri dish to prevent the mites from escaping. Wisps of cotton wool were placed on the arena to provide oviposition sites for the predator. Seventy-four replicates for each RH level were made. Two C. negevi eggs were transferred from the stock colony to each experimental cell using a fine brush. After hatching, each larva was kept in the experimental cell separately and each fed with equal amount of date palm pollen. Older pollen was replaced with fresh date palm pollen under a stereomicroscope (SZX10, Olympus, Tokyo, Japan) using a fine brush each 3 - 4 days. A male from the stock colony was introduced to each experimental unit for 12 hours when the female deutonymph stage appeared. After mating, males were removed from the cells. The mated females were individually confined in experimental units and date palm pollen was supplied until their death. The biological parameters, i.e., eggs incubation period, duration of larval, protonymphal, and deutonymphal stages, and lifespans of female (including pre-oviposition, oviposition, post-oviposition, and fecundity) and male predators were observed and recorded at 12-h intervals until their death. The sex ratio of the progeny was also recorded.

Statistical Analysis

Data were analyzed using a one way ANOVA to compare the developmental period of different immature stages, adult longevity and life span of male and female and female fecundity of C. negevi according to the two RH tested. Means were compared using Fishers LSD test at P <0.05. All analyses were run using the SAS computer program version 9.2 (SAS Institute ®, 2008).