Abstract
Studies on intraguild interactions between phytoseiid species have shown that intraguild predation occurs and is most commonly manifested as adult females of one species feeding on juveniles of another. Whether such intraguild interactions can also occur between adult females of one species and adult males of another, is not known. Herein, we report on intraguild interactions between adults of the two sexes in cross-pairing experiments involving three related phytoseiid species (Neoseiulus paspalivorus, N. baraki and N. neobaraki) that are potential candidates for controlling the coconut mite Aceria guerreronis, a serious pest of coconut palms in tropical countries. For comparative reasons, the experiments were repeated with larvae instead of males, and with only males or only females of two different species together. In the presence of an ample supply of prey, females of N. neobaraki never fed on individuals of their own species, yet appeared to be very aggressive against males, as well as larvae of the other two phytoseiid species. They also fed on females of N. paspalivorus, but rarely on females of N. baraki. Males of N. neobaraki did not suffer mortality when together with females of either of the two other phytoseiid species. Males of N. baraki did not suffer predation from females of N. paspalivorus, but males of N. paspalivorus suffered some mortality (15 %) from N. baraki females. Larvae of each of the three species were vulnerable to intraguild predation by heterospecific adult females, except for N. neobaraki larvae when together with N. baraki females. The absence or presence of intraguild predation is largely explained by the size ratios of the individuals that were put together: large individuals feed on smaller ones, but never the reverse. For each sex, size declines in the following order: N. neobaraki > N. baraki > N. paspalivorus. Moreover, for each species, females are larger than males and males are larger than larvae. Strikingly, however, females did not kill males and larvae of their own species. We propose that niche competition between related phytoseiid species is not only determined by intraguild predation on heterospecific larvae, but also by imposing great mortality on males from the intraguild prey because phytoseiid females being pseudo-arrhenotokous require insemination to produce offspring of both sexes.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Congdon BD, McMurtry JA (1986) The distribution and taxonomic relationships of Euseius quetzali McMurtry in California (Acari: Phytoseiidae). Int J Acarol 12:7–11
Croft BA (1970) Comparative studies on four strains of Typhlodromus occidentalis Nesbitt (Acarina: Phytoseiidae). I. Hybridization and reproductive isolation studies. Ann Entomol Soc Am 63:1528–1531
Croft BA, Kim SS, Kim DI (1996) Intra- and interspecific predation on four life-stage groups by the adult females of Metaseiulus occidentalis, Typhlodromus pyri, Neoseiulus fallacis and Amblysieus andersoni. Exp Appl Acarol 20:435–444
Hindayana D, Meyhöfer R, Scholz D, Poehling H-M (2001) Intraguild predation among the hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus de Geer (Diptera: Syrphidae) and other aphidophagous predators. Biol Control 20:236–246
Hoying SA, Croft BA (1977) Comparisons between populations of Typhlodromus longipilus Nesbitt and T. occidentalis Nesbitt: taxonomy, distribution and hybridization. Ann Entomol Soc Am 70:150–159
Janssen A, Sabelis MW, Magalhães S, Montserrat M, Van Der Hammen T (2007) Habitat structure affects intraguild predation. Ecology 88:2713–2719
Lawson-Balagbo ML, Gondim MGC, Moraes GJ, Hanna R, Schausberger P (2008) Exploration of acarine fauna on coconut palm in Brazil with emphasis on Aceria guerreronis (Acari: Eriophyidae) and its natural enemies. Bull Entomol Res 98:83–96
Lucas É, Coderre D, Brodeur J (1998) Intraguild predation among aphid predators: characterization and influence of the extraguild prey density. Ecology 79:1084–19092
Mahr DL, McMurtry JA (1979) Crossbreeding studies involving populations of Typhlodromus citri Garman and T. arboreus Chant and a sibling species of each. Int J Acarol 5:155–161
McMurtry JA, Mahr DL, Johnson HG (1976) Geographic races in the predaceous mite, Amblyseius potentillae (Acari: Phytoseiidae). Ann Entomol Soc Am 57:649–655
Michaud JP, Grant AK (2003) Intraguild predation among ladybeetles and a green lacewing: do the larval spines of Curinus coeruleus (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) serve as a defensive function? Bull Entomol Res 93:499–505
Monetti LN, Croft BA (1997) Mating, cross-mating and related behaviours in of Neoseiulus californicus and Neoseiulus fallacis (Acari: Phytoseiidae). Exp Appl Acarol 21:67–74
Moraes GJ, Lopez PC, Fernando LCP (2004) Phytoseiid mites (Acari: Phytoseiidae) of coconut growing areas in Sri Lanka, with description of three new species. J Acarol Soc Jpn 13:141–160
Negloh K, Hanna R, Schausberger P (2011) The coconut mite, Aceria guerreronis, in Benin and Tanzania: occurrence, damage and associated acarine fauna. Exp Appl Acarol 55:361–374
Negloh K, Hanna R, Schausberger P (2012) Intraguild predation and cannibalism between the predatory mites Neoseiulus neobaraki and N. paspalivorus, natural enemies of the coconut mite Aceria guerreronis. Exp Appl Acarol 58:235–246
Rosenheim JA, Kaya HK, Ehler LE, Marois JJ, Jaffee BA (1995) Intraguild predation among biological control agents; theory and evidence. Biol Control 5:303–335
Sabelis MW, Nagelkerke CJ, Breeuwer JAJ (2002) Sex ratio control in arrhenotokous and pseudo-arrhenotokous mites. In: Hardy ICW (ed) Sex Ratios, Concepts and Research Methods. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp 235–253
SAS (2005) SAS Institute, version 9.2 Inc., Cary
Sato S, Dixon AFG, Yasuda H (2003) Effects of emigration on cannibalism and intraguild predation in aphidophagous ladybirds. Ecol Entomol 28:628–633
Schausberger P (2003) Cannibalism among phytoseiid mites: a review. Exp Appl Acarol 29:173–191
Schausberger P, Croft B (2000) Cannibalism and intraguild predation among phytoseiid mites: Are aggressiveness and prey preference related to diet specialization? Exp Appl Acarol 24:709–725
Sourassou NF, Hanna R, Zannou I, Breeuwer JAJ, Moraes G, Sabelis MW (2012) Morphological, molecular and cross-breeding analysis of geographic populations of coconut mite-associated predatory mites identified as Neoseiulus baraki: evidence for cryptic species? Exp Appl Acarol 57:15–36
Yasuda H, Kikuchi T, Kindlmann P, Sato S (2001) Relationships between attack and escape rates, cannibalism, and predation in larvae of two predatory ladybirds. J Insect Behav 14:373–384
Zannou I, Hanna R, Moraes JG, Kreiter S (2005) Cannibalism and interspecific predation in a phytoseiid predator guild from cassava field in Africa: evidence from the laboratory. Exp Appl Acarol 37:27–42
Zannou ID, Moraes GJ, Ueckermann EA, Olivera AR, Yaninek JS, Hanna R (2006) Phytoseiid mites of the genus Neoseiulus Hughes (Acari: Phytoseiidae) from Sub-Saharan Africa. Int J Acarol 32:241–276
Acknowledgments
We thank R. Houndafoche, and P. Sovimi for their assistance in maintaining the predator colonies and conducting experiments. This research was supported by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, through a Grant from the Board of the Netherlands Foundation for the advancement of Tropical Research (WOTRO). This study is part of the PhD Thesis of the senior author.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Famah Sourassou, N., Hanna, R., Negloh, K. et al. Females as intraguild predators of males in cross-pairing experiments with phytoseiid mites. Exp Appl Acarol 61, 173–182 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-013-9693-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-013-9693-7