The document discusses the morphological and behavioral adaptations of predatory mites that allow them to prey on spider mites. It describes the different life types of spider mites, including little web, complicated web, and web nest types. It also characterizes the life styles of various predatory mite species as specialists that can invade spider mite webs or generalists that forage outside of webs. Specialist predators like Phytoseiulus persimilis and Galendromus helveolus have adaptations like thread-cutting abilities that facilitate predation within spider mite webs. Understanding these life styles and adaptations can help select compatible predator-prey combinations for biological control of spider mites.

1. PREDATORY MITES AGAINST SPIDER
MITES
MORPHOLOGICAL AND BEHAVIORAL ADAPTATIONS
Jawwad Hassan Mirza
Ph.D. Scholar (ID# 435108485)
Acarology Laboratory
Department of Plant Protection
King Saud University, Riyadh, KSA
SEMINAR I (PLPT-694)

2. THE SPIDER MITE
• (3)Tetranychidae (About 70 genera, >1200 spp)
• Major pests food and cash crops
• (2)Damage by making webs of varying complexity
• (1)Silk threads 0.03–0.06 µm in diameter
• (4)Few species from Saudi Arabia
• Oligonychus Berlese and
Tetranychus Dufour important pest genera
1. Gerson, 1979; 2. Saito, 1983; 3. Bolland et al, 1998 ; 4. Alatawi, 2011

3. THE PREDATORY MITE
• (2)Phytoseiidae (About 91 genera, > 2400 species)
• Predates on phytophagous mites, thrips, whiteflies
• Important Biological Control Agents
• (1)Very few species from Saudi Arabia
• Cydnoseius negevi Swirski and Amitai
mass reared and studied at
Acarology Research Laboratory
1. Alatawi, 2011; 2. Demite et al, 2014 ;

4. PREDATORY MITES SPIDER MITES
OFFENSE
OFFENSE
DEFENSE
DEFENSE• Web Invasion
• Predation of prey
• Morphological and Behavioral Modifications
• Intraguild Predation
• Bi-Parental Care
• Temporary Evacuation
• Varying Web Structures
• Attacking Invaders
PREDATORY AND SPIDER MITE INTERACTION

5. OBJECTIVES
• Understanding the Life styles of Predators and Spider
Mites
• Distinguishing between Generalist and Specialist
Predatory Mites
• Gaining the knowledge for the selection of compatible
predator for mite pests
• Finding the best combination of predators in the field

6. LIFE TYPES OF SPIDER MITE
Saito, 1983

7. LITTLE WEB TYPE (LW)
Saito, 1983
Aponychus firmianae
Aponychus spp; Eurytetranychus spp
Panonychus spp
Yezonychus spp

8. COMPLICATED WEB TYPE (CW)
Saito, 1983
Eotetranychus spp
Tetranychus spp; Eotetranychus spp
Schizotetranychus spp
Panonychus sppOligonychus spp

9. WEB NEST TYPE (WN)
Oligonychus spp
Schizotetranychus spp
Eotetranychus spp; Schizotetranychus spp
Saito, 1983
Schizotetranychus celarius
Schizotetranychus recki

10. LIFE STYLES OF PREDATORY MITE
McMurty and Moraes, 2012
Phytoseiulus persimilis Typhlodromus bambusae Galendromus occidentalis Neoseiulus californicus

11. SECRET OF A PREDATOR’S SUCCESS
• MORPHOLOGY
– Dorsal Chaetotaxy
– Palps and Chelicerae
– 1st pair of leg
• BEHAVIOR
– Use of legs or palps
– Predating In/Out of the web
– Tri-Model Predation
• CO-EVOLUTION
• COLD STORAGE DURATION
Saito, 1990; McMurty et al, 2013; Furuichi et al, 2005

12. WHAT MAKES A PREDATOR… SPECIAL?
• Forced entry in the web
• Spend more time if face complex webs
• Resting in the nest of prey
• Waiting in the nest for the motile stages
• Escape from Intraguild Predation
• Feeding on eggs in absence of motile forms
McMurty et al, 2013; Furuichi et al, 2005

13. THE SPECIALIST PREDATORS
Morphological and Behavioral Adaptations

14. Phytoseiulus persimilis Athias-
Henriot
• Specialist Predator = Tetranychus spp
• Web Internal Feeder
• Collected thread/s on palps
cut by chelicerae
• Slits or spindle shaped holes
• Compatibility = Neoseiulus spp
Saito, 1990; Shimoda et al, 2009; McMurty et al, 2013;

15. Long dorsal setae facilitate movement
Thread cutting by palps and cherlicerae
Shimoda et al, 2009

16. Galendromus helveolus Chant
• Always found inside the nest of O. persea
• Co-evolved = Multiple Attack modes
• Feeds on eggs and quiescent stages
• Shorter legs = prefers to feed inside web
• Slits or spindle shaped holes
• Compatibility = N. californicus
Montserrat et al, 2008

17. Neoseiulus species
• N. californicus Mcgregor, N. womersleyi Schicha
• Opportunistic Predator
• First pair of legs used for O. persea
• Palps used for T. urticae
• Mostly encounters prey outside the nest
• Invasion through prey entry holes
Co-Evolution
Shimoda et al, 2009

18. Neoseiulus californicus in Action
Shimoda et al, 2010

19. ENTRY HOLES of N. californicus
Shimoda et al, 2009

20. THE GENERALISTS
N. cucumeris Oudemans Typhlodromus vulgeris Ehara
• Feed on food sources outside the web
• Physical Injuries by Entrapment
• Hindered free movement
• Reduced foraging activity
Shimoda et al, 2010

21. WHAT WE LEARNED?
• Knowledge of Life type of prey, selection of best
predator
• Best Predator = Least hindered by Tetranychid Webs
• Combination of compatible predators enhances
Biological Control

22. WE CAN… WE WILL
• Life styles, webbing structure of
O. afrasiaticus not studied
• Web encounter of C. negevi not known
• C. negevi being well distributed with O.
afrasiaticus
• Behavioral studies of C. negevi with
O.afrasiaticus can give solutions to mite
problem in Saudi Arabia

23. REFERENCES
• Alatawi, F.J., 2011. Phytophagous and predaceous mites associated with vegetable crops from Riyadh. Saudi
Arabia Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences. 18(3): 239–246.
• Bolland, H.R., Gutierrez, J. and Flechtmann, C.H.W., 1998. World catalogue of the spider mite family (Acari:
Tetranychidae). Leiden, Brill Academic Publishers: 392 p. Demite, P.R., McMurtry, J.A. & Moraes, G.J. de (2014)
Phytoseiidae Database: a website for taxonomic and distributional information on phytoseiid mites
(Acari). Zootaxa, 3795 (5): 571–577.
• Furuichi, H., S. Yano, A. Takafuji and M. Osakabe, 2005. Prey preference of the predatory mite Neoseiulus
womersleyi Schicha is determined by spider mite webs. JEN 129(6): 336–339. doi: 10.1111/j.1439-
0418.2005.00978.
• McMurtry, J.A., G.J. DE Moraes and N.F. Sourassou, 2014. Revision of the lifestyles of phytoseiid mites (Acari:
Phytoseiidae) and implications for biological control strategies. Systematic & Applied Acarology. 18(4): 297–320.
http://dx.doi.org/10.11158/saa.18.4.1
• Montserrat, M. F. de la Peña, J. I. Hormaza, and J. J. González-Fernández, 2008. How do Neoseiulus californicus
(Acari: Phytoseiidae) females penetrate densely webbed spider mite nests? Exp Appl Acarol 44:101–106. DOI
10.1007/s10493-008-9137-y
• Saito, Y., 1983. The concept of life types in Tetranychinae: An attempt to classify the spinning behavior of
Tetranychinae. Acarologia, 2: 377-391.
• Shimoda, T., H. Kishimoto, J. Takabayashi, H. Amano and M. Dicke, 2009. Comparison of thread-cutting behavior in
three specialist predatory mites to cope with complex webs of Tetranychus spider mites. Exp Appl Acarol . 47:111–
120. DOI 10.1007/s10493-008-9205-3.
• Saito, Y. 1990. Two new spider mite species of the Schizotetranychgus celarius complex (Acari: Tetranychidae).
Appl. Entomol. Zool. 25: 389–396.
• McMurtry, J.A., Moraes, G.J. de &Famah Sourassou, N. (2013) Revision of the lifestyles of phytoseiid mites (Acari:
Phytoseiidae) and implications for biological control strategies. Systematic & Applied Acarology, 18, 297–320.
• Shimoda et al, 2010. A key volatile infochemical that elicits a strong olfactory response of the predatory mite
Neoseiulus californicus, an important natural enemy of the two-spotted spider mite Tetranychus urticae. Exp Appl
Acarol. 50(1):9-22.