Life table of Gaeolaelaps aculeifer (Acari: Laelapidae) feeding on larvae of Lycoriella auripila (Diptera: Sciaridae) with stage-specific estimates of consumption

Gaeolaelaps aculeifer (Canestrini, 1883) is a soil-dwelling predatory mite with potential for use as a biological control agent of fungus gnats (Diptera: Sciaridae) in mushroom production. The life table, predation rate and population growth rate of G.aculeifer on a diet of larvae of the sciarid fly, Lycoriella auripila, at 23 +/- 1 degrees C, 60 +/- 5% RH and a photoperiod of 0:24 (L:D)h was investigated. The resultsrevealed that the duration of egg, larva, protonymph, deutonymph, females and males of G.aculeifer were 3.8 +/- 0.1, 1.4 +/- 0.1, 3.9 +/- 0.1, 4.1 +/- 0.1, 67.7 +/- 2.8 and 60.3 +/- 3.1 days, respectively. Net reproductive rate (R-0) was 54.8 +/- 7.1 offspring, intrinsic rate of increase (r) was 0.12 +/- 0.01 offspring day(-1), finite rate of increase () was 1.13 +/- 0.01 day(-1)and mean generation time (T) was 32.3 +/- 0.6 days. The predator consumed a mean of 0.08 +/- 0.05, 1.73 +/- 0.18, 3.16 +/- 0.28 and 75.9 +/- 7.1 third instar L.auripila larvae during the larval (1.3 +/- 0.1 days), protonymph (3.9 +/- 0.1 days), deutonymph (4.1 +/- 0.1 days) and adult (52.6 +/- 2.2 days) stages. Population parameters and consumption rates suggest that G.aculeifer has good potential as a biological control agent of L.auripila in mushroom production.