Suitability of Pollen from Different Plant Species as Alternative Food Sources for Neoseiulus californicus (Acari: Phytoseiidae) in Comparison with a Natural Prey

Alternative foods such as pollen may help predators to maintain their populations even when their prey is scarce or absent. In order to develop an appropriate spider mite management strategy using Neoseiulus californicus McGregor and optimize laboratory rearing, its biological parameters on four types of pollen (cedar, pistachio, pear, and apricot) were determined and compared on Tetranychus urticae Koch. Our results indicated that the developmental times of females and males varied from 6.06 to 7.32, and 6.00 to 7.15 d, respectively. The highest fecundity was obtained on pistachio pollen, followed by apricot pollen and T. urticae. Feeding on cedar pollen caused the lowest fecundity. In contrast to T. urticae and pistachio pollen, which resulted in the highest intrinsic and finite rates of increase, feeding on cedar pollen produced the lowest value. Pistachio and apricot pollen appear to have the highest nutritional value. From an ecological perspective, in the presence of pistachio pollen, a more rapid population increase of N. californicus could be expected, when the prey is scarce or absent in greenhouses or fields. This may provide valuable information for the design of a comprehensive program for conservation and/or mass production of N. californicus to control T. urticae and other pests.