Abstract

HASTIE, Evelyn; BENEGAS, Antonina  and  RODRIGUEZ, H. INVENTORY OF PREDATORY MITES ASSOCIATED WITH PHYTOPHAGOUS MITES ON PLANTS OF THE FAMILIES Arecaceae AND Musaceae. Rev. Protección Veg. [online]. 2010, vol.25, n.1, pp. 17-25. ISSN 2224-4697.

The use of predatory mites in the pest management requires of the knowhow on the available species and their principal ecological characteristics. With the aim of detecting the presence of mite predators on potential hosts of Raoiella indica Hirst, a survey was carried out in Cocos nucifera L., Areca catechu L., Areca sp., Roystonia regia O.F.Cook and Musa spp. in San José de las Lajas municipality from November 2007 to April 2009. For the Arecaceae family species, six plants were selected from which five leaflets per plant were removed. In Musa spp., ten plants were localized and leaf sections of 10 cm² were removed with the central vein from each plant. The specimens collected were identified and the abundance, relative frequency and ecological indexes calculated. R. indica was not detected in the areas and botanical species evaluated. A complex of predatory mites integrated by species of five families (Phytoseiidae, Bdellidae, Ascidae, Cunaxidae and Cheyletidae) was reported. These predatory mites were associated with phytophagous mites of the Tetranychidae, Eriophyidae and Tenuipalpidae families. Amblyseius largoensis was the most abundant and frequent species, followed by Bdella sp. These results allow to know the beneficial species composition, which could be considered as important elements in a strategy of impact mitigation, in case the coconut red mite reaches the Cuban western region.

Keywords : predatory mite; Phytoseiidae; Raoiella indica; biological control; inventory.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )