Imperfect diet choice reduces the performance of a predatory mite.

ABSTRACT: Two mutually unexclusive hypotheses prevail in the theory of nutritional ecology: the balanced diet hypothesis states that consumers feed on different food items because they have complementary nutrient and energy compositions. The toxin-dilution hypothesis poses that consumers feed on different food items to dilute the toxins present in each. Both predict that consumers should not feed on low-quality food when ample high-quality food forming a complete diet is present. We investigated the diet choice of Phytoseiulus persimilis, a predatory mite of web-producing spider mites. It can develop and reproduce on single prey species, for example the spider mite Tetranychus urticae. A closely related prey, T. evansi, is of notorious bad quality for P. persimilis and other predator species. We sho

SUBMITTER: Lemos F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10113300 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature