The Biocontrol Agent Pyemotes zhonghuajia Has the Highest Lethal Weight Ratio Compared with Its Prey and the Most Dramatic Body Weight Change during Pregnancy.

ABSTRACT: Pyemotes spp. are small, toxic, ectoparasitic mites that suppress Coleoptera, Hemiptera, and Lepidoptera plant pests. To explore their potential use as a biocontrol agent, we studied the reproductive development, paralytic process, time to lethality and mortality, and searching ability of Pyemotes zhonghuajia on different developmental stages of the oriental leafworm moth, Spodoptera litura. Pyemotes zhonghuajia gained 14,826 times its body weight during pregnancy. One single P. zhonghuajia female could rapidly kill one S. litura egg and first to third instar larvae, but not fourth to sixth instar larvae, prepupae, or pupae within 720 min. Pyemotes zhonghuajia could develop on eggs, first to sixth larvae, and pupae, but only produced offspring on the eggs and pupae. A single P. zhonghuajia

SUBMITTER: Chen YC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8225142 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature