Intraguild aggressiveness between an alien and a native predatory mite

Abstract

The predatory mite Amblydromalus limonicus, non-native in Europe, can be used legally in several European countries as greenhouse biocontrol agent against thrips species, although this species is also able to feed on whiteflies and gall mites. The first record of the unintended occurrence of A. limonicus in apple orchards in Europe comes from Catalonia (Spain), where A. limonicus is well established in the native predatory mite community since 2011. The dominant species in this community is Amblyseius andersoni, which has a similar life-style as A. limonicus (large, aggressive predator with broad diet range) making intraguild (IG) interactions between the two predators likely. Thus, we tested the IG aggressiveness of native and alien female predators, when provided with IG prey (larvae). Alien females of A. limonicus proved to be highly aggressive IG predators against native larvae of A. andersoni, which were attacked earlier and more frequently than alien larvae by the native predator. Nearly all attacks by the alien predator resulted in the death of native IG prey, whereas about 10% of the alien intraguild prey escaped the attacks of the native predator. Additionally, native IG prey is smaller than alien prey, which should facilitate the overwhelming by the alien predator. We argue that the strong aggressive intraguild behavior of A. limonicus is contributing to its establishment success in the native predatory mite community.