The response of a predator, Hypoaspis aculeifer (Canestrini) (Acarina:Laelapidae), to two species of prey

Abstract

The effect of two prey species, Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Schrank) and Glycyphagus domesticus (de Geer), on the oviposition of the predator Hypoaspis aculeifer (Canestrini) was studied. The H. aculeifer females fed on T. putrescentiae laid more eggs and lived longer than those fed on G. domesticus. Predators fed on G. domesticus laid more eggs per day and had a shorter mean generation than predators fed on T. putrescentiae. The greatest finite rate of increase of H. aculeifer was obtained when G. domesticus was the prey.