International Journal of Entomology Research

Authors
Enas MK Kassem

Abstract
Blattisocius tarsalis (Berlese) is a predatory mite in the family Ascidae (Acari), noted for potential biological control of astigmatid stored product mites. Performance of Blattisocius tarsalis on immature stages of the astigmatid mites, Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Schrank) and Rhizoglyphus robini (Claparede) was investigated. In this study, the obtained data indicated that the mean incubation period of B. tarsalis was 2.56 and 2.35 days when the predator fed on immature stages of T. putrescentiae females and males individuals at 25 ºC, changed to 2.22 and 2.0 days when fed on the same prey at 35 ºC. On the other hand, the predatory mite B. tarsalis lasted in their incubation period 2.24 and 2.12 days; 2.2 and 1.87 days when reared on the astigmatid mite R. robini immature stages. However, the life cycle for both sexes was highly affected by the type of food employed and took 12.63 and 11.87 days for females when reared on T. putrescentiae at both 25 and 35 ºC. changed to 11.55 and 10.5 days at the same conditions when fed on R. robini, respectively. However, these periods lasted shortest times for male individuals of predatory mite and averaged 11.45 and 11.0; 10.5 and 10.2 days, respectively. Fecundity and the consumption capacity of predatory mites have been carried out for each temperatures at different food densities. The duration of pre oviposition, oviposition and postoviposition periods of B. tarsalis were also determined.