Providing a sensible breeding stock of predatory mites for a biological control system is important. For this purpose, the provided predatory mites must at least have characters of high capacity in feeding on every stage of pest mites and high survival rates on alternative food. This research aimed at testing the predation capacity of P. crinitus on each stage of development of pest mites T. urticae and investigating appropriate alternative food for laboratory rearing of predatory mites P. crinitus. In this research, we employed a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). For investigating the predation capacity of P. crinitus, we performed 20 experiments, which consisted of treatments with eggs, larvae, nymphs, and adults of T. urticae, with five replicates. The variable for these experiments was the number of individuals at each stage of T. urticae consumed by P. crinitus during the period of 24. For investigating the proper alternative food for predatory mites, P. crinitus were given a free choice between pollen of Euphorbia pulcherrima Willd and pollen of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L, with six replicates. The variables of survival rate, fecundity, duration of oviposition and the length of the life cycle of P. crinitus were recorded for each alternative food. All these experiments were conducted in room temperatures (-) and rH (-). The data were analyzed using the F test and followed by Least Significant Difference (LSD) with error levels of 5% and 1%. The results indicated that predatory mites P. crinitus consumed eggs more than other stages of development of T. urticae. Regarding alternative food, the pollen of E. pulcherrima was more suitable for laboratory mass rearing of P. crinitus.

Bambang Heru Budianto

Edi Basuki