on a wide range of foods especially those of farinaceous origin (Hughes 1976).
Using the right food materials and under the right physical conditions, these mites
can be reared in large concentrations in containers held in temperature controlled
rooms. The correct balance of ratio of predator to prey will provide a commercially
acceptable sales product quite quickly.
There are well over 2,000 named species belonging to the family Phytoseiidae
from which most of the commercial predators have been taken. Although many
species have been described as promising candidates for biological control, at
present only 30 species have been commercially produced worldwide, of which
merely seven are produced and sold in large quantities in Europe (van Lenteren
2012; Gerson et al. 2003; Griffiths 1999). A reason for this paucity of candidates is
that often the combination of a plant dwelling phytoseiid and a factitious stored
product host is a new experience for both, frequently leading to incompatibility.
A good example of industrial mass rearing success is the predatory specie
A. swirskii, that was first described as a promising candidate for biological control of
greenhouse whiteflies and western flower thrips (Nomikou et al. 2001, 2002;
Messelink et al. 2006, 2008) and later stated as a good predator of broad mites (van
Maanen et al. 2010). In Almería the availability of commercial productions of this
specie was a major step to successfully establish biocontrol programs. Before the
green revolution many releases of the predatory mite Amblyseius cucumeris
(Oudemans) had been completed without fully achievement of a good pest control,
due to extremely high temperatures inside the greenhouses (up to 45 °C) and low
humidities (\40 % RH) in summer, when the season of the main crops begins.
N. cucumeris is a good predator of thrips and was the first predatory mite specie that
was able to be mass reared indoors in very large quantities, already in the 1980s of the
twentieth century, using the factitious prey mite Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Schrank)
(Acari: Acaridae). But this predatory species was selected for north European
greenhouse conditions and does not offers a good pest control at high temperatures.
The possibility of mass rearing high quantities so that big amounts of predators
can be introduced in the crops with an affordable price is as important as the selection
of a well-adapted specie to the local conditions. A. swirskii has become the largest
production of predatory mites in Europe, and it is introduced in most of the protected
vegetables except tomato, generally at more than 100 individuals/m
2 . The rearing
system of A. swirskii is based on the use of the factitious prey C. lactis (L.), (Acari:
Carpoglyphidae) and the system was patented several years ago. After the success
obtained with A. swirskii, and being award of the future potential of such large
capacity to mass rear phytoseid predators, the main three or four biomanufacturers
invested more effort to develop other candidates. This has brought already to six
patents that have recently been granted by the European Office Patent, and some
others may be in evaluation process. All of them are based on combinations of
different species of Astigmatidae with Phytoseiidae. In Table 4.3, the description
of the combinations protected in each granted patent is summarized.
116
E. Vila and T. Cabello
Using the right food materials and under the right physical conditions, these mites
can be reared in large concentrations in containers held in temperature controlled
rooms. The correct balance of ratio of predator to prey will provide a commercially
acceptable sales product quite quickly.
There are well over 2,000 named species belonging to the family Phytoseiidae
from which most of the commercial predators have been taken. Although many
species have been described as promising candidates for biological control, at
present only 30 species have been commercially produced worldwide, of which
merely seven are produced and sold in large quantities in Europe (van Lenteren
2012; Gerson et al. 2003; Griffiths 1999). A reason for this paucity of candidates is
that often the combination of a plant dwelling phytoseiid and a factitious stored
product host is a new experience for both, frequently leading to incompatibility.
A good example of industrial mass rearing success is the predatory specie
A. swirskii, that was first described as a promising candidate for biological control of
greenhouse whiteflies and western flower thrips (Nomikou et al. 2001, 2002;
Messelink et al. 2006, 2008) and later stated as a good predator of broad mites (van
Maanen et al. 2010). In Almería the availability of commercial productions of this
specie was a major step to successfully establish biocontrol programs. Before the
green revolution many releases of the predatory mite Amblyseius cucumeris
(Oudemans) had been completed without fully achievement of a good pest control,
due to extremely high temperatures inside the greenhouses (up to 45 °C) and low
humidities (\40 % RH) in summer, when the season of the main crops begins.
N. cucumeris is a good predator of thrips and was the first predatory mite specie that
was able to be mass reared indoors in very large quantities, already in the 1980s of the
twentieth century, using the factitious prey mite Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Schrank)
(Acari: Acaridae). But this predatory species was selected for north European
greenhouse conditions and does not offers a good pest control at high temperatures.
The possibility of mass rearing high quantities so that big amounts of predators
can be introduced in the crops with an affordable price is as important as the selection
of a well-adapted specie to the local conditions. A. swirskii has become the largest
production of predatory mites in Europe, and it is introduced in most of the protected
vegetables except tomato, generally at more than 100 individuals/m
2 . The rearing
system of A. swirskii is based on the use of the factitious prey C. lactis (L.), (Acari:
Carpoglyphidae) and the system was patented several years ago. After the success
obtained with A. swirskii, and being award of the future potential of such large
capacity to mass rear phytoseid predators, the main three or four biomanufacturers
invested more effort to develop other candidates. This has brought already to six
patents that have recently been granted by the European Office Patent, and some
others may be in evaluation process. All of them are based on combinations of
different species of Astigmatidae with Phytoseiidae. In Table 4.3, the description
of the combinations protected in each granted patent is summarized.
116
E. Vila and T. Cabello