Pronematus ubiquitus (McGregor) is a small iolinid mite that is capable of establishing on tomato plants. Once established, this mite has been shown to control both tomato russet mite,
Aculops lycopersici (Tryon) (Acari: Eriophyidae), and tomato powdery mildew (
Oidium neolycopersici L. Kiss).
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Pronematus ubiquitus (McGregor) is a small iolinid mite that is capable of establishing on tomato plants. Once established, this mite has been shown to control both tomato russet mite,
Aculops lycopersici (Tryon) (Acari: Eriophyidae), and tomato powdery mildew (
Oidium neolycopersici L. Kiss). In the present study, we explored the effects of a number of alternative food sources on the oviposition rate in the laboratory. First, we assessed the reproduction on food sources that
P. ubiquitus can encounter on a tomato crop: tomato pollen and powdery mildew, along with tomato leaf and
Typha angustifolia L. In a second laboratory experiment, we evaluated the oviposition rate on two prey mites: the astigmatid
Carpoglyphus lactis L. (Acari: Carpoglyphidae) and the tarsonemid
Tarsonemus fusarii Cooreman (Acari: Tarsonemidae). Powdery mildew and
C. lactis did not support reproduction, whereas tomato pollen and
T. fusarii did promote egg laying. However,
T. angustifolia pollen resulted in a higher oviposition in both experiments. In a greenhouse trial on individual caged tomato plants, we evaluated the impact of pollen supplementation frequency on the establishment of
P. ubiquitus. Here, a pollen addition frequency of every other week was required to allow populations of
P. ubiquitus to establish.
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