Olfactory response of the predatory bug, Orius niger (Hem.: Anthocoridae) to Tetranychus urticae (Acari: Tetranychidae) on cucumber leaves treated or untreated by Beauveria bassiana

Abstract

Olfactory experiments were performed to study the predation behavior of Orius niger Wolff (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) on the two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae) in presence or absence of Beauveria bassiana (Bals.). The experiments were carried out with six day old female bugs by recording the predator direction towards each of the Y-tube olfactometer arms and through three dependent replicates consisted of 15 replicates each. The predatory bug showed a significant preference towards the odors related to infested cucumber leaves by T. urticae in the absence of fungus and when the predator received odors related to T. urticae infested leaves v.s. B.bassiana fungus treated, spider mite infested leaves (72 hours). There was no significant difference in the predator olfactory experiment when the alternative arms consisted of treated v.s. untreated spider mite infested cucumber leaves (0, 24 and 48 hours after treatment). The results showed the capacity of the predatory bug to recognize the patches infected by B.bassiana fungus and successfully avoiding it.

Keywords

• olfactory response
• orius niger
• predation
• beauveria bassiana
• airflow