Life history parameters of three phytophagous spider mites, Tetranychus piercei, T. truncatus and T. bambusae (Acari: Tetranychidae)

• Life history parameters were compared among T. piercei, T. truncatus and T. bambusae.
• Tetranychus truncatus females developed more quickly than T. bambusae and T. piercei females.
• T. piercei had higher fecundity than T. truncatus and T. bambusae.
• Intrinsic rate of increase was highest in T. truncatus than T. piercei and T. bambusae.

Tetranychus piercei McGregor and Tetranychus truncatus Ehara are major pests of many crops in Bangladesh, while Tetranychus bambusae Wang and Ma is found only on plants in the family Bambusaceae. We compared the development, survivorship, and life table parameters of T. piercei and T. truncatus on bean leaves and of T. bambusae on bamboo leaves at 25 °C, 60–70% RH and a photoperiod of 16:8 h (light:dark). The development times of T. piercei and T. truncatus from eggs to adult females were 10.2 and 8.8 days, respectively, when fed on bean leaves, while it took 9.5 days for T. bambusae feeding on Bambusa sp. leaves to develop from eggs to adult females. Mated T. piercei, T. truncatus, and T. bambusae females laid 186.9, 132.5, and 46.3 eggs on average over oviposition periods averaging 22.3, 13.5, and 20.2 days, respectively. The intrinsic rate of increase (rm) was 0.275 for T. piercei, 0.301 for T. truncatus, and 0.182 for T. bambusae; meanwhile the net reproductive rate (R0) was 114.5/female for T. piercei, 101.9/female for T. truncatus, and 25.4/female for T. bambusae. The doubling time (tD) was lowest in T. truncatus (2.3 days) compare to T. piercei (2.5 days) and T. bambusae (3.8 days). The two polyphagous Tetranychus mites collected in Bangladesh were found to share similar life table parameters with Tetranychus mites from various other regions irrespective of food sources. This is the first report of the life table parameters of T. bambusae reared on bamboo leaves.

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