| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6389804 | Journal of Invertebrate Pathology | 2011 | 7 Pages |
In a series of tritrophic-level interaction experiments, the effect of selected host plants of the spider mites, Tetranychus evansi and Tetranychus urticae, on Neozygites floridana was studied by evaluating the attachment of capilliconidia, presence of hyphal bodies in the infected mites, mortality from fungal infection, mummification and sporulation from fungus-killed mite cadavers. Host plants tested for T. evansi were tomato, cherry tomato, eggplant, nightshade, and pepper while host plants tested for T. urticae were strawberry, jack bean, cotton and Gerbera. Oviposition rate of the mites on each plant was determined to infer host plant suitability while host-switching determined antibiosis effect on fungal activity. T. evansi had a high oviposition on eggplant, tomato and nightshade but not on cherry tomato and pepper. T. urticae on jack bean resulted in a higher oviposition than on strawberry, cotton and Gerbera. Attachment of capilliconidia to the T. evansi body, presence of hyphal bodies in infected T. evansi and mortality from fungal infection were significantly higher on pepper, nightshade and tomato. The highest level of T. evansi mummification was observed on tomato. T. evansi cadavers from tomato and eggplant produced more primary conidia than those from cherry tomato, nightshade and pepper. Switching N. floridana infected T. evansi from one of five Solanaceous host plants to tomato had no prominent effect on N. floridana performance. For T. urticae, strawberry and jack bean provided the best N. floridana performance when considering all measured parameters. Strawberry also had the highest primary conidia production. This study shows that performance of N. floridana can vary with host plants and may be an important factor for the development of N. floridana epizootics.
Graphical abstractTheoretical representation of the direct and indirect interactions between host plants of spider mites and their fungal pathogen, N. floridana. Arrows point to chemical or structures, activities and processes involved in the interactions. Spider mite performance affected by plant chemical quality or morphology can enhance or reduce susceptibility to the fungus.Download full-size imageHighlights⺠T. evansi egg numbers are higher on eggplant, tomato and nightshade than on the other plants. ⺠T. urticae egg numbers are higher on jack bean than on strawberry, cotton and Gerbera. ⺠T. urticae on strawberry and jack bean had the best N. floridana performance. ⺠T. evansi on tomato had the best N. floridana performance. ⺠Performance of N. floridana varies with host plant and may influence the epizootic.
