Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-n9wrp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-20T22:06:32.889Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The foraging behaviour of redlegged earth mite, Halotydeus destructor (Acarina: Penthaleidae), in an annual subterranean clover pasture

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

K.R. Gaull  and
T.J. Ridsdill-Smith
K.R. Gaull
Affiliation:
CSIRO Division of Entomology, Perth, Australia, and Cooperative Research Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture, University of Western, Australia
T.J. Ridsdill-Smith*
Affiliation:
CSIRO Division of Entomology, Perth, Australia, and Cooperative Research Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture, University of Western, Australia
*
Dr T.J. Ridsdill-Smith, CSIRO Division of Entomology, Private Bag, PO Wembley, WA 6014, Australia.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The foraging behaviour of the redlegged earth mite, Halotydeus destructor (Tucker), in annual pasture was documented and the relative numbers of individuals foraging on subterranean clover, Trifolium subterraneum (Leguminosae), capeweed, Arctotheca calendula (Compositae) and grasses (mainly Lolium rigidum (Gramineae)), estimated in winter and spring in south-western Australia. The main feature of H. destructor foraging behaviour was the presence of aggregations ranging in size from 3–36 individuals on the adaxial surfaces of the upper canopy of the pasture. Most aggregating individuals were feeding, while most solitary and paired individuals were searching. There was no evidence that individuals aggregated for reproductive behaviour; the adult sex ratio was similar to that of the population even though immatures were under-represented in aggregations. During winter the distribution of numbers of H. destructor on subclover, capeweed and grasses in the upper canopy of pasture was similar to the estimated ground cover of these plant species. However, individuals showed host-plant selection for subclover when feeding. During spring, when the pasture plants were flowering, there were more H. destructor in capeweed flowers than in aggregations on subclover foliage. The capeweed flowers were shown to enhance the rate of H. destructor reproduction in a laboratory experiment. Most H. destructor were on or near the soil surface, with 10% at any one time on the upper canopy of the pasture. H. destructor is polyphagous, and behaved in pasture as a selective opportunist feeder.

Type
Review Article
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 86 , Issue 3 , June 1996 , pp. 247 - 252
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Annells, A.J. & Ridsdill-Smith, T.J. (1994) Host plant species and carbohydrate supplements affecting rate of multiplication of redlegged earth mite. Experimental & Applied Acarology 18, 521–530.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arnold, G.W., Ozanne, P.G., Galbraith, K.A. & Dandridge, F. (1985) The capeweed content of pastures in south-west Western Australia. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 25, 117–123.Google Scholar
Bradbury, J.W. & Gibson, R.M. (1983) Leks and mate choice, pp. 109–138 in Bateson, P.P.G. (Ed.) Mate choice. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Brennan, R.F. & Grimm, M. (1992) Effect of aphids and mites on herbage and seed production of subterranean clover (cv. Daliak) in response to superphosphate and potash. Australian journal of Experimental Agriculture 32, 39–47.Google Scholar
Gillespie, D.J. (1991) Identification of resistance to redlegged earth mite (Halotydeus destructor) in pasture legumes. Plant Protection Quarterly 6, 170–171.Google Scholar
Gutierrez, J. & Helle, W. (1985) Evolutionary changes in the Tetranychidae. pp. 91–107 in Helle, W. & Sabelis, M.W. (Eds) Spider mites. Their biology, natural enemies and control. A. Amsterdam, Elsevier.Google Scholar
Matthews, R.W. & Matthews, J.R. (1978) Insect behaviour. 507 pp. New York, John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
McMurtry, J.A. (1985) Citrus, pp. 339–347 in Helle, W. & Sabelis, M.W. (Eds) Spider mites. Their biology, natural enemies and control. B. Amsterdam, Elsevier.Google Scholar
Nachman, G. (1981) Temporal and spatial dynamics of an acarine predator-prey system. Journal of Animal Ecology 50, 435–451.Google Scholar
Norris, K.R. (1944) Experimental determination of the influence of the red-legged earth mite (Halotydeus destructor) on a subterranean clover pasture in Western Australia. Council for Scientific Industrial Research Bulletin 183, 1–36.Google Scholar
Norris, K.R. (1948) Seasonal severity of the attack of the red-legged earth mite (Halotydeus destructor) on subterranean clover, journal of Council for Scientific Industrial Research 21, 7–15.Google Scholar
Overmeer, W.P.J. (1985) Rearing and handling, pp. 161–169 in Helle, W. & Sabelis, M.W. (Eds) Spider mites. Their biology, natural enemies and control. B. Amsterdam, Elsevier.Google Scholar
Panetta, F.D., Ridsdill-Smith, T.J., Barbetti, M.J. & Jones, R.A.C. (1993) The ecology of weeds, invertebrate pests and diseases of Australian sheep pastures, pp. 87–114 in Delfosse, E.S. (Ed) Pests of pastures. Melbourne, CSIRO.Google Scholar
Ridsdill-Smith, T.J. & Gillespie, D.J. (1993) Assays for the study of subclover resistance to redlegged earth mites, pp. 326–329in Corey, S.A., Dall, D.J. & Milne, W.M.(Eds) Pest control and sustainable agriculture. Melbourne, Australia, CSIRO.Google Scholar
Ridsdill-Smith, T.J., Craig, S. & Beaton, C.D. (in press). Microscopic examination of feeding damage to subterranean clover cotyledons caused by Halotydeus destructor (Tucker) (Acarina: Penthaleidae). in Needham, G.R., Mitchell, R., Horn, D.J. & Wellbourn, W.C. (Eds) Proceedings of the 9th International Congress of Acarology. Columbus, Ohio, USA, Ohio Biological Survey.Google Scholar
Skovgard, H., Tomkiewicz, J., Nachman, G. & Münster-Swendsen, M. (1993) The dynamics of the cassava green mite Mononychellus tanajoa in a seasonally dry area in Kenya. Experimental and Applied Acarology 17, 59–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Solomon, M.E. (1937) Behaviour of the redlegged earth mite, Halotydeus destructor, in relation to environmental conditions. journal of Animal Ecology 6, 340–361.Google Scholar
Swan, D.C. (1934) The red-legged earth mite Halotydeus destructor (tucker) in south Australia: with remarks upon Penthaleus Major, journal of the Department of Agriculture of South Australia 38, 353–367.Google Scholar
Tsubaki, Y. (1981) Some beneficial effects of aggregation in young larvae of Pryeria sinica Moore (Lepidoptera: Zygaenidae). Research in Population Biology 23, 156–167.Google Scholar
Tsubaki, Y. & Shiotsu, Y. (1982) Group feeding as a strategy for exploiting food resources in the bumet moth Pryeria sinica. Oecologia 55, 12–20.Google Scholar
Tucker, R.W.E. (1925) The black sand mite: Penthaleus destructor n.sp. Union of South Africa Department of Agriculture, Entomology Memoirs 3, 21–36.Google Scholar
Way, M.J. & Cammell, M. (1970) Aggregation behaviour in relation to food utilization by aphids. pp. 229—247 in Watson, A. (Ed.) Animal populations in relation to their food resources. Oxford, Blackwells (Symposium, The British Ecological Society No. 10).Google Scholar