Amblyseius Cucumeris

Exterior:

The female is oval and has 4 pairs of legs, its length is about 0.6 mm. The body is usually beige, but the color can vary from pale yellow to light brown depending on the feeding. The legs are long, especially the front pair. On the dorsal shield, there are 17 pairs of setae approximately equal in length. Tubular elongated spermateca (receptaculum seminis) twice as much as its width. Its atrium is small and distinct. There is 1 tooth on the movable cheliceral digit. Males are smaller than females, their length is 0.43 mm and chelicera has a specific form of spermatodactyl.

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Life cycle

Eggs

Eggs are pale white, its surface is smooth and shiny. The shape is oval, ovoid. The length is about 0.23 mm, the width is 0.18 mm. The females lay eggs on the underside of leaves, between their veins, preferring trichomes. Fertility reaches 30-35 eggs.

Larvae

Larvae of A. cucumeris are matt-white, low-mobility. They have only 3 pairs of legs and don’t feed.

Protonymphs

The active predatory protonymphs have 4 pairs of legs on the second stage of pre-imaginal development. The body is milky-white, the length is 0.3 mm.

Deutonymphs

Deutonymphs of A. cucumeris have 4 pairs of legs on the 3d stage of pre-imaginal development, the body is whitish but larger. Its length is 0.4 mm.

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Influence of temperature on beneficial insects’ development rate

Instar of development	The time of pre-imaginal development at a constant temperature (°С)
	15	20	25	30	35
Egg	9,2	4,1	2,2	1,8	1,6
Larvae	2,6	1,7	0,9	0,8	0,8
Protonymphs	8,1	3,5	2,9	1,7	–
Deutonymphs	5,5	5,2	2,1	1,9	–
Total	25,4	14,5	8,1	6,2	–

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Diet

At a temperature of 25 °С the adult female eats from 2 to 6 thrips larvae of the 1st instar per 1 day. They have readily eaten the 6.6 pieces of eggs of the Tarsonemidae family (strawberry mite) for an average. In the case of victims’ absence flower pollen is an alternative source of feed.

There are some strategies for applying A. cucumeris.The preventive strategy is going gradually and planned. It is supposed for a continuous period. The greenhouse complexes buy waterproof foiled or paper sachets to increase pressure on Western flower thrips. Colonization of beneficial insects is carried out in several stages by hanging sachets with a guaranteed content of 250 or 500 movable predators on each 5th or 10th plant (vegetable crops) or 1 linear meter (ornamental crops). The predators come out of a small hole in the sachets every day for 5 weeks and don’t come back There’s a feed mix inside sachets, it provides continuous breeding of predators, that is why sachets work for 5 weeks. Due to this miniature laboratory, it is possible to create a stable population of predators on plants even without the presence of pests, it is very important for the organization of the protection system in winter-spring period because after opening the windows a mass of pests flies from outside.

The local strategy is designed for the effect of a «live insecticide» and is used during periods of pest population growth or for the rapid application on young seedlings, which have been planted near each other in the greenhouse. Beneficial insects are released at localized breeding outbreaks. For this purpose, the scattering substrate (tube or bag) with different stages of predatory mites is used evenly across the surface of the crop. Applications are carried out every week by standard 125-500 ind./m2 or 50 – 200 individuals per plant (this is a concentration in an outbreak and around its). In this way, an effective ratio is achieved in the predator-prey system.

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Recommended standards for Amblyseius cucumeris applying

Bioagent name in Latin	Prevention	Doses of the application by a degree of infection
		Small	Average	High
Amblyseius cucumeris sachets	1 ind/m2	1 ind/m2
Amblyseius cucumeris bran		100 ind/m2	200 ind/m2
Amblyseius cucumeris vermiculite			200 ind/m2	400 ind/m2
Frequency of application	Once in a month	In a week	Weekly	Weekly

Conditions and duration of storage

• • Short-term storage: biomaterial (imago and nymphs) can be stored at low temperatures (8-10 °C) in a cooling chamber.

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Bio Protection Package:

• • • 1 litre – bottle contains 50,000 predatory mites and a few forage mite mixed with bran;
    • 5-litre plastic bag contains 125,000 or 250 000 predatory mites;
    • Paper/ foiled hooked- sachets – the box contains 500 sachets of 250 individuals or 500 sachets of 500 individuals. Foiled hooked- sachets are resistant to drying and wet treatments.
    • Life Line is a continuous tape (50m) consisting of sachets (Life Line may be produced according to the customer’s individual requirements).

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Biolone AgroSciences Package

Pure vermiculite

• • • P0011-19 — 1 litre-bottle contains 50,000 of predatory mites;.
    • P0011-17 — 5-litre paper bag — contains 50,000 predatory mites.

 

Mix of vermiculite and bran

• • • P0011-04 — 1 litre-bottle contains 50,000 predatory mites;
    • P0011-12 — 5-litre paper bag — contains 100,000 predatory mites;
    • P0011-13 — 5-litre paper bag — contains 250 000 predatory mites.

 

Paper sachets

• • • P0011-01 — CRS hooked sachets 200 pieces — contains 200 000 predatory mites;
    • P0011-02 — CRS hooked sachets 260 pieces — contains 260 000 predatory mites;
    • P0011-14 — CRS hooked sachets 500 pieces — contains 500 000 predatory mites;
    • P0011-22 — Gemini Double sachets 300 pieces — contains 300 000 predatory mites.