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چکیده
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The two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch is one of the most important pests of many agricultural crops and
every year lots of pesticides are being used for its control. It is an extremely polyphagous mite and is able to feed on
various plant families, including Solanaceae. The predatory bug, Macrolophus pygmaeus Rambur, is one of the natural
enemies introduced for the two-spotted spider mite, which is able to feed on its all growth stages. The predation capacity
of M. pygmeus on the tomato (Nora variety) Solanum lycopersicum L. and sweet pepper (Kadia variety) Capsicum
annuum L. of the family solanaceae, was studied under laboratory conditions (in a growth chamber at 20 ºC, 65 % RH,
and a photoperiod of 16:8 h [L: D]). Average number of T. urticae eggs consumed by different stages/sexes of M.
pygmaeus was calculated based on the age-stage, two-sex life table model and indicated that the consumption rates
increased from nymph to adult in both sexes. The maximum consumption was recorded for the adult female during the
oviposition period. The net predation rate (C0) was 547.98 ± 24.00 and 381.6 ± 18.04 eggs for tomato and sweet pepper,
respectively, and was significantly different (P < 0.0001) between tomato and sweet pepper treatments. Transformation
rate from prey population to predator offspring (Qp) were significant between two plants and were estimated 7.11 ± 0.18
and 5.60 ± 0.24 for tomato and sweet pepper, respectively. The results showed that M. pygmaeus can successfully survive
and reproduce on T. urticae eggs on tomato. Moreover, sweet pepper was not a suitable host plant for integration with
mentioned predator in comparison with tomato.
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