Mites Recorded from Insectary Cultures in the Shiraz Region of Iran

Mites recorded from insectary cultures in the Shiraz region of Iran

Shahpar Granpayeh1, Hadi Ostovan2

1. Department of Entomology, Fars Science 2. Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Fars, Marvdasht, Iran.

Corresponding Author email: [email protected]

ABSTRACT : The mites (Acari) associated with insectary cultures at three separate locations in the Shiraz region, (Fars Province, Iran) that are maintained for the breeding of beneficial insects used for biological control were samplinged between January 2011 and June 2012 and identified. The samples were taken from potato (Solanum tuberosum L.), zucchini (Cucurbita pepo L.) and wheat flour. In total fifteen species of mites were detected, including: Sarcoptiformes: family Acaridae, Caloglyphus hughesi Samsinak, 1966, Caloglyphus sp., Rhizoglyphus robini Claparede, 1869, Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Shrank,1781), family Galumnidae, Galumna karajica Mahunka & Akrami, 2001, family Histiostomatidae, Histiostoma feroniarum (Dufour, 1839) family Oppiidae, Cilioppia heterosa (Wallwork, 1964); Mesostigmata: family Ascidae, Proctolaelaps pygmaeus (Muller, 1859), P. bickleyi (Bram, 1956), family Blattisociidae, Blattisocius tarsalis (Berlese, 1918), B. dentriticus (Berlese, 1918), family Macrochelidae, Macrocheles muscaedomesticae (Scopoli, 1772), Family Laelapidae, Androlaelaps casalis (Berlese, 1887), Hypoaspis karawaiewi (Berlese, 1904), Gaeolaelaps aculeifer (Canestrini, 1883). In this survey B. dentriticus is recorded from Fars province for the first time. Keywords: Biological control, Insectary cultures, Iran, Mites, Shiraz

INTRODUCTION

Pesticides have some undesirable attributes as they can contaminate soil and water and affect other non- target organisms, so for many years there has been interest among farmers and horticulturists to find and adopt methods that reduce pesticide usage, Biological control is one such method (Rice Mahr et al., 2001) and methods have been established to culture food sources on which to mass- rear beneficial insects. Mites may contaminate insectary cultures and there are examples of them harming the cultures, for example three species of Acaries can harm the artificial rearing of Periplaneta americana (L.) (Blattodea: Blattidae); Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Schrank) and Caloglyphus berlesei (Michael) parasitize mainly the ootheca of Periplaneta americana (L.) (Blattodea: Blattidae) and even can destroy 43% of them and another mite, Haemolaelaps casalis (Berlese), lives in the environment around P. americansa (Mao et al., 2002). It is recorded the occurrence of Pyemotis tritici (Lagreze- Fossat & Montagne) on Cathartus quadricollis (Guerin- Meneville) and Callosobruchus maculates (Fabricius), reducing insects’s populations in laboratory conditions so P. tritici is a lethal problem for mass rearing of insects and its effective eradication ultimately depends on the periodic monitoring of the insect colonies (Ferreira de oliveira et al., 2010). Insectary cultures in Iran are used to rear a range of organisms of biocontrol importance, but few surveys of the mites that may occur in them have previously been carried out, for example during 1999- 2000, the fauna of mites associated with insectary cultures of Trichogramma sp. in six provinces (Tehran, Yazd, Markazi, Guilan, Mazandaran and Golestanwas) of Iran was studied and nine species were identified (Vafaei- Shoushtari, 2000) and the results of the first such survey in Fars province are presented here.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Three insectary cultures in the Shiraz region of Fars Province, Iran were studied: Sadra insectarium (29° N. 47° 52 ً◌ E), Karim-Khan Arg insectarium (29° 62 ً◌ N. 52° 54 ً◌ E) and Khaton insectarium (29° 59 ً◌ N. 52° ◌ً 82 E). 144 samples (300- 500 g weight) were taken of these insectary cultures(48 samples from each site). In ◌ً 55 Karim- Khan Arg and in Sadra sampling was done of potato (S. tuberosum) (32 samples), zucchini(C. pepo) (8 samples) and wheat flour (8samples) but in Khaton sampling was done of zucchini (C. pepo) (48 samples) because only zucchini(C. pepo) was used for breeding P. citri. The samples were put in bags on which Intl. Res. J. Appl. Basic. Sci. Vol., 8 (5), 612-616, 2014

collection dates and region were written. Mites were extracted immediately from them using Berlese- Tullgren funnels set over jars of 75% ethanol and left for a period of 48h under laboratory conditions (25± 5°C and 50± 5% R. H.). The specimens were cleared in Nesbittʼ s fluid. Hoyerʼ s medium was used as a mountant for permanent slide preparations and the slides were dried in an oven at 45°C for 10 days. In insectary cultures of the Shiraz region, S. tuberosum and C. pepo are used for culturing Citrus Mealy Bugs (Planococcus citri Risso) which are used for mass- rearing Cryptolaemus montrouzieri Mulsant (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae). Wheat flour is used as food for rearing the Mediterranean Flour Moths (Ephestia kuehniella Zeller) which itself serves as food in the mass- rearing of Bracon hebetor Say (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), a parasitoid of lepidopteran storage pests. Samples combined for assessing seasonal occurrence.The specimens were identified mainly using Britto, E. P. J., Lopes, P. C. & Moraes, G. J. (2012), Hughes (1976), Krants, G. W. & D. E. Walter (2009), Till (1963) and Chant (1963). The specimens, collected during this project have been deposited in Department of Entomology, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Fars, Iran.

Table 1. Seasonal aboundance of mites in three insectariums in the Shiraz region, Iran. Sampling site Karim-Khan Arg Sadra Khaton Sampling period S11 Su11 A11 W11 S12 Su12 S11 Su11 A11 W11 S12 Su12 S11 Su11 A11 W11 S12 Su12 Sampling no. * 12 12 6 6 6 6 12 12 6 6 6 6 12 12 6 6 6 6 Sarcoptiformes: Caloglyphus hughesi 0 0 0 0 0 0 3p 1p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Caloglyphus sp. 0 0 0 0 0 0 1p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Cilioppia heterosa 1p 0 0 0 0 0 0 2p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Galumna karajica 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Histiostoma feroniarum 0 1w 0 0 0 0 3p 0 0 1p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 29p, Rhizoglyphus robini 26p 2p 0 0 0 0 2w, 36p 0 0 0 0 3z 0 0 0 0 0 1z 21z, Tyrophagus 44w, 46w, 43z, 63z, 28w, 52p 0 25p 0 8p 62p 76p 78z 98z 0 0 0 0 putrescentiae 75p 89p 27p 33p 48p Mesostigmata: Androlaelaps casalis 0 0 0 0 0 0 22p 0 0 0 24p 31p 0 0 0 0 0 0 Blattisocius dentriticus 1p 1p 0 0 0 0 0 52p 0 28p 64p 78p 0 0 0 0 0 0 Blattisocius 0 0 0 0 0 0 2p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Tarsalis Geolaelaps aculeifer 0 0 0 0 0 0 1p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Hypoaspis karawaiewi 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Macrocheles 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 muscaedomesticae Proctolaelaps 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Bickleyi Proctolaelaps 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 pygmaeus S11: Spring 2011 (March, April and May) Su11: Summer 2011 (June, July and August) A11: Autumn 2011 (September, October and November) W11: Winter 2011 (December, January and February) S12: Spring 2012 (May) Su12: Summer 2012 (July) p: potato w:wheat flour z: zucchini * Total samples = 144

RESULTS

Most species were collected in Spring and Summer of 2011 in Sadra (Table 1). All species recorded in this survey were extracted from potato but only three species were extracted from wheat flour and two species were extracted from zucchini (Table 2) that showed high infection of potatoes with mites, so sampling from potato was done more than others in Karim Khan and Sadra (Table 2) with this aim that new species would be extracted. Zucchini is common sampling type used in three insectary cultures in the Shiraz region (Table2). Different life stages of mites were extracted in this survey , among them abundance of Female adults were the

613 Intl. Res. J. Appl. Basic. Sci. Vol., 8 (5), 612-616, 2014 most and abundance of hypopus were the lowest (Table 3), as hypopus usually creat in unsuitable condition, their lowest abundance in insectary cultures of the Shiraz region show suitable condition for mites reproduction.

Table 2. Total number of mites found in samples in three Insectary cultures in the Shiraz region, Iran. Sampling site Karim- Khan Arg Sadra Khaton Sample type W P Z T W P Z T Z T Sample no.* 8 32 8 48 8 32 8 48 48 48 Sarcoptiformes: Caloglyphus hughesi 0 0 0 0 0 4(3) 0 4 0 0 Caloglyphus sp. 0 0 0 0 0 1(1) 0 1 0 0 Cilioppia heterosa 0 1(1) 0 1 0 2(2) 0 2 0 0 Galumna karajica 0 0 0 0 0 1(1) 0 1 0 0 Histiostoma feroniarum 1(1) 0 0 1 0 4(2) 0 4 0 0 Rhizoglyphus robini 0 28(6) 0 28 2(1) 65(6) 1(1) 68 3(1) 3 Tyrophagus putrescentiae 12(3) 411(12) 5(3) 428 0 206(9) 106(4) 312 176(8) 176 Mesostigmata: Androlaelaps casalis 0 0 0 0 0 77(14) 0 77 0 0 Blattisocius dentriticus 0 2(1) 0 2 0 222(16) 0 222 0 0 Blattisocius tarsalis 0 0 0 0 0 2(1) 0 2 0 0 Geolaelaps aculeifer 0 0 0 0 0 1(1) 0 1 0 0 Hypoaspis karawaiewi 0 0 0 0 0 1(1) 0 1 0 0 Macrocheles 0 0 0 0 0 1(1) 0 1 0 0 muscaedomesticae Proctolaelaps bickleyi 0 0 0 0 0 2(1) 0 2 0 0 Proctolaelaps pygmaeus 0 0 0 0 0 1(1) 0 1 0 0

*Number of samples in which present given in brackets W: Wheat flour, P: potato, Z: Zucchini, T: Total In Khaton insectary culture only zucchini was used for breeding Citrus Mealy Bugs ( P. citri)

DISCUSSION

One of the main finding to come out of this work is the high levels of mite contamination found in the insectary cultures. The net effect of this will be to make the production of the required biological control agent less efficient. In this survey apart from B. dentriticus, the mites found have been recorded previously in Fars province (Ostovan & Kamali 1994, 1995; Sobhani et al. 2011; Soleimani et al. 2011). The genus Blattisocius Keegan are often mentioned as predators (Britto et al., 2012) for example B. tarsalis can feed on Ephestia kuehniella Zeller (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) (Nielsen, 1998) which can be harmful because they can reduce the rate of production in insectary cultures. Mites of genus Rhizoglyphus and Tyrophagus reduce the quality of produce, as well as causing human health concerns such as respiratory disease or allergic reaction (Yun Shin 2003; Fan & Zhang 2004) to persons who contact with these mites in insectary cultures also T. putrescentia can feed on invertebrates as well as fungi (Huges, 1976). It also suggests inconsistencies in procedures between the sites where these biological control agents are produced. The cause might be because of the storage method, infestation of primary materials and observing the hygien. For example the rooms in which wheat flour, potatp (S. tuberosum) and zucchini (C. pepo) are kept should be separated from each other because mites would be spread, also the persons who work in insectary cultures should observance the hygiene and put on dress for work in these places and a large container of disinfectant solution should be use at entrance of the insectary cultures. The lowest aboundance of mites was in winter and only T. putrescentia and B. dentriticus were extracted. The most aboundnce was in spring and all species recorded, were extracted. In future research, using a flotation method of extraction might give a more complete picture of the mite fauna in insectariums, because this method extracts specimens that do not survive Berlese funnel extraction.

614 Intl. Res. J. Appl. Basic. Sci. Vol., 8 (5), 612-616, 2014

Table 3. Total number of life stage of mites found in three insectary cultures in the Shiraz region, Iran Sampling site Khan Arg Sadra Khaton Life stage La Pr Hy Tr Fe Ma La Pr Hy Tr Fe Ma La Pr Hy Tr Fe Ma Sarcoptiformes: Caloglyphus 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2p 2p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 hughesi

Caloglyphus sp. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Cilioppia heterosa 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Galumna karajica 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Histiostoma feroniarum 0 0 1w 0 0 0 0 0 4p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Rhizoglyphus 0 0 0 4p 17p 7p 0 3p 1p 0 36p 25p, 0 0 0 3z 0 0 robini 2w,1z Tyrophagus 19p 4w 0 94p, 170p, 128p 8p 9p, 0 32p, 143p, 14p, 12z 0 0 22z 98z 44z putrescentiae 8w 5z 1z 5z 97z 3z Mesostigmata: Androlaelaps 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 54p 23p 0 0 0 0 0 0 casalis

Blattisocius 0 0 0 0 2p 0 0 0 0 0 163p 59p 0 0 0 0 0 0 dentriticus

Blattisocius 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 tarsalis

Geolaelaps 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1p 0 0 0 0 0 0 aculeifer

Hypoaspis 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 karawaiewi

Macrocheles 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 muscaedomesticae

Proctolaelaps 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 bickleyi

Proctolaelaps 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 pygmaeus

p: potato w: wheat flour z: zucchini La: Larva Pr: Protonymph Hy: Hypopus Tr: Tritonymph Fe: Female Ma: male

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to thank Dr. Yi Yan (Institute of Entomology, Guizhou University, China), Dr. Michal Stanko (Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Slovakia), Dr. Pavel B. Klimov (University of Michigan, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, USA) Dr. Mevlut Emekci (Ankara University Faculty of Agriculture Department of Plant Protection, Ankara, Turkey) and Dr. Ineta Salmane (Institute of Biology, University of Latvia) for sending papers. We also thank Dr. Mohammad Ali Akrami of Shiraz university, college of agriculture, Department of plant protection, Iran, for identifying the two species of mites.

615 Intl. Res. J. Appl. Basic. Sci. Vol., 8 (5), 612-616, 2014

REFERENCES

Britto EPJ, Lopes PC, Moraes GJ. 2012. Blattisocius (Acari, Blattisociidae) species from Brazil, with description of a new species, redescription of Blattisocius keegani and a key for the separation of the world species of the genus. Zootaxa. 3479: 33-51. Chant DA. 1963. The subfamily Blattisocinae Garman (= Aceosejinae Evans) (Acarina: Blattisocidae Garman) (= Aceosejidae Baker and Wharton) in north America, with descriptions of new species. Canadian Journal of Zoology. 41(2): 269-270. Fan QH, Zhang ZQ. 2004. Revision of Rhizoglyphus Claparede (Acari: Acaridae) of Australasia and Oceania. Systematic and Applied Acarology Society, London, 374 pp. Ferreira de Oliveira CR, Guerra Pimentel MA, Hipolito de Souse A, Cysneiros Matos CH, D’Antonino F. 2010. First Record For Cathartus quadricollis and Callosobruchus maculates cultures attacked by the mite Pyemotis tritici. Idesia(Arica). 28(3): 97-100. Hughes AM. 1976. The Mites of Stored Food and Houses. Technical. Bulletin No. 9. Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, London. 399 pp. Krants GW, Walter DE. 2009. A manual of Acarology, 3rd edn. Texas Tech University Press, p 102. Mao BY, Yang ZZ, Xu J. 2002. Three species of Acaries affecting artificial rearing of Periplaneta Americana (L) and its control. J. of Dali College. 1(4): 54-58. (in Chinese and English) Nielsen PS.1998.The use of Blattisocius tarsalis (Acari: Ascidae) for biological control in flour mills. Paper presented at the 7th International Working Conference on stored-protection, University of Beijing, China, 14-19 October 1998. Ostovan H, Kamali K. 1994. Mite of family Ascidae (Acar, Mesostigmata) associated with stored products in Kazerun, South of Iran. Journal of Entomological socity of Iran.14: 1-18. Ostovan H, Kamali K. 1995. New records of six species of astigmatic mites (Acari: Astigmata) infesting store products in Iran. Journal of Agricultural Sciences, Scientific Publication Center of Islamic Azad University. 1(2): 53-67. Rice Mahr SE, Cloyd RA, Mahr DL, Sadof CS. 2001. Biological control of insects and other pests of greenhouse crops. Extension Biological control programs, Department of Entomology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, America. 108 pp. Sobhani MJ, Ostovan H, Hesami Sh, Kazemeini FS. 2011. Mites of the family Macrochelidae (Acari: Mesostigmata) in Ramjerd region, Fars Province, Iran. Abstract Book of First Persian Congress of Acarology, Shiraz, Iran. P59. Soleimani M, Ostovan H, Joharchi O. 2011. Mesostigmatic mites (Acari: Mesostigmata) in Marvdasht region, Fars province, Iran. Abstract Book of First Persian Congress of Acarology, Shiraz, Iran. P 17. Till WM.1963. Ethiopian mites of the genus Androlaelaps Berlese s. lat. (Acari: Mesostigmata). Bulletin of the British Museum. 10 (1):1- 104. Vafaei-Shoushtari R.2000.Fauna of mites associated with insectary cultures of Trichogramma sp. and biology of Pyemotes tritici.Thesis submitted for the Degree of Master of Science, Islamic Azad University, Tehran Science and Research Branch. 87 pp. Yun Shin S. 2003. Characterization of Allergens from dust mite(Tyrophagus putrescentiae). Thesis submitted on the school of Graduate Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, in Fulfilment of Requirement for the Degree of Master of Science: 133 pp.

616