''Neoseiulus cucumeris'', the cucumeris mite, is a species of predatory mite in the family

Phytoseiidae The Phytoseiidae are a family of mites which feed on thrips and other mite species. They are often used as a biological control agent for managing mite pests. Because of their usefulness as biological control agents, interest in Phytoseiidae has ...

. It is used in

biological pest control Biological control or biocontrol is a method of controlling pests, such as insects, mites, weeds, and plant diseases, using other organisms. It relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or other natural mechanisms, but typically also invo ...

western flower thrips The western flower thrips 'Frankliniella occidentalis'' (Pergande)is an invasive pest insect in agriculture. This species of thrips is native to the Southwestern United States but has spread to other continents, including Europe, Australia (wher ...

(''Frankliniella occidentalis'') in cucumber''Cucumeris'' designates the species as "of cucumbers". and some other greenhouse crops.

Description

The mite has a pear-shaped translucent pinkish or tan-coloured body (depending on what it has most recently been feeding on) and grows to a length of between . It varies in morphology over its wide range and has been described numerous times under different names, and it is very difficult to distinguish it from other species of predatory mite.

Biology

Eggs of ''N. cucumeris'' are oval, white and translucent. They are laid on leaves, on hairs on the veins on the underside of leaves or in

domatia A domatium (plural: domatia, from the Latin "domus", meaning home) is a tiny chamber that houses arthropods, produced by a plant. Ideally domatia differ from galls in that they are produced by the plant rather than being induced by their inhabi ...

. They hatch after about three days into non-feeding larvae which then pass through two nymphal stages before becoming adult. The development time from egg to adult is about eleven days at . Adult mites live for four to five weeks during which time females each lay about 35 eggs. This species is an aggressive predator and will feed on the immature stages of

common blossom thrips ''Frankliniella schultzei'', the common blossom thrips or cotton thrips, is a species of thrips in the family Thripidae. It is found in many parts of the world and is an important pest insect in agriculture. Description The adult common blossom ...

onion thrips ''Thrips tabaci'' is a species of very small insect in the genus ''Thrips'' in the order Thysanoptera. It is commonly known as the onion thrips, the potato thrips, the tobacco thrips or the cotton seedling thrips. It is an agricultural pest that ...

melon thrips ''Thrips palmi'' is an insect from the genus ''Thrips'' in the order Thysanoptera.

and

chilli thrips The chilli thripsThis is the more common international spelling of "chilli" outside of the United States. This spelling has been preserved in the common name for the insect by entomologists in the United States in deference to the body of literat ...

, as well as the

silverleaf whitefly The silverleaf whitefly (''Bemisia tabaci'', also informally referred to as the sweet potato whitefly) is one of several species of whitefly that are currently important agricultural pests. A review in 2011 concluded that the silverleaf whitefly ...

and

Asian citrus psyllid ''Diaphorina citri'', the Asian citrus psyllid, is a sap-sucking, hemipteran bug in the family Psyllidae. It is one of two confirmed vectors of citrus greening disease. It has a wide distribution in southern Asia and has spread to other citrus g ...

, and several plant-damaging mites. It is most successful with prey feeding on foliage, and less so with those in blossoms. Where there is more than one prey species present, it will tend to concentrate on the easiest one to find. For example, in a 2016 research project on cucumber plants, it was successful in controlling melon thrips on the leaves, but not common blossom thrips on the flowers. In the absence of suitable prey species, this mite can survive and reproduce while feeding on pollen, although survival rates, longevity and fecundity are all superior when prey is included in the diet.

Use in biocontrol

''N. cucumeris'' has been used under glass in biocontrol of thrips, whitefly, psyllids, aphids and mites. It is widely available commercially and can be distributed round the crop in sachets suspended from the host plants. These contain the mite mixed with bran, accompanied by bran mites, as a temporary food source. As the predatory mite most widely used in biological control of thrips, ''N. cucumeris'' has produced excellent results in plants with

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by seed plants. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametophyt ...

, such as the

sweet pepper The bell pepper (also known as paprika, sweet pepper, pepper, or capsicum ) is the fruit of plants in the Grossum Group of the species ''Capsicum annuum''. Cultivars of the plant produce fruits in different colors, including red, yellow, orange ...

. It has the advantage that it is easy to maintain and rear. However it is much less effective in modern cucumbers which are a

parthenocarpic In botany and horticulture, parthenocarpy is the natural or artificially induced production of fruit without fertilisation of ovules, which makes the fruit seedless. Stenospermocarpy may also produce apparently seedless fruit, but the seeds are ac ...

crop which does not produce pollen.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6475210 Phytoseiidae Animals described in 1930 Taxa named by Anthonie Cornelis Oudemans