Amblyseius cucumeris

Amblyseius cucumeris – predatory mite for thrips control

Pack size: 250,000 pcs, bag

Amblyseius (Neoseiulus) cucumeris is distributed worldwide and occurs on many crops, in grass and in the substrate. The female has an oval body about 0.6 mm long, beige (from pale yellow to light brown depending on the food); males are slightly smaller (up to 0.43 mm).

Target pests

At 25 °C the adult female eats 2–6 first-instar thrips larvae per day; it also readily feeds on eggs of tarsonemid mites (6.6 per day on average). When prey is absent, pollen is an alternative food source.

Crops

Rose, strawberry, chrysanthemum and other crops. Shows high efficacy in thrips control on roses.

Life cycle and temperature

Egg – larva – protonymph – deutonymph – adult. Females lay eggs on the underside of leaves between the veins; fecundity 30–35 eggs. Total development time: 25.4 days at 15 °C, 14.5 days at 20 °C, 8.1 days at 25 °C, 6.2 days at 30 °C.

Application

Preventive method: paper or foil sachets with a cardboard closure (250 or 500 individuals) are placed on every 5–10 plants (vegetables) or per 1 m² (ornamentals). For 5 weeks the mites leave the sachet daily and move onto the plants, building a stable population before the pest appears – especially in the winter–spring cycle. Local method ("living insecticide"): loose carrier from a tube or bag is spread evenly on the leaves in pest hotspots, weekly at 125–500 individuals/m² or 50–200 individuals per plant.

• Preventive rate: 1 sachet per running metre once a month.
• Rate for controlling pest hotspots: 200–1,000 individuals/m² per week.

Packaging and storage

1 l tube – 50,000 mites with carrier; 5 l paper pack – 125,000 or 250,000 mites; paper or foil sachets with cardboard closure – box of 500 sachets of 250 or 125 individuals; LifeLine – water-resistant 50 m tape of sachets (can be made to order). Keep away from sunlight at 8–12 °C, use within 18 hours of receipt.