Influence of food resources and prey egg age on the predatory efficiency of phytoseiid mites associated with cashew.

Under field conditions, predator-prey interactions can be modulated by the diverse availability and suitability of food resources, which diet type may alter biological and behavioral parameters of predators. Amblyseius largoensis and Euseius concordis are phytoseiid predatory mites identified as potential biological control agents for the giant whitefly, Aleurodicus cocois, a major pest of cashew trees. In the present study, we investigated how exclusive and mixed diets composed of Ricinus communis pollen, A. cocois eggs, and Tetranychus urticae (used for comparison, as it is a standard prey in phytoseiid predation analysis) affect oviposition and predation by A. largoensis and E. concordis. In addition, we examined the effect of A. cocois egg age on consumption and feeding preference by these predators. Both species exhibited higher oviposition rates when fed exclusively on pollen, whereas diets composed solely of T. urticae resulted in the lowest values. The presence of pollen did not affect the predation rate of A. cocois eggs, indicating that the availability of this alternative resource does not compromise predatory efficiency. The age of A. cocois eggs offered as food did not affect predator oviposition; however, in both choice and no-choice tests, A. largoensis and E. concordis preferentially consumed older eggs (> 48 h). These results demonstrate that pollen availability increases reproductive potential without reducing predation capacity and that prey egg age influences consumption dynamics, providing ecologically relevant insights for management strategies that integrate the conservation of floral resources and the use of these phytoseiid mites in the biological control of A. cocois in cashew production systems.