Estrutura do habitat afeta o desempenho reprodutivo de ácaros predadores e interações tritróficas em teia alimentar de pinhão-manso

Abstract

The structural complexity of the habitat is considered an important factor that influences the population dynamics and the trophic organization of arthropods in nature. As the habitat structure increases, alternative sources of food increase and organisms can increase their fitness by eating a mixed diet. On the other hand, when foraging in search of mixing their food and increasing their fitness the predator is exposed to interactions that may not be beneficial, such as intraguild predation. The present work, divided in two chapters, the first chapter investigated the ability of the mite Euseius concordis to travel great distances to mix their diet, while it was verified the existence of costs involved to obtain the diet. In the second chapter, the occurrence of reciprocal intraguild predation between two predatory mite species Iphiseiodes zulaguai and E. concordis, which are considered as potential biological control agents, was evaluated. The results indicate that E. concordis did not forage long distances in order to mix their diet. In addition, I. zulaguai and E. concordis interacted through reciprocal intraguild predation. Finally, this study demonstrates that the habitat structure is directly linked to the population dynamics of arthropods.