Efficiency of Three Bacterial Strains Against Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae) Under Laboratory Conditions

This study was conducted to evaluate the efficiency of three bacterial strains Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus subtilis and Lysinibacillus spaericus against adult females of Tetranychus urticae Koch using spraying and dipping techniques with concentrations (10¹, 10³, 10⁵, 10⁷ cfu. ml^-1). The mortality percentages were calculated and numbers of each stages resulting from the live treated females were recorded. The symptoms that appear on treated female's mites as a result of death under laboratory conditions were recorded and photographed. The results revealed that, P. aeruginosa caused the highest mortality percentage of adult females T. urticae 100% after 72h at concentration 10⁷ cfu. ml^-1 by spraying application. Whereas the mortality percentage which recorded by the dipping technique was 54.58±1.71. B. subtilis also, was recorded increased the average mortality percentage of female T. urticae as it reached 73.33±2.67 in spraying technique compared 41.25±2.08 in dipping technique. While in L. spaericus recorded 62.08±3.41 mortality (%) in spraying technique but at dipping technique the mortality was 27.50±1.61. A sharp decrease was shown in number of stages resulting from lived treated females of T. urticae with P. aeruginosa by four concentrations 10¹, 10³, 10⁵ and 10⁷ by using spraying technique and the life cycle was stopped at the larval stage only at concentration 10¹ and were not changed into the nymphal stage. While with dipping technique a slight increase in the average number of stages resulting from the adult living females treated with the previously aforementioned concentrations of bacteria P. aeruginosa. The present study cleared that application of bacteria strains on T. urticae adult females either by spraying or dipping techniques lead to some deformations such as, swelling of the body, then fluids exit followed by complete dryness of the body and forward protrusion of the podosoma region and finally death of the adult females