TY - JOUR JF - Acarologia T1 - Predation capacity of soil-dwelling predatory mites on two major maize pests VL - 61 IS - 3 SP - 577 EP - 580 PY - 2021 SN - 0044-586X SN - 2107-7207 PB - Les Amis d'Acarologia AU - Pasquier, Antoine AU - Andrieux, Thibault AU - Martinez-Rodiguez, Paloma AU - Vercken, Elodie AU - Ferrero, Maxime UR - https://doi.org/10.24349/o7z8-gXu4 DO - 10.24349/o7z8-gXu4 DA - 2021-07-21 ET - 2021-07-21 KW - click beetle KW - corn pest KW - Laelapidae KW - Macrochelidae KW - biological control AB - The western corn rootworm Diabrotica virgifera virgifera (WCR), and the wireworm Agriotes sordidus (WW), whose eggs and first instar larvae develop in the first few centimeters of soil, are major crop pests. As soil-dwelling predatory mites are known as potential biocontrol agents against many pests, we investigated the predation capacity of Stratiolaelaps scimitus, Gaeolaelaps aculeifer and Macrocheles robustulus on immature stages of WCR and WW in a laboratory setting. While eggs of WCR and WW were never consumed, all three predator species attacked both WCR and WW first instar larvae. While these results need to be confirmed in natural conditions, our work identifies the early larval stage instead of the egg stage as the most vulnerable stage for control against WCR and WW with soil-dwelling predatory mites. ER -