COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY, REPRODUCTIVE COMPATIBILITY, AND GEOGRAPHICAL-DISTRIBUTION OF AMBLYSEIUS-LONGISPINOSUS AND A-WOMERSLEYI (ACARI, PHYTOSEIIDAE)

Female and male Amblyseius longispinosus (Evans) and A. womersleyi (Sc hicha) were reared in an incubator at 28 degrees C and a photoperiod o f 13:11 (L:D) h. They were supplied with eggs of Tetranychus kanzawai Kishida for food. A. longispinosus matured in 5.02 and 5.0 d and consu med 13.84 and 11.2 spider mites eggs, respectively. A. womersleyi matu red in 4.92 and 4.67 d, and consumed 15.32 and 11.54 spider mite eggs, respectively. In the first 10 d after eclosion, adult female A. longi spinosus and A. womersleyi consumed an average of 26.43 and 32.07 spid er mite eggs daily, and laid 2.92 and 3.07 eggs per day, respectively. A. womersleyi developed slightly faster than A. longispinosus and was more voracious. Larvae of both species were observed eating spider mi te eggs. Adult female A. womersleyi incompletely consumed spider mite eggs when food was abundant. When mated with male A. longispinosus, al l female A. womersleyi oviposited but with reduced fecundity. Only mal e offspring were produced and 47.8% of eggs were nonviable. However, o nly 1.5% of female A. longispinosus that mated with male A. womersleyi oviposited, but offspring of both sexes were produced. Hybrid F-1 pro geny inherited the maternal setal length of dorsal seta L8 in all reci procal matings. These findings suggested that these two mites are dist inct species. Their life cycles, food consumption, reproductive compat ibility, and geographical distribution are discussed.