Plant-mediated interactions between Tetranychus evansi and T. urticae spider mites - suppression test new.

We infested three leaflets of 28-days old tomato plants (<i>Solanum lycopersicum</i> var Castlemart) with spider mites in two treatments, (1) <i>Tetranychus evansi</i> Viçosa-1 or (2) <i>Tetranychus urticae</i> Santpoort-2. We infested the basal halves of three leaflets per plant, each from a different leaf, with 15 two to four days old adult females. We also placed 5 two to four days old adult <i>Tetranychus urticae</i> Santpoort-2 females on the upper halves of the same leaflets, while separating the leaflet halves through a lanolin barrier. We counted the number of eggs laid by the female mites on the upper halves of the leaf discs after four days. We also recorded which leaves were infested, how many treatment mites survived (measured after two and four days), and how many oviposition mites survived after four days. The experiment was carried out in two blocks in time, and both blocks were performed in a climate room (25°C, 16 : 8 h light : dark, 60% RH).