2025/08/21 by Shimaa F. Fahim, Mohamed Lamlom, Mahmoud M. Ahmed
paper · doi:10.1007/s12600-025-01314-2
Abstract Bryobia praetiosa Koch and Tetranychus urticae Koch are key agricultural pests on several crops. The current study were compared the biology and demographic parameters of B. praetiosa and T. urticae on three host plants, including iceberg lettuce, Egyptian mallow, and spinach. The results showed that B. praetiosa longevity was the longest on spinach (40.11 days), whereas it was the shortest on mallow (34.90 days). The longevity of T. urticae was varied from 31.97 days on Egyptian mallow to 32.57 days on iceberg lettuce. The maximum fecundity of B. praetiosa and T. urticae were observed on Egyptian mallow (51.74 and 81.69 eggs/♀, respectively), while the lowest were detected on iceberg lettuce (18.83 and 57.00 eggs/♀, respectively). The individuals of B. praetiosa reared on Egyptian mallow had the uppermost intrinsic rate of increase ( r ) (0.161 day −1 ) along with the finite rate of increase ( λ ) (1.174 day −1 ). The highest r value of T. urticae was noticed on Egyptian mallow (0.211 day −1 ), followed by that on spinach (0.186 day −1 ), and then that on iceberg lettuce (0.148 day −1 ). The net reproductive rate ( R 0 ) of B. praetiosa was varied from 14.49 (on iceberg lettuce) to 46.23 offspring (on Egyptian mallow). Both R 0 and gross reproductive rate ( GRR ) of T. urticae were decreased from 58.09 and 71.18 offspring, respectively on Egyptian mallow to 29.13 and 43.92 offspring, respectively on iceberg lettuce. These results provide useful information about the host suitability and can be valuable for determining population growth capacity of B. praetiosa and T. urticae on tested plants which can play a role in the control programs of these pests.