In augmentative biocontrol, more generalists are being investigated for their potential in pest control. Although other food sources such as supplementary food may enhance the survival of generalists, whether they will affect their predation capacity is still an open question. Here, we investigated the influence of Typha orientalis pollen on the predation rates and functional response of Neoseiulus cucumeris (Oudemans) (Acari: Phytoseiidae) to immature Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae). Pollen did lead to a decrease in predation rate of the predator in the short-term test. However, N. cucumeris displayed a type II functional response to immature T. urticae, with high predation rates on eggs and larvae irrespective of the presence of pollen. Pollen also did not have a significant negative influence on the attack rate and handling time of the predators. These findings suggest that N. cucumeris can be an efficient predator of immature T. urticae even when pollen is available.

中文翻译：

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补充食物（花粉）是否可以调节通体捕食性螨（Neoseiulus cucumeris）对其猎物（Tetranychus urticae）的功能反应？

在增强生物防治中，正在研究更多的通才来控制有害生物。尽管其他食物来源（例如补充食物）可以提高通才的生存能力，但它们是否会影响其捕食能力仍是一个悬而未决的问题。在这里，我们调查了香蒲花粉对黄瓜幼虫（Oudemans）（Acari：Phytoseiidae）对未成熟Tetranychus urticae Koch（Acari：Tetranychidae）的捕食率和功能响应的影响。花粉确实导致短期测试中捕食者的捕食率降低。然而，N.螨显示给未成熟的II型功能性反应T.螨，无论花粉是否存在，对卵和幼虫的捕食率都很高。花粉对捕食者的攻击率和处理时间也没有明显的负面影响。这些结果表明，N.胡瓜钝绥螨可以是不成熟的一种有效的捕食T.螨甚至当花粉是可用的。