Predatory mites of the Phytoseiidae family are important biological control agents. Many species of this family are omnivores, i.e., besides on prey, they can feed on plant resources such as nectar and pollen. It has been shown that the addition of alternative food for predators to a crop enhances biological control. However, factors such as food availability and quality can also affect interactions such as cannibalism, and thus influence biological control. We investigated the role of quality of the alternative food in the tendency of Amblyseius herbicolus to engage in cannibalism, a common ecological interaction in many phytoseiid mite species. Cannibalism on eggs by A. herbicolus was significantly reduced in the presence of high-quality food (cattail pollen) compared to egg cannibalism without alternative food, whereas this was not the case in the presence of low-quality food (cotton pollen). This suggests that cattail pollen is a high-quality alternative food, not only because it results in increased development and reproduction of predators, but also because it can minimize cannibalism.

中文翻译：

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优质替代食品可减少捕食螨Amblyseius herbicolus（Acari：Phytoseiidae）中的同类相食。

捕蝇科的捕食性螨是重要的生物防治剂。这个家庭的许多物种都是杂食动物，即除了猎物以外，它们还可以食用植物资源，如花蜜和花粉。已经表明，将捕食者的替代食物添加到作物中可以增强生物防治。但是，诸如食物供应和质量之类的因素也会影响诸如食人症的相互作用，从而影响生物控制。我们调查了替代食品的质量在草食性mb虫趋于食人性中的作用，食人性是许多植物性螨类中常见的生态相互作用。食草者对鸡蛋的食人性与不带替代食品的鸡蛋同类相食相比，存在优质食品（香蒲花粉）的情况显着减少，而存在劣质食物（棉粉花粉）的情况则不是这样。这表明香蒲花粉是一种高质量的替代食品，不仅因为它导致捕食者的发育和繁殖增加，而且因为它可以使食人鱼的发生率降至最低。