The generalist predator Euseius stipulatus (Athias-Henriot) and the Tetranychidae-specialist predators Neoseiulus californicus (McGregor) and Phytoseiulus persimilis Athias-Henriot play a key role in the regulation of Tetranychus urticae Koch in Spanish citrus orchards. Previous studies have shown that sour orange (Citrus aurantium L.) and Cleopatra mandarin (Citrus reshni hort. ex Tan.) display extreme resistance and susceptibility to T. urticae, respectively. When offered a choice between these two genotypes infested by T. urticae, E. stipulatus preferred Cleopatra mandarin, whereas the specialists did not show any preference. The present study was undertaken to check whether these preferences could be related to the feeding of E. stipulatus on the host plant and/or to differences in prey feeding on the two plants. Our results demonstrate that E. stipulatus is a zoophytophagous mite, which can engage in direct plant feeding in sour orange and Cleopatra mandarin, whereas neither N. californicus nor P. persimilis do so. Whereas Cleopatra mandarin provided a higher-quality prey/feeding substrate for E. stipulatus, which may be related to its phytophagy, no differences were observed for the two specialists. As higher constitutive and faster inducible defense against T. urticae in sour orange relative to Cleopatra mandarin plants result in sour orange supporting lower T. urticae densities and plant damage, our results demonstrate that pest regulation by specialist natural enemies may be more effective when prey feed on better defended plants.

通体捕食者Euseius stipulatus（Athias-Henriot）和Tetranychidae-专食捕食者Neoseiulus californicus（McGregor）和Phytoseiulus persimilis Athias-Henriot在西班牙环斑线虫中起关键作用。以前的研究已经表明，酸橙（酸橙L.）和艳后翻译（柑橘reshni园艺。前谈。）显示极强的抗和易感性T.螨分别。当在荨麻疹，规定肠杆菌感染的这两种基因型中选择时。首选埃及艳后普通话，而专家们则没有表现出任何偏爱。进行本研究以检查这些偏好是否可能与在寄主植物上饲喂规定的大肠杆菌和/或在两种植物上饲喂猎物的差异有关。我们的研究结果表明，E. stipulatus是zoophytophagous螨，可以从事在酸橙与克莉奥佩特拉柑橘直接取食植物，而既不N.加利福尼亚小也不P.螨这样做。而艳后翻译提供了更高质量的猎物/供给基板E. stipulatus，这可能与它的植物吞噬有关，没有发现两位专家的差异。随着对更高的组成和更快的诱导防御T.螨相对于埃及艳后柑橘植物酸橙导致酸橙支持较低T.螨密度和植物的损害，我们的研究结果表明，通过专家天敌虫害管理可能更有效，当猎物饲料在防御更好的植物上。