Host plant discrimination through mobility parameters by eriophyoid mites

Eriophyoidea is a well-known mite taxon of economic importance. Due to their small size, elucidating many of their bio-ecological aspects becomes a challenge. These mites are obligatory plant feeders, with high host specificity and vagrant (free living) and non-vagrant (part or whole life cycle in a host) lifestyles. The mobility (distance walked - mm, resting time - s, and number of stops) of these mites on host and non-host plant species has been investigated. Eriophyoid species were submitted to walking tests on host and non-host plants using five vagrant species and five non-vagrant species. The walking was recorded with video tracking (ViewPoint) for ten minutes. Twenty replicates were performed for each treatment (eriophyoid species and plant). There was a difference in the behavioral response of the species studied in relation to the hosts. When the species were grouped by ecological lifestyle (vagrant and non-vagrant), non-vagrant eriophyoids presented a higher mobility (higher distance walked, less resting time) than vagrant eriophyoids on their respective hosts. There was no difference in the mobility of vagrant and non-vagrant species on non-host plants. The absence of a pattern of behavioral response among the species tested here indicates that more factors are involved in the host identification and acceptance process.