Mr Hung Nguyen1

1Macquarie University, Marsfield, Australia

Biography:

Hung Nguyen (he/him) gained a BSc in Plant Protection from Hanoi University of Agriculture, Vietnam, in 2010 and completed his master's in Bioresources and Bioenvironmental Sciences at Kyushu University, Japan, in 2017. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Applied Biosciences at Macquarie University, Australia.

With over a decade of experience in entomological research, Hung has primarily focused on the biology, ecology, and management of rice hoppers. His interests also include the behavior of natural enemies such as parasitic wasps. His current research aims to develop insecticide-resistance of a predatory mite using gene-editing techniques such as CRISPR-Cas9 and base editors. This work aims to reduce insecticides use and enhance the management of chemical-resistant insect pests. Additionally, Hung is working on a discrimination model using Confocal Raman Spectroscopy to classify female and male insects, such as Queensland fruit flies, contributing to the success of the Sterile Insect Technique.

Abstract:

The global application of Transeius montdorensis (Acari: Phytoseiidae) mites as biological control agents across various protected crops has proven effective against small insects like thrips and whiteflies, as well as spider mites, broad mites, and russet mites. This research evaluated the development and reproduction of T. montdorensis when fed on diverse diets: cattail pollen (Typha latifolia L.), living dried fruit mite (Carpoglyphus lactis L.), frozen C. lactis eggs, and a combination of frozen C. lactis eggs and T. latifolia pollen. The results indicated that females consuming the mixture of frozen eggs of C. lactis and T. latifolia pollen exhibited superior total fecundity and daily oviposition rates. Moreover, the intrinsic rate of increase (rm) and net productive rate (R0) of T. montdorensis that fed on the mixed diet were highest among all diets tested. In contrast, the immature period was significantly longer for mites on a diet of living C. lactis compared to those on three other alternative diets. Importantly, utilizing frozen C. lactis eggs (and T. latifolia pollen) mitigates the risk of infestation and contamination from the dried fruit mites which is important for laboratories as well as field settings when releasing the predator colonies. Consequently, we present a safer strategy for multiplying T. montdorensis in laboratory conditions. Finally, our findings suggest that the application of frozen C. lactis eggs and T. latifolia pollen, potentially applicable to other predatory mite species, offers significant time and cost savings for scientists and companies.