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Climate change models predict that the frequency, intensity and duration of heat waves will increase in the next decades. Heat waves can have profound impact on the reproduction of biocontrol agents ranging from postponing oviposition to manipulating offspring quantity via egg number and quality via egg size. Such species-specific responses of biocontrol agents to heat stress may also affect their success in controlling the target pest. Here, we evaluated the predation and reproductive performance of the two spider mite predators  Phytoseiulus persimilis  and  Neoseiulus womersleyi  exposed to simulated mild, moderate and extreme heat wave conditions over three days. Irrespective of heat wave conditions, all  N. womersleyi  females survived, whereas 12% of the  P. persimilis  females died. Both species responded to heat stress via plastic modifications resulting in increased predation rates and smaller egg sizes. Significantly more  P. persimilis  females postponed oviposition during the experimental phase than  N. womersleyi . The deposited egg number of  Phytoseiulus persimilis  was not affected by heat wave conditions. On the contrary, the reproductive output of  N. womersleyi  was a function of temperature, i.e., the higher the temperature, the higher the number of deposited eggs. These findings indicate that  P. persimilis  is more heat sensitive in relation to reproduction than  N. womersleyi . However, further investigations of heat wave effects on other fitness-related traits and their consequences at population level are needed to find out whether  N. womersleyi  is an alternative or supplement to  P. persimilis  as spider mite control agent under heat waves.

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Artificial heat waves induce species-specific plastic responses on reproduction of two spider mite predators