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Recent studies have shown that predatory mites used as biocontrol agents can be loaded with entomopathogenic fungal conidia to increase infection rates in pest populations. Under laboratory conditions, we determined the capacity of two phytoseiid mites,  Amblyseius swirskii  and  Neoseiulus cucumeris  to deliver the entomopathogenic fungus  Beauveria bassiana  to their prey,  Frankliniella occidentalis . Predatory mites were loaded with conidia and released on plants that had been previously infested with first instar prey clustered on a bean leaf. We examined each plant section to characterize the spatial distribution of each interacting organism. Our results showed that  A. swirskii  delivered high numbers of conidia to thrips infested leaves, thereby increasing the proportion of thrips that came into contact with the fungus. The effect was larger when thrips infestation occurred on young leaves than on old leaves.  Neoseiulus cucumeris  delivered less conidia to the thrips infested leaves. These patterns result from differences in foraging activity between predatory mite species.  Amblyseius swirskii  stayed longer on plants, especially within thrips colonies, and had a stronger suppressing effect on thrips than  N. cucumeris . Our study suggests that loading certain predatory mite species with fungal conidia can increase their capacity to suppress thrips populations by combining predation and dispersing pathogens.

Phytoseiid predatory mites can disperse entomopathogenic fungi to prey patches