Population dynamics of Tetranychus kanzawai (Acari: Tetranychidae) on hydrangea

The seasonal occurrence of Tetranychus kanzawai Kishida populations on hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla) was studied at two different localities in Ibaraki, Japan, during a three-year period. There were two types of seasonal population trends: one with a population peak from May to June, and the other with the spring peak in June and the autumn peak in September-October. Each year the populations on hydrangea plants abruptly declined just after the spring peak. Predators showed a delayed density-dependent numerical response. The population crashed even in the absence of predators, suggesting that the predators had nothing to do with the June decline. Furthermore, the rate of development from larva to adult and the fecundity in adult females on detached hydrangea leaves decreased markedly just prior to the abrupt decline in density in June. Consequently, seasonal changes in plant quality (perhaps influenced by secondary compounds) seem to contribute to the drastic decline of T. kanzawai density on hydrangea in June.