Chemical investigation of aggregation behaviour in the two-spotted spider mite Tetranychus urticae

The silk produced by the group-living mite Tetranychus urticae provides group protection and is used as an informative material during habitat settlement, egg laying, mating, and dispersal events. In this context, cues contained in the silk and other materials produced by mites [eggs, black faeces (BF) and white faeces + silk (WFS)] were investigated. Chemical compounds were extracted by hexane or methanol, and choice tests were used to determine the individual attractiveness of each extract. For both solvents, individuals did not respond to the extract from eggs and WFS. BF extracts were attractive for both solvents. After separating the BF methanol extract into four different chemical components using thin layer chromatography, no component was determined to be responsible for mite attraction. This work supports the evidence that the faeces of T. urticae do contain substances that promote behavioural changes. Not particular chemical compounds but combinations of them seem to induce the mites' preference. Moreover, the response of mites to chemicals seemed to be context dependent as mites belonging to populations with different densities differed in their attraction to BF extracts.