Population dynamics of Aceodromus convolvuli (Acari: Mesostigmata: Blattisociidae) on spontaneous plants associated with Jatropha curcas in central Brazil Wilton P. Cruz • Renato A. Sarmento • Marc ¸al Pedro-Neto • Adenir V. Teodoro • Diego M. Rodrigues • Gilberto J. de Moraes Received: 5 December 2013 / Accepted: 5 June 2014 / Published online: 19 June 2014 Ó Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014 Abstract Spontaneously growing plants are commonly considered competitors of cul- tivated plants. Owing to the lack of specificity of many arthropods, spontaneous plants may be attacked by the same arthropods that attack cultivated plants and they may also harbor natural enemies of organisms harmful to cultivated plants. Aceodromus convolvuli Muma (Blattisociidae) has been reported recently in relatively large numbers in Tocantins state, central Brazil, mostly on Helicteres guazumifolia Kunth (Malvaceae). Very little has been reported about the population dynamics of blattisociid mites under field conditions. The objective of this work was to study the population dynamics of A. convolvuli in Gurupi, Tocantins state, to evaluate its possible interaction with associated mites. Monthly samples were taken from leaves of the 11 most abundant and frequent spontaneous plants in a Jatropha curcas L. (Euphorbiaceae) plantation. About 96.5 % of the specimens of A. convolvuli were collected in the rainy season. The patterns of variation of the population of A. convolvuli and of predators belonging to the family Phytoseiidae were similar, but A. convolvuli was much more numerous than all phytoseiid specimens combined. Highly W. P. Cruz Á R. A. Sarmento (&) Á M. Pedro-Neto Universidade Federal de Tocantins (UFT), PO Box 66, Gurupi, State of Tocantins, Brazil e-mail: rsarmento@uft.edu.br W. P. Cruz Á G. J. de Moraes Programa de Po ´s-graduac ¸a ˜o em Entomologia Agrı ´cola, Universidade Estadual Paulista Ju ´lio de Mesquita Filho, UNESP, Jaboticabal, State of Sa ˜o Paulo, Brazil A. V. Teodoro Embrapa Tabuleiros Costeiros, Av. Beira Mar 3250, PO Box 44, Jardins, Aracaju, State of Sergipe, Brazil D. M. Rodrigues Departamento de Cie ˆncias Agra ´rias, Universidade Federal do Para ´ (UFPA), Maraba ´, State of Para ´, Brazil G. J. de Moraes Departamento de Entomologia e Acarologia, Escola Superior de Agricultura ‘‘Luiz de Queiroz’’, Universidade de Sa ˜o Paulo (ESALQ/USP), Piracicaba, State of Sa ˜o Paulo, Brazil 123 Exp Appl Acarol (2014) 64:309–319 DOI 10.1007/s10493-014-9828-5