Pest management in orchards

Mite management in orchards

There are several species of mites that infest pome and/or stone fruit trees in Victoria and they have different life cycles and habits that growers need to understand in order to efficiently manage their impact on crops.

Spider mites
Spider mites include two-spotted mite (TSM), European red mite (ERM), and Bryobia mite.
TSM is generally the most common mite and overwinters as hibernating females amongst webbing around the lower trunk of the tree.
Overwintering females appear as tiny spider-like orange-red coloured mites, which is why they are often called ‘red spider’ mites.
In spring as the temperatures warm up, and there are leaves on the trees, the overwintering TSM start to feed on the lower leaves, change colour to the summer form (pale straw) and develop the two dark spots that give them their common name.
At this stage they start to lay spherical, pearl coloured eggs usually close to the veins on the undersides of the leaves.
As populations start to build up, the mites move upwards and outwards along the scaffold limbs of the trees.
Biological control
Predatory mites were introduced and distributed throughout Victorian orchards for biological control of TSM.
Populations of TSM resistant to many miticides are widespread and growers need to carefully plan their mite control program to maximise the benefits of biological control before resorting to applying pesticides that may disrupt the biological control agents (especially predatory mites and Stethorus beetles).
ERM
(cont next issue)

See this article in Tree Fruit Jan 2019

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