Mite fauna associated with major vegetable crops of Thrissur district, Kerala

Abstract

A survey was conducted to explore phytophagous and predatory mites associated with six major vegetable crops namely, Brinjal, Bhindi, Amaranthus, Cowpea, chilli and bitter gourd in Thrissur district, Kerala during 2011- 2012. A total of 19 species of mites belonging to eight families in two suborders namely Prostigmata and Mesostigmata were identified. The phytophagous mite families recorded were Tetranychidae, Tenuipalpidae and Tarsonemidae represented by the genera Tetranychus, Eutetranychus, Brevipalpus and Polyphagotarsonemus. Tetranychus urticae was found to be the dominant phytophagous mite genus on Brinjal, Bhindi, Amaranthus and Cowpea, where as in Chilli and Bittergourd the tarsonemid mite, Polyphagotarsonemus latus (Banks) was the predominant one. The important phytoseiid predators recorded in the study include Amblyseius paraaerialis Muma, Paraphytoseius orientalis Narayanan, Neoseiulus longispinosus (Evans), Phytoseius sp., Euseius macrospatulatus Gupta, Typhlodromips sp. and Scapulaseius sp.