Lopez, L.; Liburd, O.E. Miticidal Tools for Management of Southern Red Mites Infesting Southern Highbush Blueberries. Insects2023, 14, 573.
Lopez, L.; Liburd, O.E. Miticidal Tools for Management of Southern Red Mites Infesting Southern Highbush Blueberries. Insects 2023, 14, 573.
Lopez, L.; Liburd, O.E. Miticidal Tools for Management of Southern Red Mites Infesting Southern Highbush Blueberries. Insects2023, 14, 573.
Lopez, L.; Liburd, O.E. Miticidal Tools for Management of Southern Red Mites Infesting Southern Highbush Blueberries. Insects 2023, 14, 573.
Abstract
Tetranychid outbreaks have been detected since 2016 in southern highbush blueberries (SHB); however, it was not until 2019 when the southern red mite (SRM), Oligonychus ilicis (Acari: Tetranychidae) was confirmed as the pest causing severe bronzing and stunting, in multiple Florida and Georgia commercial blueberry plantings. There is little known about the management of SRM in SHB and only three miticides (fenazaquin, fenpyroximate, and acequinocyl), have recently been registered for use in SHB between 2019 and 2020. Similarly, there is no knowledge regarding the existence of natural enemies of SRM in SHB. This is the first report of naturally occurring predatory mites (Amblyseius sp. and Neoseiulus ilicis) associated with SRM in SHB. Predatory mites were recorded in treated bushes after evaluating the performance of seven miticides used to manage SRM populations including spiromesifen, acequinocyl, sulfur, sulfur + molasses, bifenazate, fenpyroximate, and fenazaquin. Miticide efficacy was rated based on the number of SRM recorded on collected leaves and plant damage ratings using an arbitrary index (from 0= no bronzing to 4= 100% bronzing). Additionally, the presence or absence of predatory mites per sample was recorded. Fenpyroximate used as the standard miticide, significantly reduced mite numbers seven days after application, as well as acequinocyl and fenazaquin. Only plants treated with fenpyroximate or fenazaquin showed significantly less bronzing compared with the control plants. Overall, fenpyroximate and fenazaquin demonstrated the best performance for managing O. ilicis on SHB and safe to naturally occurring predatory mites. Lastly, the level of growers’ awareness regarding SRM was assessed using surveys in 2020 to design adequate educational materials available to the grower community.
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
