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Efficacy of Neoseiulus californicus and Phytoseiulus persimilis in suppression of Tetranychus urticae in young clementine plants

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Abstract

Tetranychus urticae is one of the most damaging tetranychid mites affecting clementine orchards in Spain, where natural control is insufficient. Furthermore, in clementine nurseries, tender foliage is highly susceptible to attack and natural enemies are almost always absent. Therefore, acaricides are often used indiscriminately. Alternative control measures are necessary, both in commercial orchards and clementine nurseries. In order to assess the efficacy of inoculative releases of N. californicus and P. persimilis to reduce T. urticae populations in young Spanish clementine plants, a semi-field experiment was conducted and repeated in three seasons (spring, summer and autumn). Phytoseiulus persimilis was highly effective in reducing both T. urticae infestations and the damage level inflicted on plants at both release rates evaluated (40 and 80 phytoseiids/plant) and all three periods considered. By contrast, N. californicus demonstrated low performance under certain conditions. The results of this study could be adapted and transferred to nurseries and young citrus plantations.

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Acknowledgments

This work was partially funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology (AGL2005-07155-C03-02/AGR and AGL2008-05287-C04-01/AGR) and the Conselleria d’Agricultura, Pesca i Alimentació de la Generalitat Valenciana. Josep Jacas (UJI, Castelló, Spain) and P. Schausberger (Institute of Plant Protection, Vienna, Austria) provided useful comments on an early draft of the manuscript. The authors wish to thank H. Montón (IVIA), O. Dembilio (IVIA) and O. Mollà (IVIA) for plants care and technical support and J. Calvo and J. E. Belda (Koppert B.S., Almería, Spain) for the N. californicus and P. persimilis supply. R. Abad-Moyano was recipient of a grant from IVIA.

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  1. Tatiana Pina

    Present address: Departament de Ciències Agràries i del Medi Natural, Universitat Jaume I (UJI), Campus del Riu Sec, 12071, Castelló de la Plana, Spain

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unidad de Entomología, Centro de Protección Vegetal y Biotecnología, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA), Apartado Oficial, Carretera de Moncada a Náquera, Km. 4.5, 46113, Moncada, Valencia, Spain

    Raquel Abad-Moyano, Tatiana Pina & Alberto Urbaneja

  2. Unidad de Biometría, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA), Carretera de Moncada a Náquera, Km. 4.5, 46113, Moncada, Valencia, Spain

    Jordi Pérez-Panadés & Emilio A. Carbonell

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  1. Raquel Abad-Moyano
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  2. Tatiana Pina
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  5. Alberto Urbaneja
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Correspondence to Alberto Urbaneja.

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Abad-Moyano, R., Pina, T., Pérez-Panadés, J. et al. Efficacy of Neoseiulus californicus and Phytoseiulus persimilis in suppression of Tetranychus urticae in young clementine plants. Exp Appl Acarol 50, 317–328 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-009-9318-3

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