Mites from the family Phytoseiidae as an element of an anti-resistant strategy for protecting fruit plantations from spider mites

In the last decade, the acarocomplex of apple orchards in the plain-steppe zone of the Crimea was dominated by two species of mites, fam. Tetranychidae - Amphitetranychus viennensis (Zacher) and Panonychus ulmi (Koch). Their share in the complex of phytophagous mites was 52.5 and 32.0%, respectively. Against the background of repeated acaricidal treatments during the season, the emergence of resistant races of phytophagous mites was recorded. The proposed anti-resistant strategy for controlling the number of spider mites on an apple tree involves the use of Phytoseiulus persimilis (Athias-Henriot), Neoseiulus californicus (McGregor), and Amblyseius andersoni (Chant). The combination of methods of seasonal colonization by phytoseiids serves as the building blocks of an anti-resistant defense system.Resettlement in the spring, by flooding, of two species of acariphages, P. persimilis and A. andersoni , contributes to the formation of acarofauna, so that while the first species reduces the number of phytophagous mites (by 50-60%), the second adapts and starts feeding later, and, at the expense of daughter individuals, it allows to reduce the number of pests by the end of the second decade of June to 2-3 individuals / leaf. In summer, a double release of the predatory mite N. californicus with a norm of 30 thousand individuals / ha (150-300 individuals / every 10 trees) reduces the risk of mass reproduction of spider mites at high average daily temperatures and low humidity.