Anoxia treatment for selectively controlling spider mites Tetranychus urticae and Panonychus citri with little impact on the predatory mite Neoseiulus californicus

Abstract

ABSTRACTAnoxia treatment with a deoxidant consisting of iron, calcium chloride and silicon dioxide was evaluated at different temperatures for pest spider mites (Tetranychus urticae and Panonychus citri) and their natural enemy, the predatory mite Neoseiulus californicus. No spider mite eggs survived when exposed to anoxia for 18 h at 20°C or for 12 h at 25°C, whereas the survival of N. californicus eggs under these conditions was 53% and 72%, respectively. No adult female spider mites survived when exposed to anoxia for 15 h at 20°C or for 8 h at 25°C, whereas >95% of adult N. californicus females survived under these conditions. These results indicate that anoxia has potential as a selective method for controlling pest mites, such as T. urticae and P. citri, but has little impact on their natural enemy, N. californicus.