Comparative faunistic analysis of mite species on neglected and conventional pome fruit trees in Turkey

Abstract

The paper presents the comparative faunistic analysis of leaf inhabiting mite species on neglected and conventionally grown pome fruit trees in Turkey as well as their diversity and distributions. For this purpose, twelve sampling areas were chosen in the Ordu region of Turkey. The study was carried out on four fruit tree species, apple (Malus domestica), pear (Pyrus communis), quince (Cydonia oblonga), and loquat (Eriobotrya japonica), between 2014 and 2019. In the study, a total of 42 mite species were identified from 12 families belonging to two orders. 92.43% of all species were found on the neglected trees, while 7.57% were reported in the conventional orchards. Among phytophagous mites, Cenopalpus pulcher on the neglected trees and Amphitetranychus viennensis in the conventional orchards showed the greatest overall constancy. The most abundant and common predatory species were Phytoseius finitimus on the neglected trees and Transeius wainsteini in the conventional orchards. A high faunistic similarity was found between the conventionally grown apple fruit trees and neglected apple, pear, quince, loquat trees. Considering together predatory and tetranychoid mites, the highest interspecific association index was revealed for the pair T. wainsteini -- C. pulcher. Additionally, the pair Z. mali -- T. wainsteini within the predatory mites and A. viennensis -- C. pulcher within the tetranychoid mites had the highest index of association.