Effect of Fungicides and Miticides with Mitochondria Electron Transport Inhibiting Activity on the Twospotted Spider Mite, Tetranychus urticae (Acari: Tetranychidae)

Abstract

The twospotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae, is a major arthropod pest of many greenhouse-grown horticultural crops. Greenhouse producers use a variety of miticides to suppress twospotted spider mite populations. A group of miticides known as mitochondria electron transport inhibitors or METIs include acequinocyl, fenpyroximate, and pyridaben. In addition, there are strobilurin-based fungicides such as azoxystrobin, kresoxim-methyl, and trifloxystrobin that are also known as METIs. We conducted a study to determine if these METI fungicides had any miticidal properties against the nymph and adult stages of the twospotted spider mite. The designated treatments were applied to marigold (Tagetes erecta) plants naturally infested with twospotted spider mites. Assessments of live and dead twospotted spider mite nymphs and adults were conducted 3, 7, and 14 days after applying the treatments. None of the METI fungicides had any activity against the nymph and adult life stages of the twospotted spider mite, with percentage mortality values <18%. The METI miticides appeared to be more effective against twospotted spider mite nymphs than the adults based on percentage mortality values across the three evaluation periods (35.2% to 100% for nymphs and 11.4% to 87.9% for adults). This study demonstrated that the strobilurin-based fungicides have negligible negative effects on twospotted spider mites.