Mortality responses of tydeid mite following hot water treatment

Abstract

The potential for using hot water to disinfest apricots of tydeid mite (Orthotydeus californicus (Koch)) was evaluated. Mites were exposed to hot water at 46-50 oC and were treated either in the absence of the host fruit (‘off fruit’), taped onto the fruit surface (‘adhered’ onto fruit) or ‘naturally infested’ onto the fruit surface. At all temperatures tested, the time required to achieve 99% mortality of the pest (LT99) was lower for mites treated off fruit than for adhered mites, which was in turn lower than for naturally infested mites. As temperature increased from 46 to 50 oC, the LT99 for naturally infested mites decreased from 10.3 to 6.7 minutes.