The carmine spider mite (CSM), Tetranychus cinnabarinus, is an important pest mite in agriculture, because it can develop insecticide resistance easily. To gain valuable gene information and molecular basis for the future insecticide resistance study of CSM, the first transcriptome analysis of CSM was conducted. A total of 45,016 contigs and 25,519 unigenes were generated from the de novo trans...

Plants respond to herbivory by mounting a defense. Some plant-eating spider mites (Tetranychus spp.) have adapted to plant defenses to maintain a high reproductive performance. From natural populations we selected three spider mite strains from two species, Tetranychus urticae and Tetranychus evansi, that can suppress plant defenses, using a fourth defense-inducing strain as a benchmark, to ass...

During April-June 2010, red two-spotted carmine spider mites Tetranychus urticae Koch (Trombidiformes: Tetranychidae) were found on aerial apical parts of Ashwagandha Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal (Solanales: Solanaceae) plants in the Amritsar District of Punjab Province in the North Indian plains. The mites fed on the leaves, making them shiny white in color, which gradually dried off and were...

The effect of imidacloprid on fecundity in twospotted spider mites, Tetranychus urticae Koch, was investigated in laboratory experiments using individual females on bean leaf discs. Mites were directly exposed to spray formulations of imidacloprid or fed on discs cut from a systemically treated bean plant. Imidacloprid-treated T. urticae produced 10-26% more eggs during the first 12 d of adult ...

Low concentration of raw flower juice of Calotropis porcera (Asclepiadecae) and seed dust of Nerium oleander (Apocynacae) significantly delayed the egg to adult development of two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch, for three successive generations under laboratory trial. The flower juice of C. porcera was found more effective than the seed dust of N. oleander in delaying the develop...

The two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch is a major pest that feeds on >1,100 plant species. Many perennial crops including hop (Humulus lupulus) are routinely plagued by T. urticae infestations. Hop is a specialty crop in Pacific Northwest states, where 99% of all U.S. hops are produced. To suppress T. urticae, growers often apply various acaricides. Unfortunately T. urticae has b...

The twospotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch, is among the most economically important pests in strawberries (Fragaria spp.). As T. urticae feeds, it ingests mesophyll cells that contain pigments essential for physiologic function and alters radiant energy use of the leaf tissue, severely compromising plant health and productivity. In our study, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy in the v...

The twospotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae), is an important pest of vegetables and other economically important crops. This study evaluated the functional responses and prey-stage preferences of three species of predators, a predatory gall midge, Feltiella acarisuga (Vallot) (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), and two predatory mite species, Neoseiulus californicus (McGre...

The functional and numerical responses of the predatory mite Neoseiulus californicus (McGregor) (Phytoseiidae) females reared on thorn apple pollen (Datura stramonium L.) over 40 generations different densities (2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 128) deutonymphs Tetranychus urticae Koch (Trombidiformes: Tetranychidae) were determined. results indicated a type II response for N. T. in G0 (no rearing as contro...

The two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae, usually lives in kin groups under common webs. Because only the first mating results in fertilisation in female T. urticae, adult males guard quiescent deutonymph females, those at the stage immediately before maturation, to ensure paternity. Therefore, the cost of precopulatory guarding time seems considerable for males. Moreover, the fitness i...