Mite Populations and its Predators on Some Vegetables in Relation to Monthly and Site Variations of in Ismailia, Egypt

Monthly abundance of Tetranychus urticae along with its predators, Phytoseiulus persimilis, Scolothrips longicornis and Stethorus gilvifrons were studied on Cucumis sativus and Solanum melongena at different sites. This study was conducted for one year, extending from February 2014 to January 2015 at two namely: Sarabium and Wasfia regions, in Ismailia governorate, Egypt. Results showed that monthly and site variations were significantly affected the mean abundance and prevalence of the adult stages of T. urticae and its predators on both crops. The results showed that the mean abundance of T. urticae adult stages on C. sativus was the highest in February (13.96±2.93) and March (12.08±1.93) in Wasfia and Sarabium, respectively. On the other hand, results showed that the mean abundance of T. urticae adult stages on S. melongena was highest in Sarabium in most of the months as compared to Wasfia where the highest mean abundance was in April (11.04±1.54) and March (10.04±1.5) in Sarabium and Wasfia, respectively. As well, the prevalence was monthly dependent in the two sites. There was a clear effect for site and month variations on the abundance and prevalence of the predators where it didn't appear permanently on C. sativus in winter months on contrary to S. melongena. In conclusion, the present study is one of the key conditions for establishing an efficient IPM strategy and this was clearly discussed.

Keywords: Tetranychus urticae, abundance, vegetable crops, predators, temperature.