Eggplant Integrated Pest Management AN ECOLOGICAL GUIDE

__________________________________________________________________________________Major Eggplant Insect PestsRelated exercises from CABI Bioscience/FAO Vegetable IPM Exercise Manual4.1 Insect zoo4-A.3. Plant compensation study4-A.9. Hand picking of eggs and caterpillars5.3 Red Spider Mite - Tetranychus sp.There are many species of spider mites, the red spider mite just being one of them.DescriptionSpider mites inhabit the lower surface of leaves and causedamage by making large numbers of tiny punctures in theleaf and sucking out the sap. Attacked leaves often have asilvery, “peppered” appearance, particularly along the veins.The adults, about 0.5 - 1 mm long and just visible to thenaked eye are protected by the fine webs which they spin onthe leaf surface. The adults are orange-red to yellow-brownin color. They move slowly and cannot fly.A mite is not an insect!?A mite has 8 legs, instead of the 6 thatinsects have. Also, mites don’t have a“waist” like insects do and they do nothave wings and antennae. Togetherwith the spiders, mites form a separateclass of the Arachnida.Life cycleThe female spider mite can lay more than 100 eggs in its lifetime. This is usually 3 to 12 eggs per day.Eggs are yellow. After a few days, a larva emerges with 6 legs. This first larval stage takes about 3 days,then it moulds into a nymph with 8 legs. There can be 2 nymphal stages. Development cycle depends onthe temperature and host plant. Usually, there are twice as many females than males in a population.Spider mite life cycle: egg, 6-legged nymph, 8-legged nymphs, adult(from: Kerruish et al, 1994)Host rangeThe red spider mite has a very broad range of host plants, including many vegetable crops andornamental plants and trees.Plant damage and compensationSpider mites suck sap from the plant. This can result in poor growth of the plant, deformation of leavesand shoots, chlorosis, browning, etc. The leaf is often “peppered” with tiny colorless points alongside theveins, which sometimes give an almost silvered appearance to the leaf. This eventually results inreduced production. The eggplant fruits are attacked only when mite populations are very high.79Eggplant Ecological Guide