Seasonal Incidence of Mites on Kinnow in Punjab

Field surveys were conducted at ten days intervals from February 2016 to September 2017 in six Kinnow orchards at three locations (Ludhiana, Abohar, Hoshiarpur) in different agroclimatic zones of Punjab to evaluate the population dynamics of mites on kinnow. The study revealed the occurrence of Brevipalpus phoenicis (Geijskes), B. californicus (Banks), Tetranychus urticae Koch, Eutetranychus orientalis (Klein) and Polyphagotarsonemus latus (Banks) as the most common phytophagous mites. The predatory mites viz., Euseius alstoniae Gupta, E. finlandicus (Oudemans) and Cunaxa setirostris (Hermann) were also found. The study showed that weather factors affected mites similarly in different fruit zones of Punjab. There was a negative correlation between mite abundance and rainfall at all locations. The families viz. Tenuipalpidae, Tarsonemidae and Cunaxidae exhibited a negative correlation with temperature and a positive with maximum relative humidity (RH). Tetranychidae had positive relationship with temperature and a negative one with maximum RH. Mite species peaked differently during various months but were more abundant in the arid (Abohar) followed by central (Ludhiana) and submontane zone (Hoshiarpur) of Punjab.