Mite study reaches new level of excellence
Parasitic mites present both problems and benefits to ecosystems globally. They are major agricultural pests and controlling them with insecticides can also pose a threat to ecosystems everywhere. However, predatory mites can be effectively used to control spider mite and thrips populations in agriculture. DETANMITE scientists adopted an integrated approach to identify the mites in question and developed new, rapid diagnostic methods for tetranychid (plant parasites) and phytoseiid mites. The approach included the use of molecular markers and identification of isozymes combined with morphological study using the scanning electron microscope. The researchers collected plant parasitic and predatory species from different ecological areas of South Africa and Turkey. Preparing about 1 100 slides of mites representing 29 taxa of agricultural importance, a new tetranychid mite species of the family Tetranychidae was collected from solanaceous plants. The specimens representing the following important mite families were identified from the plant families Solanaceae, Rosaceae and Oleaceae: Phytoseiidae, Tetranychidae, Tenuipalpidae, Tydeidae, Tarsonemidae and Eriophyoidea. Workshops presented to more than 50 young researchers were one major source of dissemination. The mite specialists who led these workshops prepared a total of seven manuals on the plant-feeding mite families Tetranychidae, Tenuipalpidae and Tarsonemidae as well as predatory mite families Phytoseiidae and Tydeidae. An electron microscopy workshop was held to point out the diagnostic characters of the species of the families Phytoseiidae, Tetranychidae and Eriophyidae. DETANMITE results were presented at the V. Turkish Plant Protection Congress in 2014. Two oral and two poster presentations summarised the work to almost 200 entomologists and acarologists. A total of seven papers submitted to scientific journals also represented a very strong dissemination effort. The project work also resulted in future collaborations between the partners of the three countries (France, South Africa and Turkey). Originally, South African researchers were unknown to Turkish researchers, but formed a strong collaboration during the project. DETANMITE has delivered groundbreaking data on the control of mites globally as well as for use as biological control agents. As such, the work promises to deliver solutions for related agricultural and environmental problems in agriculture worldwide.
Keywords
Parasitic mites, biological control agents, predatory mites, agriculture, scanning electron microscope
