Tea yellow mite, also known as the tea red spider mite, commonly affects over 70 crops in 30 families and is a common pest in agriculture. So how can we prevent and control tea yellow mites? Let's find out.
Characteristics of Tea Yellow Mite
The tea yellow mite is relatively small, with females measuring about 0.21 millimeters in length and males about 0.19 millimeters. They are light yellow to yellowish-green in color. Eggs are generally laid on the underside of young leaves, depressions in fruits, and young buds. The nymphs concentrate on sucking sap from tender parts of plants, often causing deformities and slow growth in plants. Infested upper leaves become stiff, thickened, and smaller, with the back surface turning gray-brown or yellow-brown. Severe infestations cause the top of the plant to wither, and heavily damaged buds fail to flower and fruit.
Prevention and Control of Tea Yellow Mite
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Clean Field: After harvesting, promptly and thoroughly remove dead branches and fallen leaves to eliminate overwintering sources of pests.
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Rotation: Reasonable rotation with lilies and cruciferous crops, timely sowing, avoiding the peak period of mite infestation, reducing intercropping with maize and leguminous crops, and eliminating intermediate host insect sources.
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Insecticide Treatment: Before transplanting, thoroughly treat vegetable seedlings with pesticides.
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Field Management: Maintain a high temperature of 34-35°C in the greenhouse to effectively reduce egg hatching rates. Implement scientific ventilation management, control watering or use light watering, reduce greenhouse humidity, and inhibit mite growth and development.
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Natural Enemies: Utilize natural enemies of tea yellow mites for control. Natural enemies include Neoseiulus longispinosus, Amblyseius degenerans, Typhlodromus peregrinus, and Orius minutus.
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Physical Control: Install insect-proof nets at the windward side of facilities to block mite migration.
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Chemical Control: When using chemical pesticides, select pesticides with minimal harm to natural enemies. Rotate the use of different types of pesticides to avoid harming natural enemies and causing mite resistance. Recommended pesticides include 1.8% abamectin emulsion concentrate at 4000-5000 times dilution, 5% tebufenpyrad emulsion at 1500-2000 times dilution, 5% fluorine pyrethroid emulsion at 1000-1500 times dilution, and 20% cyflumetofen wettable powder at 3000-4000 times dilution, sprayed for control.
Above is the introduction to the prevention and control of tea yellow mites. Tea yellow mites are extremely small and not easily detected, so it is essential to carry out effective prevention and control measures to improve the quality and yield of crops.
