Team effort of predators combats two-spotted spider mite in cucumbers

摘要

For many greenhouse vegetable operations, the two-spotted spider mite (TSSM) is a predictable nuisance during the early part of the year when mites come out of diapause (a sort of resting state) and launch into an attack on succulent young transplants. Biological control of TSSM in greenhouse cucumbers is usually particularly challenging, and so, during the winter crop of 2002, a commercial trial was set up to manage anticipated TSSM populations by making carefully timed releases of a combination ofpredators.