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Population Dynamic and Spatial Distribution of the Citrus Rust Mite, Phyllocoptruta oleivora (Ashmead), on Three Varieties of Citrus in Taiwan
Differences between the mean density of rust mites on the old leaves and fruits, on ‘Eureka’ lemon and‘Murcott’ tangor. (Only the sampling dates with the mites on each part appearing simultaneously were showed.) *,**,***: Bars on the same date with 1, 2 and 3 asterisks are significant different by goodness of fit test at 5, 1 and 0.1%, respectively.
Differences between the mean density of rust mites on the old leaves and fruits, on ‘Eureka’ lemon and‘Murcott’ tangor. (Only the sampling dates with the mites on each part appearing simultaneously were showed.) *,**,***: Bars on the same date with 1, 2 and 3 asterisks are significant different by goodness of fit test at 5, 1 and 0.1%, respectively.

Author:Po-Hung Chen, Tai-Chuan Wang, Chi-Nan Chen, Chiung-Hui Huang, and Shou-Horng Huang*

Abstract:

    The citrus rust mite, Phyllocoptruta oleivora (Ashmead), is a major pest of citrus plants in Taiwan. Citrus rust mites feed on leaves and fruit surfaces, significantly affecting the quality of citrus products. The present study investigated the field population dynamics and spatial distribution of citrus rust mites on ‘Eureka’ lemons, ‘Persian’ limes, and ‘Murcott’ tangors from January to December in 2016. Study results regarding the three varieties of citrus plants showed that citrus rust mite populations reached the highest density during fruit growing periods. Fruits suffered the highest density of mite infestations and followed by mature leaves, and young leaves suffered the least damage. The number of citrus rust mites on the lower surface of leaves were higher than that on the upper surface of leaves. The direction of fruits growing on citrus plants did not significantly affect the number of citrus rust mites population. Rainfall and precipitation frequency may be one of the key factors causing low density of mites from May to October. Three indices (index of dispersion, Lloyd’s index of mean crowding and Lloyd’s index of patchiness) used to identify the spatial distribution pattern of citrus rust mites all indicated contagious patterns of spatial distribution except when mite density was very low, the distribution patterns became regular or random.

Key words: Citrus rust mite, Population dynamic, Spatial distribution

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Journal of
Taiwan Agricultural Research
Vol. 73, No.1 (2024) ISSN: 2790-086X Vol. 73, No.1 (2024)
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