Diversity and seasonal abundance of tetranychid mites in polyhouses in Himachal Pradesh Ghongade Dilip Shriram1,*, Sood A. K. Department of Entomology, CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur, 176062 1Department of Entomology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 141004 *Corresponding author Email: dilipghongade63@gmail.com
Online published on 5 February, 2019. Abstract Studies undertaken to record the diversity and abundance of tetranychid mites with the crops grown under protected environment in four agroecological zones of Himachal Pradesh resulted in five mite species namely, Eutetranychus sp., Panonychus ulmi (Koch), Tetranychus ludeni Zacher, Tetranychus urticae Koch and Tetranychus sp. (Acari: Tetranychidae). Amongst them, T. urticae was the most abundant and diverse in distribution and was followed by T. ludeni. The species diversity was more in agroecological Zone II with the altitude ranging from 1001 to 1500 masl. However, in Zone IV (>2500 masl) only one tetranychid mite specie was observed to be prevalent. Eleven plant species grown under protected environment acted as host to tetranychid mites. The hosts comprised seven vegetables (capsicum, cucumber, French bean, okra, pak-choi, summer squash and tomato), two flower (carnation and gerbera) and fruit crops (apple seedlings and strawberry). T. urticae infested maximum number of crops (eight) grown under protected environment. Abundance of mites was maximum in carnation, followed by strawberry, cucumber, French bean and okra. Tetranychid mites remained active throughout the year under protected environment in Zone I and II. Top Keywords Tetranychid mites, protected environment, species diversity, seasonal abundance. Top |