Evaluation of Some Predatory Mites effect Against Bemisia tabaci Gennadius (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) Infesting Tomato Crop

Abstract

In order to maximize the sustainable development and minimize using of chemical insecticide and its hazards to the environment, the current study was designed to elucidate the possible predacious effect of some predatory mites namely; Neoseiulus californicus, Typhlodrompis swirskii, Neoseiulus cucumeris, Typhlodromus nigavi, Phytoseiulius persimilis and Vertemic/Egyxide oil combination against Bemisia tabaci, in two summer seasons of tomato cultivars, either as a single treatment or in combination in a 2-yr field study; August 2018 and August 2019 in complete randomized block design. The results indicated that the single treatment of T. swirskii and T. nigavi as well as Vertemic/Egyxide oil (1ml + 2.5 ml/ liter combination) recoded 95.83, 81.16, and 77.39 reduction percentages in B. tabaci population in the first season respectively, the general mean of B. tabaci in the two seasons was 0.598, 3.307 and 3.379 individual/leaflet respectively after treatment by T. swirskii and T. nigavi and Vertemic/Egyxide oil. Moreover, a single treatment of N. californicus and N. cucumeris had a weak reduction effect against B. tabaci. Meanwhile, P. persimilis reduction effect was non significantly different from the control. Whereas, in the case of combination treatment the results indicated that all combination treatment had a significant reduction effect against B. tabaci in the two seasons compared with the control in the two seasons. Our results indicated a considerable role of different predatory mites including; T. swirskii and T. nigavi as effective biological control agents or Vertemic/Egyxide oil combination against B. tabaci and can be useful in integrated management programs of B. tabaci pest.