Mite pests in plant crops: Current issues, inovative approaches and possibilities for controlling them

In the middle of the last century, mites moved into the focus of attention as pests relevant to agriculture, forestry and landscape horticulture, presumably in direct reaction to the 'green revolution' that involved plant cultivation in large-plot monocropping systems, improved methods of cultivation, selection of high-yielding cultivars and intensified use of pesticides and mineral fertilizers. Agroecosystems in which phytophagous mites have become harmful organisms are primarily orchards, vineyards, greenhouses, urban greeneries, plant nurseries and stored plant products, as well as annual field crops to a somewhat lesser degree. Phytophagous mite species belong to a variety of spider mites (Tetranychidae), false spider mites (Tenuipalpidae), gall and rust mites (Eriophyoidae), tarsonemid mites (Tarsonemidae) and acarid mites (Acaridae). Most of these harmful species are widespread, some of them having more economic impact than others and being more detrimental as depending on various specificities of each outdoor agroecosystem in any particular climatic region. The first segment of this overview focuses on the most significant mite pests of agroecosystems and urban horticultural areas in European countries, our own region and in Serbia today, primarily on species that have caused problems in recent years regarding plant production, and it also discusses various molecular methods available for investigating different aspects of the biology of phytophagous mites. Also, acaricides are discussed as a method of controlling mite pests in the light of the current situation and trends on pesticide markets in Serbia and the European Union member-countries.