DEVELOPMENT OF A METHOD FOR MASS REARING OF NEOSEIULUS BARAKI, A MITE PREDATORY ON THE COCONUT MITE, ACERIA GUERRERONIS

The coconut mite, Aceria guerreronis Keifer, has emerged as a common menace to most of the coconut plantations in India. After its first upsurge in Kerala at the end of the 1990´s, the mite has spread to many states in southern and northern India, causing considerable damage. Coconut provides one third of the agricultural income in the regions in which it is grown and more than 10 million people are dependent on this cash crop directly or indirectly through coconut-based industries like coir, copra, oil, honey, furniture, handicrafts, beverages, bakery products and so on. The economic instability of the coconut farming community and the people employed in coconut-based industries rank the highest order. A critical assessment of the various problems created by A. guerreronis in the agricultural economy of India is presented in order to supplement data on crop loss through nut malformation, nut fall, loss in fibre and copra. Varietal differences in susceptibility of the plant and future strategies in terms of management practices for an early control of the mite are discussed, and suggestions for future activities to alleviate mite damage are presented.

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The invasive coconut mite Aceria guerreronis (Acari: Eriophyidae): origin and invasion sources inferred from mitochondrial (16S) and nuclear (ITS) sequences

Bulletin of Entomological Research ◽

10.1079/ber2005382 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 95 (6) ◽

pp. 505-516 ◽

Cited By ~ 75

Author(s):

D. Navia ◽

G.J. de Moraes ◽

G. Roderick ◽

M. Navajas

Keyword(s):

Sequence Data ◽

Common Source ◽

Aceria Guerreronis ◽

Dna Sequence Data ◽

Coconut Mite ◽

Ocean Region ◽

Invasion Routes ◽

History Of ◽

Nuclear Its ◽

Production Areas

AbstractOver the past 30 years the coconut mite Aceria guerreronis Keifer has emerged as one of the most important pests of coconut and has recently spread to most coconut production areas worldwide. The mite has not been recorded in the Indo-Pacific region, the area of origin of coconut, suggesting that it has infested coconut only recently. To investigate the geographical origin, ancestral host associations, and colonization history of the mite, DNA sequence data from two mitochondrial and one nuclear region were obtained from samples of 29 populations from the Americas, Africa and the Indo-ocean region. Mitochondrial DNA 16S ribosomal sequences were most diverse in Brazil, which contained six of a total of seven haplotypes. A single haplotype was shared by non-American mites. Patterns of nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) variation were similar, again with the highest nucleotide diversity found in Brazil. These results suggest an American origin of the mite and lend evidence to a previous hypothesis that the original host of the mite is a non-coconut palm. In contrast to the diversity in the Americas, all samples from Africa and Asia were identical or very similar, consistent with the hypothesis that the mite invaded these regions recently from a common source. Although the invasion routes of this mite are still only partially reconstructed, the study rules out coconut as the ancestral host of A. guerreronis, thus prompting a reassessment of efforts using quarantine and biological control to check the spread of the pest.

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