Efficiency of different biocontrol agents to control Tetranychus urticae on greenhouse pepper crops

Abstract: Greenhouse crops are susceptible to infestation by many insect and mite pests that can cause serious yield losses. The two spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae (Koch), is one of the most economically important pests of greenhouse grown crops. It is globally distributed on a wide range of host plant species throughout the world. Three greenhouse trials were conducted on sweet pepper crops during winter 2015-16. Three control strategies were used, these exploited the predatory mite Amblyseius swirskii Athias-Henriot (Acari: Phytoseiidae) at a rate of 2/m², the insect predator, Macrolophus caliginosus Wagner (at a rate of 1/m²) and the insect predator Orius albidipennis (Rueter) at a rate of 0.5 adults/m². They were released in a commercial sweet pepper farm at Berkash district, Giza, in Egypt. The results showed that T. urticae was controlled successfully using the mite predator A. swirskii (2 mites per plant) and the insect predator O. albidipennis (2.8 mites per plant), thus our results demonstrated that O. albidipennis is a predator with a good potential for sustainable suppression of T. urticae on sweet pepper.