Arthropod Infestation Levels on Mandarins in California.

ABSTRACT

Integrated pest management (IPM) guidelines for horticulture are typically established from years of experimental research and experience for a crop species. Ecoinformatics methods can help to quickly adapt these guidelines following major changes in growing practices. Citrus production in California is facing several major challenges, one of which is a shift away from sweet oranges [Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck Sapindales Rutaceae] toward mandarins (including mostly cultivars of C. reticulata Blanco and C. clementina hort. ex Tanaka). In the absence of IPM guidelines for mandarins, growers are relying on pest information developed from oranges. We mined a database of management records from commercial growers and consultants to determine densities for four arthropod pests cottony cushion scale (Icerya purchasi Maskell Hemiptera Monophlebidae), citricola scale (Coccus pseudomagnoliarum Kuwana Hemiptera Coccidae), European earwig (Forficula auricularia Linnaeus Dermaptera Forficulidae), citrus red mite (Panonychus citri McGregor Acari Tetranychidae), and a natural enemy, predatory mites in the genus Euseius (Congdon Acarina Phytoseiidae). Densities of cottony cushion scale were approximately 10-40 times higher in the two most commonly grown mandarin species than in sweet oranges, suggesting this pest is reaching outbreak levels more often on mandarins. Densities of the other pests and predatory mites did not differ significantly across citrus species. This is a first step toward establishing IPM guidelines for mandarins for these pests; more research is needed to determine how arthropod densities relate to crop performance in mandarins.