Acarology Research Laboratory, Department of Plant Protection, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, 11451, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Exp Appl Acarol. 2023 Nov;91(3):429-437. doi: 10.1007/s10493-023-00853-9. Epub 2023 Oct 19.
Early pest detection in an agroecosystem is desired for efficient pest management. A proper sampling plan is thus required with adequate sampling units and a small sample size. The date palm mite, Oligonychus afrasiaticus, is a severe pest of date fruits and its early detection is most needed. The present research aimed to identify whether a certain bunch direction or strand position of date fruit bunches could help in the early detection of date palm mite. The research was conducted in two climatic regions of Saudi Arabia, on six date palm cultivars and during four fruiting seasons. The date palm mite population dynamics data were collected from four bunch directions and three strand positions. For early pest detection, the population estimation started from the first appearance of the mite on the fruit bunches in each season, continuing till the first 3 weeks. The results depicted a clumped distribution of date palm mite in all bunch directions and strand positions. There was no significant difference in the mean date palm mite population, neither among three-strand positions nor among the four bunch directions. The mean population over the weeks showed that date palm mite almost equally infested the fruit bunches from all four directions and increased with non-significant differences. It is suggested that the plant parts basally adjacent to fruit bunches should be focused on the early detection of date palm mite.
早期发现农业生态系统中的虫害有助于进行有效的虫害管理。因此，需要一个合适的抽样计划，其中包括足够的抽样单位和小样本量。阿拉伯木虱是一种严重危害枣椰果实的害虫，因此最需要早期发现。本研究旨在确定枣椰果实的某个果穗方向或果穗位置是否有助于早期发现阿拉伯木虱。该研究在沙特阿拉伯的两个气候区进行，涉及六种枣椰品种和四个结果季节。从每个季节枣椰果实上首次出现螨虫开始，一直持续到前 3 周，收集了阿拉伯木虱种群动态数据。为了进行早期虫害检测，从每个季节开始，在所有四个果穗方向和三个果穗位置上进行种群估计。结果表明，在所有果穗方向和果穗位置上，阿拉伯木虱的分布均呈聚集分布。三个果穗位置之间和四个果穗方向之间的阿拉伯木虱平均种群数量均无显著差异。周平均种群数量表明，阿拉伯木虱几乎均匀地从四个方向侵害果穗，且增加幅度无显著差异。因此，建议重点关注靠近果穗的植物基部，以早期发现阿拉伯木虱。
