Mite control options in fruit crops

John Wise, Rufus Isaacs and Larry Gut, Michigan State University Extension, Department of Entomology - April 24, 2012

Many options are available for controlling mites in fruit crops.

Mites can be significant pests of fruit crops. There is an array of miticides available for control of the European red mite (ERM), two-spotted spider mite (TSSM) and rust mites (RM), such as apple and pear rust mites, pear blister mites, plum nursery mites and blueberry bud mites. But their performance characteristics are not all alike.

The following table is designed to summarize several key variables that can help you determine which miticides are optimal for your integrated pest management program.

Compound	Fruit crop	Mites	Life stage target	Seasonal timing	Residual control
Superior, Stylet	Oils, ll fruit crops	ERM, RM	egg/larvae	Early (pre-bloom)	2-6 weeks
Lime-Sulfur	pome, stone, blueberry	RM³	motiles*	Early (delayed-dormant)	2-6 weeks
Dimilin	pear	RM	motiles*	Early (pre-bloom)	2-6 weeks
Savey	pome, stone pome, stone, caneberry, strawberry	ERM TSSM	egg/larvae egg/larvae	Early* Mid (or threshold)	8-12 weeks 6-8 weeks
Onager	stone fruits	TSSM	egg/larvae	Mid (or threshold)**	6-8 weeks
Apollo	pome, cherry, peach	ERM TSSM	egg/larvae egg/larvae	Early*** Mid (or threshold)	8-12 weeks 6-8 weeks
Agri-Mek	pome, stone, grape, pome, stone, strawberry, grape	ERM, RM TSSM	motiles* motiles*	Early**** Mid (or threshold)	8-12 weeks 6-8 weeks
ABBA	pome, plum, grape, strawberry	ERM, RM TSSM	motiles* motiles*	Early**** Mid (or threshold)	8-12 weeks 6-8 weeks
Agri-Flex	pome, grape	ERM, RM	motiles*	Early****	8-12 weeks
Zeal	pome, stone fruits pome, stone, strawberry, grape	ERM TSSM	egg/larvae egg/larvae	Early (or threshold) Mid (or threshold)	8-10 weeks 6-8 weeks
Envidor	pome, plum, grape stone fruits	ERM, RM TSSM	egg, motiles* egg, motiles*	Early (or threshold)** Mid (or threshold)	8-10 weeks 6-8 weeks
Nexter	pome, stone¹, grape	ERM, RM TSSM	motiles* motiles*	Mid (or threshold)** Mid (or threshold)	6-8 weeks 6-8 weeks
Portal	pome	ERM, RM TSSM	motiles* motiles*	Mid (or threshold)** Mid (or threshold)	6-8 weeks 6-8 weeks
Kanemite	Pome pome, strawberry	ERM TSSM	motiles* motiles*	Mid (or threshold)** Mid (or threshold)	6-8 weeks 6-8 weeks
Acramite	pome, peach, plum pome, peach, plum, grape, strawberry	ERM TSSM	motiles* motiles*	Mid (or threshold)** Mid (or threshold)	6-8 weeks 6-8 weeks
Danitol	apple, grape apple, grape, strawberry	ERM TSSM	motiles* motiles*	Mid (or threshold)** Mid (or threshold)	4-6 weeks 4-6 weeks
Brigade	Pear pear, grape, strawberry, caneberry	ERM TSSM	motiles* motiles*	Mid (or threshold)** Mid (or threshold)	4-6 weeks 4-6 weeks
Hero	blueberry, caneberry, strawberry	TSSM	motiles*	Mid (or threshold)**	4-6 weeks
Oberon	strawberry	TSSM	egg, motiles*	Mid (or threshold)	4-6 weeks
Vendex	pome, stone pome, stone, grape, cane, strawberry	ERM TSSM	motiles* motiles*	Mid (or threshold)** Mid (or threshold)	4-6 weeks 4-6 weeks
Endosulfan	pome, stone, blueberry²	RM³	motiles*	Mid (or threshold)**	2-6 weeks
Sulforix	pear, blueberry	RM³	motiles*	Late (post-harvest)	2-6 weeks

* Motile forms include mite larvae, nymph and adult stages.
** Optimally used petal fall through August when mites reach threshold.
*** Optimally used pre-bloom through first cover.
**** Optimally used petal fall through second cover.¹ 300 day phi for cherry²post-harvest only for blueberry³including pear blister mite

This article was published by Michigan State University Extension. For more information, visit https://extension.msu.edu. To have a digest of information delivered straight to your email inbox, visit https://extension.msu.edu/newsletters. To contact an expert in your area, visit https://extension.msu.edu/experts, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).