Miticides used in controlling mites in fruit

John Wise and Rufus Isaacs, Michigan State University Extension, Department of Entomology - April 26, 2022

Updated from an original article written by John Wise, Rufus Isaacs and Larry Gut.

There are many options available for mite control in fruit crops.

Mite feeding injury on peach leaves. Photo by Mark Longstroth, MSU Extension.

Mites can be significant pests of fruit crops. There are many miticides available for control of European red mites (ERM), twospotted spider mites (TSSM), cyclamen mites (CM) and rust mites (RM), as well as apple and pear rust mites, pear blister mite, plum nursery mite, blueberry bud mite, but according to Michigan State University Extension, 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	All 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
Onager Optek	Pome and stone fruits	ERM	Egg/larvae	Early***	8-12 weeks
Onager Optek	Pome, stone, grape	TSSM	Egg/larvae	Mid (or threshold)**	6-8 weeks
Apollo	Pome, cherry, peach	ERM	Egg/larvae	Early***	8-12 weeks
Apollo	Pome, cherry, peach	TSSM	Egg/larvae	Mid (or threshold)	6-8 weeks
Agri-Mek, ABBA	Pome, stone, grape	ERM, RM	Motiles*	Early****	8-12 weeks
Agri-Mek, ABBA	Pome, stone, strawberry, grape	TSSM	Motiles*	Mid (or threshold)	6-8 weeks
Minecto Pro	Pome, stone	ERM, RM	Motiles*	Early****	8-12 weeks
Minecto Pro	Pome, stone	TSSM	Motiles*	Mid (or threshold)	6-8 weeks
ABBA	Pome, plum, grape, strawberry	ERM, RM	Motiles*	Early****	8-12 weeks
ABBA	Pome, plum, grape, strawberry	TSSM	Motiles*	Mid (or threshold)	6-8 weeks
Agri-Flex	Pome, grape	ERM, RM	Motiles*	Early****	8-12 weeks
Gladiator	Pome, stone, grape	ERM, RM	Motiles*	Early****	8-12 weeks
Gladiator	Pome, stone, grape	TSSM	Motiles*	Mid (or threshold)	6-8 weeks
Zeal	Pome, stone fruits	ERM	Egg/larvae	Early (or threshold)**	8-10 weeks
Zeal	Pome, stone, strawberry, grape	TSSM	Egg/larvae	Mid (or threshold)**	6-8 weeks
Envidor	Pome, plum, grape	ERM	Egg, motiles*	Early (or threshold)**	8-10 weeks
Envidor	Stone fruits	TSSM	Egg, motiles*	Mid (or threshold)	6-8 weeks
Nexter	Pome, stone¹, grape	ERM, RM	Motiles*	Mid (or threshold)**	6-8 weeks
Nexter	Pome, stone¹, grape	TSSM	Motiles*	Mid (or threshold)**	6-8 weeks
Portal	Pome	ERM, RM	Motiles*	Mid (or threshold)**	6-8 weeks
Portal	Pome	TSSM	Motiles*	Mid (or threshold)	6-8 weeks
Nealta	Pome, grape, stone fruits	ERM	Motiles*	Mid (or threshold)**	6-8 weeks
Nealta	Pome, grape, stone fruits	TSSM	Motiles*	Mid (or threshold)	6-8 weeks
Magister	Pome and stone fruits, blueberry, caneberry, grapes	TSSM, ERM, RM	Eggs, Motiles*	Mid (or threshold)	4-6 weeks
Kanemite	Pome fruits	ERM	Motiles*	Mid (or threshold)**	6-8 weeks
Kanemite	Pome, strawberry, blueberry, stone fruits	TSSM	Motiles*	Mid (or threshold)	6-8 weeks
Acramite , Banter	Pome, peach, plum	ERM	Motiles*	Mid (or threshold)**	6-8 weeks
Acramite , Banter	Pome, peach, plum, grape, strawberry	TSSM	Motiles*	Mid (or threshold)	6-8 weeks
Danitol	Apple, grape	ERM	Motiles*	Mid (or threshold)**	4-6 weeks
Danitol	Apple, grape, strawberry	TSSM	Motiles*	Mid (or threshold)	4-6 weeks
Brigade	Pear	ERM	Motiles*	Mid (or threshold)**	4-6 weeks
Brigade	Pear, grape, strawberry, caneberry	TSSM	Motiles*	Mid (or threshold)	4-6 weeks
Hero	Blueberry, caneberry, strawberry	TSSM	Motiles*	Mid (or threshold)**	4-6 weeks
Oberon	Strawberry	TSSM	Eggs, motiles*	Mid (or threshold)	4-6 weeks
Vendex	Pome, stone	ERM	Motiles*	Mid (or threshold)**	4-6 weeks
Vendex	Pome, stone, grape, caneberry, strawberry	TSSM	Motiles*	Mid (or threshold)	4-6 weeks
Spear-T	Pome, blueberry, Stone fruits	ERM TSSM	Motiles*	Mid (or threshold)**	2-6 weeks
Sil-Matrix	Fruit crops	ERM, RM, TSSM	Motiles*	Early or Mid (with multiple applications)	2-6 weeks
Venerate	Stone fruits, grape	TSSM	Motiles*	Early or Mid (or threshold)**	2-6 weeks
Sulforix	Pear, blueberry	RM²	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 (preharvest interval) for cherry
^{2 I}ncluding 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).