A NEW STRATEGY FOR CONTROLLING THE DATE PALM MITE, Oligonychus afrasiaticus (MCGREGOR) AND Eutetranychus palmatus ATTIAH (ACARI: TETRANYCHIDAE) USING CINNAMALDEHYDE

In this study, cinnamaldehyde, has been used systematically as an acaricide against two mites; Oligonychus afrasiaticus (McGregor) and Eutetranychus palmatus Attiah infesting date palm trees in Saudi Arabia. Samples were collected from highly pest ridden trees in Al-Mulida area, situated in the region of Qassim. Trials were made under field and laboratory conditions. Six dilutions 500, 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500 and 3000 ppm were prepared and applied on over filter papers in petri dishes. Mortality data was recorded after regular intervals of a day till seven days of post-treatment application. Highest mortality values of the mites; O. afrasiaticus and E. palmatus were 90.84% and 88.64% under field conditions and 93.45% and 90.26%, under laboratory conditions respectively at the concentration of 3000 ppm. Mortality was found to be 2.44, 4.88, 6.12, 10.92, 11.59 and 23.05% at cinnamaldehyde concentrations of 500, 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500 and 3000 ppm respectively in case of N. barkeri under field conditions. When same concentrations were applied to A. swirskii the mortality was recorded as1.24, 4.88, 10.20, 13.57, 14.84 and 25.36%, respectively. Observed mortalities in case of both predatory mites were almost the same under laboratory conditions with the marginal difference of +/- 3%. Based upon successful trials, cinnamaldehyde can be viewed as a prospective substitute of chemical acaricides in near future.