Prospects for Biological Control of Plant Feeding Mites and Other Harmful Organisms

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiv

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2. Mesostigmata as Biological Control Agents, with Emphasis on Rhodacaroidea and Parasitoidea

   • Raphael C. Castilho, Renan Venancio, João Paulo Z. Narita

   Pages 1-31

3. Potential of Ascidae, Blattisociidae and Melicharidae (Acari: Mesostigmata) as Biological Control Agents of Pest Organisms

   • Gilberto José de Moraes, Renan Venancio, Victor L. V. dos Santos, Adilson D. Paschoal

   Pages 33-75

4. The Potential of Free-Living Laelapid Mites (Mesostigmata: Laelapidae) as Biological Control Agents

   • Grazielle Furtado Moreira, Gilberto José de Moraes

   Pages 77-102

5. Macrochelid Mites (Mesostigmata: Macrochelidae) as Biological Control Agents

   • Letícia H. de Azevedo, Rowan M. Emberson, Fernanda de C. N. Esteca, Gilberto José de Moraes

   Pages 103-132

6. The Phytoseiidae (Acari: Mesostigmata) as Biological Control Agents

   • James A. McMurtry, Nazer Famah Sourassou, Peterson Rodrigo Demite

   Pages 133-149

7. Prostigmata (Acari: Trombidiformes) as Biological Control Agents

   • Fabio A. Hernandes, Tatiane Marie M. G. de Castro, Renan Venancio

   Pages 151-184

8. Stigmaeidae

   • Qing-Hai Fan, Carlos H. W. Flechtmann

   Pages 185-206

9. The Erythraeoidea (Trombidiformes: Prostigmata) as Biological Control Agents, with Special Reference to the Genus Balaustium

   • Karen Muñoz-Cárdenas, Luz Stella Fuentes-Quintero, Diana Rueda-Ramirez, C. Daniel Rodríguez, R. Fernando Cantor

   Pages 207-239

10. The Cheyletoidea (Prostigmata), with Special Reference to the Potential of Cheyletus malaccensis Oudemans as Biological Control Agent of Post-harvest Pests

    • Christos G. Athanassiou, Nickolas E. Palyvos

    Pages 241-249

11. Food Web Engineering to Enhance Biological Control of Tetranychus urticae by Phytoseiid Mites (Tetranychidae: Phytoseiidae) in Citrus

    • Josep A. Jaques, Ernestina Aguilar-Fenollosa, Mónica A. Hurtado-Ruiz, Tatiana Pina

    Pages 251-269

12. Past, Present, and Future: Biological Control of Spider Mites on California-Grown Avocados

    • Jesús R. Lara, Mark S. Hoddle

    Pages 271-308

13. Mite Pathogens and Their Use in Biological Control

    • Vitalis W. Wekesa, Fabien C. C. Hountondji, Surendra K. Dara

    Pages 309-328

The history of biological control of harmful organisms by mites is marked by outstanding achievements with a few premiere natural enemies. Early works concentrated on the use of predatory mites for the control of synanthropic flies, More recently, the focus has been mostly on mites of the family Phytoseiidae for the control of plant feeding mites. This is an important family of acarine predators of plant pest mites, which are effectively used in agriculture worldwide. Besides the vast knowledge in several species in this family, there are as well many opportunities for biological control, represented in an array of organisms and through the improvement of management techniques, which are constantly explored by researchers worldwide. This has resulted in an increasing interest in predatory mite species within the families Stigmaeidae, Ascidae, Laelapidae, Rhodacaroidea, Macrochelidae, Erythraeidae and Cheyletidae, among others. This book will compile important developments with predatory mite species within these families, which are emerging as important tools for integrated pest management. New developments with predatory insects and pathogenic organisms attacking mites will also be a subject of this book. Finally, the potential and gaps in knowledge in biological control of acarine plant pests will be addressed.

• Acarine pests
• Acarine predators
• Biological control
• Mesostigmata
• Prostigmata
• Entomology

• Department of Entomology and Nematology Tropical Research and Education Center, University of Florida - IFAS, Homestead, USA

  Daniel Carrillo, Jorge E. Peña

• Departamento de Entomologia e Acarologia, Escola Superior de Agricultura “Luiz de Queiroz, Universidade de São Paulo, Piracicaba, Brazil

  Gilberto José de Moraes

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