Management
Two-spotted mites feed on a wide variety of crop and ornamental plants and weeds. If infestations are noticed near potato crops, remove any infested weeds.
Mites are most likley to be present in hot weather and can increase in number rapidly.
Two-spotted mites do not have wings but in windy conditions can be blown into crops. Also, because dust interferes with natural predators, crop edges are more likely to be infested. Therefore when monitoring, pay attention to crop edges.
If mottled leaves are seen during regular crop monitoring, check leaves with a 10 times magnifier to confirm whether two-spotted mites are the cause.
When monitoring for mites, also check whether their natural enemies are present. If they are present and over successive monitoring times are increasing, they may control the mite infestation. The main natural control agents of two-spotted mite include the predators stethorus beetle, six-spotted thrips and predatory mites.
Stethorus beetles are natuarlly occuring predators of mites. Adults are small, shiny black beetles about 1mm long. The larva are segmented, soft bodied and usually grey with dark bands on the abdomen. They pupate on the leaf.
Predatory mites are nearly the same size as two-spotted mites. They are usually light brown and pointed at the head end. They lay oval shaped eggs compared to the spherical eggs laid by two-spotted mite as present in the photo.
Certain species of thrips such as this six-spotted thrips are predators of mites.
If no natural control agents are seen and more than 20% of leaves are affected by two-spotted mites, a miticide should be applied.
Most miticides do not kill eggs, therefore a follow-up spray 7–10 days later is often required to control new hatchings.
Acknowledgment
Funding for this work to support Indonesian potato farmers and WA seed potato exports was provided by ACIAR (the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research) and the Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia.