SURVEY OF THE ERIOPHYID ANTHOCOPTES RIBIS IN FINLAND

The free-living eriophyid mite Anthocoptes ribis (Acari: Eriophyidae) caused serious damage to red currants in the 1970s although it had been previously reported in Finland in the 1940s.
It caused leaf malformations and reduced flowering on cv.
Rondom.
Insecticides controlled the mite until the late 1990s when it was again common.
A monitoring method was developed with the aim of surveying the occurrence of A. ribis before any visible symptoms appear.
The survey revealed that A. ribis occurred most commonly on black currant where high numbers of mites were observed (more than 100 mites/cm² of leaf area). Although there were considerable differences between cultivars, no resistant cultivars could be found.
Signs of resistance to some previously effective organophosphate insecticides were noticed.
As A. ribis infects plants in nurseries, it can easily be distributed with propagation materials.
The methods used in this survey can be used to monitor A. ribis in nurseries and orchards.
The effect of A. ribis on the yield still needs to be clarified, but it is obvious that the high densities of mites found in this survey are not acceptable.

VIII International Rubus and Ribes Symposium

T. Tuovinen, I. Lindqvist, E. Hård, S. Simppa

Ribes, currants, Eriophyidae, gall mites, monitoring, chemical control

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2002.585.62