TOXICIDAD DE ACARICIDAS PARA EL ÁCARO ROJO DE LAS PALMAS Raoiella indica (ACARI: TENUIPALPIDAE).

The red palm mite, Raoiella indica Hirst (Acari: Tenuipalpidae), is a pest recently introduced to Mexico, and is under epidemiological surveillance. In order to reduce its expansion and damage, several phytosanitary activities are carried out, including sampling, diagnosis, and control of infestation points, by means of sanitary pruning and application of acaricides. Acaricides are selected based on effectiveness tests developed in other countries where the R. indica local populations may have a different response to those acaricides. The aim of this study was to determine the toxicity of 14 acaricides in a red mite R. indica population collected in Tabasco, Mexico. Bioassays were conducted under laboratory conditions, placing R. indica adult females on leaf blade pieces of coconut palm (Cocos nucifera L.) impregnated with acaricide solutions. Twenty-four hours after application, mite mortality was evaluated and the Probit procedure was used to analyze the data. According to the lethal concentration 50 % (LC50) and 90 % (LC90), the most toxic acaricides to R. indica adults were fenazaquin and milbemectin, followed by abamectin and dicofol. Acequinocyl, fenpyroximate, propargite, formetanate hydrochloride, sulfur, and bifenthrin were less toxic. These results provide information for the chemical control of this pest and to lay the foundations for a strategy to make a rational use of acaricides. In addition, they should be complemented with biological effectiveness information of these products in situ, proper application timing, and how to minimize the impact on R. indica's natural antagonists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]