Broad mite effects on chili shoot damage and yields

Populations of broad mite and other insect pests on chili shoot,that caused shoot damage and yield were studied from a pesticide free chili field in kasetsart university,kamphaeng sacn campus,thailand during september to december 2005. broad mite,polyphagotarsonemus latus was found to be the most common pest collected from young shoots. mite populations started to increase from the end of september and reached their peak after mid october. the peak densities of broad mite per shoot collected by two different methods were: fresh shoots and shaken from shoots were 7.77±0.24 and 10.32±5.97,respectively. spearman's correlation analysis revealed that broad mites and thrips were more abundant on shoots with more curled leaves. downward leaf curling occurred more commonly during the increasing plant damage level in the field. plants infested by broad mites during the early season frequently had a plant damage level higher than 10% in late season. the more plant damages caused the lower chili yield production. plant damage level of more than 50% curled shoots resulted in a significant chili yield reduction. impact of others common pests,thrips and aphid,on chili growth and shoot damage was also discussed. copyright 2011 zoological society of pakistan.