Some influences of area and pest management on apple mite populations in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia

Biweekly leaf samples were taken from commercial apple orchards in four main growing areas, from north to south of the Okanagan Valley, each about 70 km apart, during the full growing season of 1983. Both phytophagous and predacious mite distribution and abundance were influenced by the area and four management practices. Unsprayed orchards had few mites, whereas regularly sprayed orchards tended to have larger mite populations, the species composition and abundance of which varied with area. The numbers of some species of phytophagous mites appeared to be related to the species and abundance of predacious mites present in a given orchard