~ 1495 ~ The Pharma Innovation Journal 2022; SP-11(11): 1495-1500 ISSN (E): 2277-7695 ISSN (P): 2349-8242 NAAS Rating: 5.23 TPI 2022; SP-11(11): 1495-1500 © 2022 TPI www.thepharmajournal.com Received: 27-08-2022 Accepted: 29-09-2022 M Sharath Department of Sericulture, College of Agriculture, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India KC Narayanaswamy Director of Education, College of Agriculture, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India C Chinnamade Gowda AINP on Agricultural Acarology, Department of Entomology, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India KS Jagadish Department of Entomology, College of Agriculture, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India Manjunath Gowda Department of Sericulture, College of Agriculture, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India Corresponding Author: M Sharath Department of Sericulture, College of Agriculture, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India Demographics and developmental biology of mites infesting mulberry M Sharath, KC Narayanaswamy, C Chinnamade Gowda, KS Jagadish and Manjunath Gowda Abstract The study was conducted from March to December 2019 to know the species composition of mites infesting bush and tree type mulberry gardens. Observations were recorded at fortnightly intervals. The study revealed the association of two phytophagous mites viz., Polyphagotarsonemus latus (Banks), Tetranychus truncatus (Ehara) and three predatory mites viz., Neoseiulus longispinosus (Evans), Euseius ovalis (Evans), Amblyseius sp. In both tree and bush mulberry, P. latus was observed only in the upper canopy (top 6-7 leaves). P. latus infested foliage becomes rigid or bronzed and assumes a shrivelled and scorched aspect. The apical leaves were heavily damaged, grow distorted and die; similarly in case of the buds. Blistering, crinkling and development of dark colour follows mite attack. Total population of P. latus (2cm 2 leaf area) attained peak in November and August on bush and tree mulberry, respectively. Total population of P. latus showed significant positive correlation with RH on both bush and tree type of mulberry. The total developmental period for P. latus and T. truncatus ranged from 3.24 to 3.91 days and 9.40 to 9.52 days, respectively. Keywords: Polyphagotarsonemus latus, tetranychus truncatus, mulberry, demographics, biology Introduction The increase in productivity of silk per unit area can be achieved by suitable production technologies, combined with eco-friendly management of pests and diseases of mulberry and the silkworm. Poor yield of mulberry is attributed to a number of factors, of which losses inflicted by insect pests has been considerable. Though the frequent leaf picking and pruning of the shoot restrict the pest build up, many of them still find enough time and place on mulberry for feeding and breeding. Over 300 insect and non-insect pests have been reported to attack mulberry (Srinivasgowda 2004) [19] . Mite infestation in mulberry adversely affects the economic characters of silkworm and cocoon. The importance of mites as crops pests is noteworthy. Narayanaswamy et al (1996) [12] reported fifteen species of mites on mulberry, of which seven species were reported from India viz., Aceria mori Keifer, Eotetranychus orientalis (Klein), Tetranychus equitorius McGregor, T. ludeni Zacher, T. neocaledoinicus Andre, T. telarius Linnaeus and T. urticae Koch. Tetranychus truncatus Ehara was first described from mulberry in Japan (Ehara 1956) [6] . Bolland et al (1998) [4] reported 62 host plants for T. truncatus and its distribution is restricted to Asian countries. T. truncatus was recorded from the North Western Himalayan regions of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh on Dahlia sp. (Rather 1983) [16] . It was reported on both wild and cultivated species of mulberry in Karnataka (Srinivasa et al 2012) [21] . Though Polyphagotarsonemus latus (Banks) was reported on jute as a serious pest since 1940, it was reported on mulberry only in 2002 (Chauhan et al 2002) [5] . P. latus is a major pest in chilli and also known to attack more than 250 species of plants (Rajlakshmi et al 2009) [14] . It is popular known as yellow mite, broad mite, chilli mite, etc. Material and Methods Seasonal incidence Fortnightly collection of mites was made from March to December during 2019 in Bengaluru (Location 1) (12.8691° N, 77.5342° E) and Chikkaballapura (Location 2) (13.2781° N, 77.9096° E) districts, where mulberry is cultivated as bush and tree, respectively. Fortnightly collection of mites was also done in bush type of mulberry garden at GKVK campus (Location 3). In each location five mulberry gardens with V-1 variety were selected and each garden was sub-divided into three sub-plots.