Skip to main content Skip to navigation

Bamboo Spider Mite Control With Foliar Applied Acaricides

B. S. Gerdeman and L. K. Tanigoshi
Washington State University
Vancouver Research and Extension Unit
Vancouver, WA 98665-9752
Website: vancouverreu.wsu.edu

Bamboo spider mites, Stigmaeopsis celarius Banks (=Schizotetranychus celarius) live in protected web nests and are difficult to control. Current recommendations are outdated and do not reflect the new acaricide chemistries. Nine acaricides were evaluated for bamboo spider mite control. Bioassays were performed with a Precision Spray Tower. Acaricides were applied at 15 psi in 1 ml of an aqueous suspension on to 0.5 inch long sections of bamboo leaves, Phyllostachys nigra inverted on water moistened cotton wool pads placed in Petri dishes. Spider mites were scored as alive or dead based on the presence/absence of motile live stages at 1, 2 and 3 days posttreatment. Replicated bioassays were performed on 23, 28 and 30 September 2004. Data for corresponding replications for the trial dates were from 25 leaf arenas per treatment.

Talstar (bifenthrin) provided complete control of the heavily webbed bamboo spider mite colonies after 24 hours. Metasystox-R (oxydemeton-methyl), Tame (fenpropathrin), Sanmite (pyridaben) and Mesa (milbemectin) provided comparable results with Talstar at 2 and 3 days posttreatment. The selective contact miticides Avid (abamectin), Floramite (bifenazate) and Kanemite (acequinocyl) performed poorly against the bamboo spider mite after 3 days. Specialty bamboo growers require quick knockdown of incipient bamboo spider mite colonies that can rapidly construct dense web nests reducing pesticide contact, making conventional control methods difficult.

Table 1. Bamboo spider mite bioassay on Phyllostachys nigra foliage.
Treatment amt/100 gal lb(AI) Percent mortality
1DAT 2DAT 3DAT
Means within columns followed by the same letter are not significantly different (Tukey HSD test, P <0.05).
Avid 0.15EC 118 ml 0.005 15c 30b 44b
Floramite SC 113 g 0.25 15c 15bc 23bc
Kanemite 15EC 917 ml 0.3 11c 15bc 26bc
Metasystox-R 946 ml 0.5 96a 96a 100a
Mesa EC 946 ml 0.02 60b 78a 78a
Sanmite 75WP 113 g 0.2 84ab 96a 100a
Talstar F 592 ml 0.1 100a
Tame 2.4EC 473 ml 0.3 89a 100a
Untreated Check 0.0c 0.0c 0.0c