Bioecology of Jasmine Mite, <em>Tetranychus urticae</em> in Different Jasmine Cultivars

Jasmine is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family (Oleaceae). Jasminum sambac, Jasminum auriculatum, Jasminum grandiflorum and Jasminum nitidum are the four cultivable species of Jasminum. The two-spotted mite, Tetranychus urticae, is a key pest of Jasminum sp. To compare the lifecycle of the notorious mite in all the cultivable Jasminum species, a detailed laboratory study was conducted at the Department of Agricultural Entomology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, India. The observations on lifecycle parameters of two-spotted mite, T. urticae, revealed that the life cycle consists of egg, larva, protochrysalis, protonymph, deutochrysalis, deutonymph, teleochrysalis and adult. The lifecycle and duration of each stage are found to be the shortest in J. nitidum and the longest in J. sambac