Red palm mite update?

[mnorell]

I've been trying to look up info on the Red Palm Mite, Raoiella indica, and can't find much info written on it since 2009 regarding current distribution, status with native and perhaps exotic natural enemies, etc. It came to my attention as I've been noticing a lot of brown lower leaves on most coconuts here in the Lower Keys and was surprised to have been informed by a nursery up in Tavernier that an inspector had found it on their Cocos and they were being treated and under quarantine.

I subsequently went to a nursery here on Big Pine and discovered it on a large lot of Cocos seedlings. I rubbed the back of the leaves and my finger came back blood red. I alerted the nursery employee, who said the inspector had just been there and had said nothing. Is this just being considered a fact of life now down here? I came back to the house and examined all our Cocos and indeed all are harboring this pest to varying degrees. I'm noticing that the Golden Malay form seem inordinately affected not only in my garden but elsewhere in the islands, with much worse crown appearance for this type as opposed to the Maypans and Green Malays.

I had read that there is a natural enemy, Amblyseius largoensis, that was responding to the infestation in Florida through naturally increasing numbers and living in coexistence with colonies of Raoiella (on which it can exclusively feed and complete its life-cycle). Anybody have any further info on this? I'm wondering if this is just something that will remain in its present state, or if Amblyseius is increasing slowly to combat this threat to some degree...or if there actually is another predator in testing or being released anytime soon?

[Keith N Tampa (ex SoJax)]

You can buy Amblyseius swirsky, another predator, that might feed on the Red Palm Mite. It certainly devours the Two Spotted Mites.

[mnorell]

Thanks for that info, Keith. I'll investigate it further.

I'm guessing we can't assume A. largoensis will ever be a silver bullet for this. Now that my eyes have been opened to how common Raoiella seems to be, I'm seeing most Cocos from here to Key West appear to be affected to some degree (and I'm assuming, perhaps incorrectly, that this is the primary culprit in the large-scale problems I've noticed). I was walking today in Truman Annex (in K.W.) and the tall Cocos street-trees there are looking particularly yellow and ratty in the lower half of the crowns, presumably from this scourge.

I saw the abstract of a report from Puerto Rico that mentioned that even though A. largoensis was growing and feeding on Raoiella, it wasn't seen substantially reducing the overall numbers there. But I guess it would be worse if we didn't have this native predatory mite (and a few other natural enemies) running around here to assist to some degree. Poor Cocos! What insult will appear on the scene next?

[atlantisrising]

Reviving an old thread here, I'm looking for a solution to control these pesky red palm mites. So far I've been able to temporarily slow them down but never get rid of them. They are on a wide range of species but seem to like Adonidia, Carpoxylon, Satakentia, Neovietcha, Vietcha and Pinanga the most. Has anyone had any success controlling these?

[BPK Palm Addict]

Agreed.  Carpoxylon and Satakentia seem to be the biggest targets in my garden as well.