Tentative Schedule
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Monday
Morning: Introduction, taxonomy, morphology and physiology
- Welcome and intro: What are mites and why are they important?
- Mite diversity worldwide and in the US
- Mite taxonomy
- Mite morphology and physiology
Afternoon: Mite behavior, sample collection, preparation and mite identification
- Mite behavior
- Sample collection, preparation and mounting techniques
- Mite identification, how do you distinguish among families?
- Practical exercise: prepare a sample and identify to which family it belongs
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Tuesday
Morning: Spider mites and Flat mites
- Spider mites (Tetranychoidea) ethology, ecology, control
- Flat mites (Tenuipalpidae) ethology, ecology, control
- Flat mites – virus interactions
Afternoon: Field excursion-Spider mite problems on tropical fruits, vegetables and ornamentals
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Wednesday
Morning: Eriophyoid, Broad and Astigmatid mites
- Eriophyoid mites ethology, ecology, control
- Eriophyoid mites – virus interactions
- Broad mites (Tarsonemidae) ethology, ecology, control
Afternoon: Astigmatid mites, species identification
- Astigmatid mites (Tarsonemidae) ethology, ecology, control
- Practical exercise: identify eriophyoid and broad mites based on symptoms
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Thursday
Morning: Predatory mites (Phytoseiidae)
- The phytoseiid family ethology, ecology
- The use of phytoseiids in bio-control (conservation, augmentation)
Afternoon: Other predatory mites (Stigmeiidae, Cheyletidae, Bdellidae, Cunaxidae, Tydeidae, Anystidae, Erythraeidae)
- How to rear predatory mites
- Biological control of weeds using Eriophyoid mites
- Practical exercise: collect and identify the predators
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Friday
Morning: Basic ecological theories describing multitrophic interactions
- Population dynamics and biocontrol
- Selection of biocontrol agents
Afternoon: IPM -IMM programs for pest mites
- What are IPM and IMM?
- Factors that we should consider when we build an IPM program
- Chemical and cultural control
- Invasive species and quarantine pests for the US/Florida