Seasonal incidence and influence of weather factors on population dynamics of two spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch in Tomato eco-system

A study was conducted to assess the population dynamics of two spotted spider mite during the two major seasons viz., kharif 2014 and summer 2015 under field condition. It revealed that occurrence of two spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae was less severe during kharif 2014 (Aug. 2014 to Dec. 2014) and the mite population density varied from 2.01 to 6.45/2cm² area of leaf and increased steadily during summer 2015 (Jan. 2015 to May 2015) and the mite population density varied from 8.42 to 11.72/2cm² area of leaf. From the present investigation, it is evident that the two spotted spider mite population on tomato had a significant positive correlation with maximum temperature (r = 0.603) and a negative correlation with relative humidity (r =-0. 242) and rainfall (r =-0. 121).