Evaluation of Possible Nonlethal Side Effects of Permethrin Used in Predator Exclusion Experiments to Evaluate Amblyseius limonicus (Acari: Phytoseiidae) in Biological Control of Cassava Mites (Acari: Tetranychidae)

Permethrin has been recommended for use in predator exclusion studies of Amblyseius limonicus Garman & McGregor (formerly in Typhlodromalus), an important predator of tetranychid cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) pests: green mite, Mononychellus progresivus Doreste, and twospotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch. Among criteria for a chemical exclusion agent are selective toxicity and lack of side effects such as enhanced pest fecundity, stimluation of plant growth, or improvement of host plant nutritional quality. Laboratory and field tests provided no evidence for phytostimulation, change in cassava nutritional quality, or increased spider mite fecundity; however, abundance of nontarget arthropods was significantly reduced in permethrin-treated field plots. A possible repellency effect of permethrin on M. progresivus was suggested under laboratory conditions. Implications of repellency and lowered abundance of nontarget species for field use of permethrin as a predator exclusion agent are discussed.