Agricultural Acarology
by B S Chhillar, Praduman Bhatnagar, Rachna Gulati
ISBN: 9789383129072
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Imprint : Daya Publishing House
Year : 2021
Price : Rs. 11995.00
Biblio : xii+355p., col. plts., figs., ind., 23 cm
Author Profile
Dr. B.S. Chhillar is Director of Research at CCS HAU, Hisar. He also served as Professor and Head (Entomology).
About The Book
Acarines are prominent pests of field crops, granaries, warehouse and animals (arthropods, birds) causing heavy financial losses. House dust acarines are notorious agents of allergic reactions in human beings and other mammals. Acarines because of their small size and cryptic habitat are difficult to detect and hence most of the time infestations are overlooked. Once established in a new area, certain biological characteristics like high fecundity, various modes of reproduction, short life cycles, a myriad of dispersal techniques and adaptability to diverse ecological conditions allow rapid escalation to pest status. On the other hand, acarines are among the major resources for biological control of various classes of pests including insects, nematodes and weeds. These widely distributed microscopic animal ranging from free living to parasitic forms and terrestrial to aquatic forms require specialized techniques for handling. The literature regarding their biodiversity, collection, rearing, biology etc. are scattered and most of the time unavailable to scientists interested to work on them. Hence, a comprehensive book on agricultural acarology is prepared which covers all aspects of acarine biodiversity, acarological techinques and their role as bio-control agent in an abridged form. The book is divided into three sections-’Acarine biodiversity’, Acarological techniques’ and ‘Acarines as biocontrol agents’. Acarine biodiversity contains six chapters, one each on plant, stored, soil, house dust, parasitic and water mites. In second section, details on techniques of collection and extraction, preparation and mounting, labelling and housing the collection, culturing, counting and bioassay are given in individual chapters. Information related to predatory potential of acarines against insects, nematodes and weeds is included in third section in three chapters. The book has been liberally furnished with illustrations for better understanding. An extensive list of references and glossary are also provided at the ende of the book.
Table of Contents
Contents Chapter 1: Introduction; Acarology-development as a science of plant protection, relationship with other arachnids, identification keys of its orders and suborders, Acarines-their types and habitats, acarological techniques, acarines as biocontrol agents; Chapter 2: Plant Mites; Crop wise status of mite pests and losses in India, morphological genera, peculiar damage symptoms of prominent species of Tetranychidae, Eriophyidae, Tenuipalpidae, Tarsonemeidae, Tuckrellidae, management strategies for phytophagous mites-cultural control, sterlization, host plant reiistance, predatory mites, insect, spiders as biocontrol agents, botanical pesticides, antimetabolites, fungal pathogens, viruses, bacteria and chemical control, list of pest mites on different host crops (cereals, pulses, oilseed, millets, fibres and forage, vegetables, horticulture, ornamental and other cash crops) bioecology of important phytophagous mites; list of predatory mites associated with mites; Chapter 3: Stored Product Mites; Distribution, morphological characters of Acaridae, Carpoglyphidae, Glycyphagidae, Pyroglyphagidae; commonly occurring genera, nature of damage, biology, mites as energy transformers, as source of allergens, polluters of human food, bioecology of important pest mites, management practices-preventive measures, fumigants, inert dust, botanicals, photoperiod, pheromones, HTST techniques, biocontrol agents, list of stored grain/product mites, predatory/parasitic mites associated with mite pest; Chapter 4: Soil Mites; Oribatid mites-morphology, biology, lifecycle, decomposition and mineralizatiojn, concept of acaricompost, bioindicators, oribatid families and genera, Mesostigmatid mites-morphology, life cycle, Prostigmatid mites-alicorhagia fragilis, Alycus roseus, trombidiid mites-life cycle, Allothrombium sp, Trombidium sp; Chapter 5: Housedust Mites; Distribution, morphology, biology, mating behaviour, mites as source of allergens, allergenic properties of house dust mites, mechanism of mite, allergenic reactions, diagnostic and immune assays, important house dust mites, contamination, control measures; Chapter 6: Parasitic Mites; Mites associated with mammals, biology, nature of damage, important mites associated with mammals, control measures, Bird mites-distribution, bioecology, infestation level in birds, Trombicula autumnalis, Ornithonyssus bursa, Hypodectes propus, Dermanyssus gallinae, Ornithonyssus sylviarum, Control measures, Honeybee Mites-Ectoparasitic mites: Acarapis woodi, Phoretic mites, scavengers, Predatory mites; Chapter 7: Water Mites; Distribution, Lifecycle, Families and Commonly occuring Genera; Chapter 8: Collection and Extraction of Acarines; Housedust Mites-dust sampling, heat escape method, mobility test method, collection method for mounting, mite detection in water, ultrasonic technique, mite detection through DIN-A4 paper, parasitic mites-from birds-direct examination, modified berlese method, from domestic animals-brushing
