Not available – first paragraph follows: During the past three years, we have investigated the use of pesticide-resistant strains of spider mite predator released into almond orchards as components of an integrated management program. This predatory mite, Metaseiulus occidentalis (Nesbitt) provides effective biological control of the Pacific and two-spotted spider mites, Tetranychus pacificus McGregor and T. urticae Koch, respectively, as well as the European red mite, Panonychus ulmi (Koch).

The authors thank F. Cove in Groot, and H. van de Baan for assistance, and are grateful to the growers who made their orchards available. This project is supported in part by funds from the Almond Board of California, UC/ IPM Program, Experiment Station Project 3522-H, and Western Regional Project-84.