The Problem of the Coconut Mite, Eriophyes guerreronis (Keifer), in the Coconut Groves of Trinidad and Tobago

The coconut mite, Eriophyes guerreronis Keifer, Eriophyidae, is now a serious coconut pest of the Caribbean and Latin America. It causes a range of damage to the coconut fruit from scarring and early fruit-fall, to fruit distortion and fruit-stunting. Losses in eopra often reach a 60% level due to the reduction in fruit size. The mite lives under the calyx of the coconut fruit, which it infests at the flower stage, and persists there until several weeks after the mature fruit fall to the ground. Only in Brazil is the mite known to affect developing coconut seedlings in the field. Mites which become exposed on the surface of the maturing fruit are easily dispersed by the wind to female flowers in the dry season or become washed off by the rains during the wet season as dissemination becomes restricted. The epidemic is therefore oriented towards dry conditions with cool, windy nights. Successful control measures employ the injection of the infested tree trunk with 50 to 100 ml vamidothion ("Kilval"), a phosphorus ester with systemic properties, towards the end of the wet season when the mite population is lowest. The permanent reduction of the epidemic is related to the organization of farmer control programmes which integrate unfavorable climatic conditions with effective chemical control.