The objective was to evaluate aromatic plantsâ?? effects on the acceptance, preference, egg\nload, and life span of females of the twospotted spider mite (TSSM) in laboratory experiments and\nTSSM population under aromatic plantsâ?? intercropping in greenhouse experiments. The\npseudofruits production was also evaluated. For the laboratory, basilâ??s, Chinese chivesâ??, chivesâ??,\nand garlicâ??s influence on TSSM were tested on strawberry leaves. Four laboratory experiments\nwere conducted: (1) Multiple choice test; (2) T-shaped arena test; (3) hostâ??plant acceptance on\naromatic plant or strawberry leaves; and (4) performance of TSSMs on strawberry leaves under\naromatic plant influence. For the greenhouse experiments, assessments of the TSSM populations\nwere realized by observing TSSM with a 10Ã? magnifying glass on strawberry leaves in a monocrop\nor intercropped with Chinese chives, chives, garlic, or onion. Pseudofruit production was\nevaluated. Our results show that strawberry leaves were strongly preferred by TSSM. The\nT-shaped arena test revealed that all aromatic plants repel the TSSM. The test with the performance\nof TSSM females revealed that aromatic plants affected the miteâ??s biological parameters. Chinese\nchives reduced the number of eggs laid per day by 33.22%, whereas garlic reduced the number by\n17.30% and chives reduced it by 12.46%. The total number of eggs was reduced by 34.79% with\nChinese chives and 25.65% with garlic. Greenhouse experiments showed that chives reduced TSSM\npopulations on two cycles and Chinese chives and garlic reduced TSSM populations on the first\ncycle only. With our findings, we suggest that Chinese chives, chives, and garlic are the primary\ncandidates for intercropping use against TSSM. Chinese chives and garlic reduced the total number\nof eggs, but only garlic reduced female mite longevity. However, none of the intercropping plants\nimproved strawberry pseudofruit production.
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