Host Preference of Date Palm Spider Mite, Oligonychus afrasiaticus (McGregor), to Native Date Palm Cultivars of Khuzestan

Date palm spider mite is one of the major pests of date palm in Khuzestan.This pest damages fruits in orchards. In the present study responses of 30 native date palm cultivars of Khuzestan were evaluated by assessment of pest infestation severity and fruit damage characteristics. Based on the responses, cultivars were clustered into four groups as very highly infested cultivars including Liloei, Berhee, Zahedi, Deiri, Ashkar, and Berim, highly infested cultivars including Halavi, Beliani, Sovidani, Hadak, Shkar, Bent Alsabae, Dagal zard, Khazravi and Sayer, moderately infested cultivars including Bobki, Chabchab, Mashtom, Jahromi, Amobahri, Dagal sorkh, Fersi and Hadal and less infested cultivars including Khasab, Hamravi, Hasavi, Ashagh, Jozi and Gantar. The characters such as bunch weight, fruits number, fruit skin thickness had significant correlation with the date palm spider mite injury. Other characteristics did not show significant correlation with the mite injury.