Monitoring Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Acari: Acaridae) With Traps in Dry-Cured Ham Aging Rooms.

Methyl bromide is the most effective fumigant for controlling the mold (or ham) mite, Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Schrank) (Acari: Acaridae), the most significant pest of dry-cured ham. However, methyl bromide is being phased out of use. Therefore, integrated pest management (IPM) methods should be developed to help control mites in dry-cured ham plants. The foundation of a successful IPM program is an effective monitoring program that provides information on pest presence and abundance over time. By using food-baited traps fabricated from disposable petri dishes and a dog food-based bait, mite activity over time and space was monitored in five dry-cured ham aging rooms from three commercial processing facilities that differed in their fumigation frequencies. Weekly sampling of the mite was conducted from June 2012 to September 2013. There were significant differences in the average weekly trap captures in all facilities, especially before and after fumigation, with the majority of mites in traps prior to fumigation. Mite numbers had a pattern of sharp decline after fumigation, followed by a steady increase until the next fumigation. Average trap captures varied due to trap location over the study period at all study sites, indicating that traps could be used to identify specific locations within an aging room where mite infestation of hams was more likely to occur. These findings can inform facility managers of mite population changes that can be used as one factor toward making pest management decisions and assessing the impact of fumigation or other pest mitigation actions.