Management of Tetranychus urticae Koch Using Predatory Mites and Essential Oils: Current Strategies and Future Perspectives

The widespread development of acaricide resistance in the two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae, has intensified the need for sustainable pest management strategies. This narrative review examines phytoseiid predatory mites and essential oils as complementary components of integrated pest management against T. urticae. Web of Science and Scopus were searched for literature published from 1992 to 2026, resulting in 124 studies included in the review. The simultaneous or sequential use of multiple predatory mite species may enhance suppression under suitable ecological and management conditions, although predator performance can be affected by environmental conditions, competition, and intraguild interactions. Essential oils exhibit acaricidal, repellent, ovicidal, and sublethal effects against T. urticae, but their efficacy varies with chemical composition, concentration, exposure method, and experimental conditions. Most evidence derives from laboratory studies, and performance under realistic production conditions remains insufficiently evaluated. Some essential oils show favorable selectivity toward phytoseiid mites. However, others can also exert substantial adverse effects on predatory mites, indicating that high acaricidal efficacy against T. urticae does not necessarily imply selectivity toward beneficial species. Standardized protocols for evaluating essential oils remain lacking, and direct studies of their compatibility with predatory mites are limited. Further research should therefore validate essential oil efficacy, predator compatibility, and combined application strategies under realistic production conditions. These findings indicate that successful integration requires evaluation of each specific EO–predator combination, including acute and sublethal effects on the selected predator species. Promising combinations should subsequently be validated under realistic production conditions before practical implementation within Integrated Pest Management.