ABSTRACT
The long history of apple cultivation in temperate latitudes of the world has given us ample opportunities to become acquainted with the arthropod pest complex that attacks this crop. Considerable attention has been given to managing these pests because of the numerous challenges they present, and the relatively high value of the crop. The apple tree is large, with significant amounts of biomass invested in roots, aerial woody tissues, leaves and fruits; all of these structures are potential ecological niches for multiple pest species. Temporal factors also play a role in the agroecosystem. The life of an orchard is typically >20 years, allowing the development of permanent orchard residents, uninterrupted by an annual cropping cycle. In fact, the pest complex that has been recorded to attack apple is drawn from nine orders of arthropods, including Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera, Hemiptera, Thysanoptera, Orthoptera, Dermaptera and Acari. However, in a given region at any point in time, only a few dozen pests constitute serious threats to production and require annual management.
