Date:

August 27th – 31st 2012

Location:

St George’s University, Grenada

Background

The Mite Identification Workshop was held at the Windward Islands Research and Education Foundation
(WINDREF) Building at the St George’s University, Grenada from August 27th – 31th 2012. This workshop
was a collaborative effort between The United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Services-International Services (USDA-APHIS – IS) and the Greater Caribbean
Safeguarding Initiative (GCSI), the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Jamaica, The St. George’s
University, the Windward Islands Research and Education Foundation (WINDREF) and the Ministry of
Agriculture in Grenada. Ten (10) participants attended from over seven (7) countries in the Caribbean
(see appendix 1 for the workshop contact sheet).

USDA APHIS GCSI provided significant technical input to this workshop and contributed ninety five
percent (95%) of the funding for this activity.

Objective:

The general objective: of the Mite Identification Workshop was to inform participants on the science and technical knowledge needed to correctly identify Mite Pests in the Caribbean Region of Quarantine Importance.

The specific objectives were:

1. Familiarize participants with characteristics of the major mite species present in the neotropics,
2. To enable participants to survey, collect, preserve and conduct preliminary identification if a
species of economic importance is trapped
3. To convey to participants current survey protocols and suppression techniques and,
4. To train participants in the concepts of field identification

During the training, participants learnt the diagnostic characteristics of exotic Mites as well as those of economic importance, the structure and function of Acari. Trainees also learnt methods of collecting and slide making survey techniques.

 

 

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