Panonychus citri (McGregor) is a major pest of citrus that is still controlled predominantly by chemical pesticides,

although predatory mites are used in some orchards. Although safer chemical pesticides are now used in many citrus orchards

there is a need to determine the effects of these pesticides on predatory mites and other natural enemies of P. citri. This

experiment was carried out in citrus orchards in Fengkai County, Guangdong Province from April 2011 to January 2012. Three

treatments were investigated: (1) Abamectin used as the main control agent; (2) Matrine used as the main control agent plus

the predatory mite Neoseiulus cucumeris; (3) Mineral oil used as the main control agent plus the mite N. barkeri. The

results show that the richness of natural enemy groups in citrus orchards controlled by Matrine + N. cucumeris and by

Mineral oil + N. barkeri was higher than that in citrus orchards in which control was achieved predominantly with abamectin.

The community structures of natural enemy groups differed under the different treatments. The sustained control effects of

Matrine + N. cucumeris and Mineral oil + N. barkeri were better than those achieved by predominantly using abamectin.