author(s)
Dinesh Kachhawa and Kavita Kumawat

abstract
Tea, Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze, is a perennial crop and grown as a monoculture on large contiguous areas. Tea crop have great economic value in India because India is the second largest tea producing country after china. Tea plant is subjected to the attack of several notorious pests such as insects, mites, nematodes, diseases and weeds. Among them Oligonychus coffeae Nietner (Acari: Tetranychidae), the red spider mite (RSM), is a major pest of tea (Camellia sinensis) in most tea-producing countries. This causes great economic losses to the tea growing countries. Red spider mite present of the tea crop throughout the year because tea is a perennial crop provides food and shelter due to which Nymphs and adults of RSM lacerate cells, producing minute characteristic reddish brown marks on the upper surface of mature leaves, which turn red in severe cases of infestation, resulting in crop loss. The authors tried here to collect the information about Seasonal abundance, status of RSM, stages, life history, nature of damage, symptoms, reasons of occurrence of RSM as well as control measures including IPM strategies.