Previous research at Narrabri Agricultural Research Station and elsewhere has shown that mite populations increase more slowly on okra leaf cotton genotypes than on normal leaf genotypes (Bailey et al., 1978; Thomson, Reid and Fitt, 1984; Wilson and Pitt, 1987). Experimentally this difference has resulted in far lower yield reductions on Siokra than DP90 when artificial mite infestations were initiated in each variety at the same time. This paper summarizes the findings of experiments designed to determine the underlying cause of the resistance to mites found in the okra leaf genotypes and also reports some more recent findings