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Redberry Mite
''Acalitus essigi'', the redberry mite, is an eriophyid mite which is a serious pest of commercially produced blackberries in the United States. The redberry mite is microscopic, requiring at least a 20× hand lens to detect. It has two pairs of legs and a thin, translucent appearance. Overwintering mites colonize tiny spaces beneath the exterior scales of dormant buds of blackberries. As the season progresses, redberry mite migration occurs up the flower stem to colonize leaf axial bracts, the fruit's calyx area as well as the spaces between berry druplets. Redberry mite feeding prevents berries from ripening uniformly, causing from one to many druplets to remain as a bright red cluster on the otherwise black and fully ripe fruit. Affected druplets never do ripen, causing the entire fruit to be inedible and unmarketable. Historically, redberry mite has been most damaging to blackberry varieties such as Chester, which mature later in the summer (August and September). Yield loss ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eriophyidae
Eriophyidae is a family of more than 200 genera of mites, which live as plant parasites, commonly causing galls or other damage to the plant tissues and hence known as gall mites. About 3,600 species have been described, but this is probably less than 10% of the actual number existing in this poorly researched family. They are microscopic mites and are yellow to pinkish white to purplish in color. The mites are worm like, and have only two pairs of legs. Their primary method of population spread is by wind. They affect a wide range of plants, and several are major pest species causing substantial economic damage to crops. Some species, however, are used as biological agents to control weeds and invasive plant species. Notable species Notable species in this family include: *''Abacarus hystrix'', the cereal rust mite *'' Abacarus sacchari'', the sugarcane rust mite *'' Acalitus essigi'', the redberry mite, which affects blackberries *''Aceria chondrillae'', the chondrilla gall ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
