''Acalitus essigi'', the redberry mite, is an
eriophyid
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 l ...
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
Calyx or calyce (plural "calyces"), from the Latin ''calix'' which itself comes from the Ancient Greek ''κάλυξ'' (''kálux'') meaning "husk" or "pod", may refer to:
Biology
* Calyx (anatomy), collective name for several cup-like structures ...
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 to redberry mite damage can range from 10 to 50% of the total blackberry crop.
Infestations of redberry mite are often controlled with
lime sulfur or natural
acaricidal
Acaricides are pesticides that kill members of the arachnid subclass ''Acari'', which includes ticks and mites.
Acaricides are used both in medicine and agriculture, although the desired selective toxicity differs between the two fields.
Termino ...
oils.
External links
Redberry Mite IPM
Agricultural pest mites
Eriophyidae
Arachnids of North America
Animals described in 1928
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