''Aceria clianthi'' is a species of
mite belonging to the family
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 l ...
. It is found only in
New Zealand. It is notable for being host specific to threatened plants of the genus ''
Clianthus
''Clianthus'', commonly known as kakabeak (''kōwhai ngutukākā'' in Māori), is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae, comprising two species of shrubs native to New Zealand. They have striking clusters of red flowers ...
''. It is classified by Buckley ''et al.'' as "nationally critical" under the
New Zealand Threat Classification System
The New Zealand Threat Classification System is used by the Department of Conservation to assess conservation priorities of species in New Zealand.
The system was developed because the IUCN Red List, a similar conservation status system, had some ...
. They stated "''Aceria clianthi'' (Eriophyidae), has been recorded only from kakabeak (''Clianthus'' spp.) in cultivation and once on ''Lotus cornalatus''
'Lotus corniculatus''">Lotus_corniculatus.html" ;"title="'Lotus corniculatus">'Lotus corniculatus''(Fabaceae), an introduced plant growing near kakabeak (Martin 2009). It is given the same threat classification as kakabeak (de Lange et al. 2009)." Heenan had earlier stated that "the two species [of ''Clianthus''] are considered to be threatened, with ''
C. maximus'' having a rank of vulnerable, whereas ''Clianthus puniceus, C. puniceus'' is critically endangered",
but the conservation status of ''
C. maximus'' was subsequently found to be more serious. These threat classifications for ''Clianthus'' apply to plants in the wild, but the species are widely cultivated. ''Aceria clianthi'' occurs on both plants in the wild and in cultivation.
References
Further reading
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External links
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Eriophyidae
Acari of New Zealand
Endemic fauna of New Zealand
Animals described in 1952
Endemic acari of New Zealand
{{Acari-stub