''Brevipalpus'' is a genus of

mite Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods). Mites span two large orders of arachnids, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari, but genetic analysis does not show clear e ...

s in the family Tenuipalpidae, the flat mites.''Brevipalpus californicus''.
University of Florida, IFAS. The genus includes several species that are among the most important economic

pests PESTS was an anonymous American activist group formed in 1986 to critique racism, tokenism, and exclusion in the art world. PESTS produced newsletters, posters, and other print material highlighting examples of discrimination in gallery represent ...

in the flat mite family.Childers, C. C. and J. C. Rodrigues. (2011)
An overview of ''Brevipalpus'' mites (Acari: Tenuipalpidae) and the plant viruses they transmit.
''Zoosymposia'' 6, 180-92. Some ''Brevipalpus'' species are made up mostly of female individuals that reproduce via

thelytoky Thelytoky (from the Greek ''thēlys'' "female" and ''tokos'' "birth") is a type of parthenogenesis in which females are produced from unfertilized eggs, as for example in aphids. Thelytokous parthenogenesis is rare among animals and reported in a ...

, producing offspring without fertilization. Male individuals occur but often become feminized by '' Cardinium'' bacteria that colonize their bodies. Between each developmental stage, the juvenile rests as a chrysalis on a plant. ''Brevipalpus'' mites damage their host plants by inserting their relatively long mouthparts into the plant tissue and injecting saliva during feeding. The saliva is toxic to the plant. Damage on grapefruit, for example, takes the form of circular, discolored lesions on the fruit which darken as they become

necrotic Necrosis () is a form of cell injury which results in the premature death of cells in living tissue by autolysis. Necrosis is caused by factors external to the cell or tissue, such as infection, or trauma which result in the unregulated dige ...

. On pistachio, ''Brevipalpus'' damage appears as scabby blotches on the leaf petioles, stems, and nuts. Furthermore, several of these mites are

vector Vector most often refers to: *Euclidean vector, a quantity with a magnitude and a direction *Vector (epidemiology), an agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism Vector may also refer to: Mathematic ...

s for a variety of serious

plant virus Plant viruses are viruses that affect plants. Like all other viruses, plant viruses are obligate intracellular parasites that do not have the molecular machinery to replicate without a host. Plant viruses can be pathogenic to higher plants. ...

es. Familiar species include: *'' Brevipalpus californicus'', a mite known as a vector for the orchid fleck virus, which causes spots and rings on

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowerin ...

leaves. The mite has a wide range of host plants. It has been known to form galls on

bitter orange Bitter orange, Seville orange, bigarade orange, or marmalade orange is the citrus tree ''Citrus'' × ''aurantium'' and its fruit. It is native to Southeast Asia and has been spread by humans to many parts of the world. It is probably a cross be ...

. *'' Brevipalpus chilensis'', which is native to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

, but has the potential to invade other regions as an agricultural pest of several crops, including

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus '' Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years a ...

s and

citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. The genus ''Citrus'' is native to ...

. *'' Brevipalpus lewisi'', which is known from the

Palearctic realm The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sib ...

, Australia, and the southwestern United States. It is a pest on pistachio, citrus,

pomegranate The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punicoideae, that grows between tall. The pomegranate was originally described throughout the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean re ...

walnut A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...

s, grapes, and

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that ...

s. *'' Brevipalpus obovatus'', which is a pest of many plants, including the ornamentals ''

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis ''Hibiscus rosa-sinensis'', known colloquially as Chinese hibiscus, China rose, Hawaiian hibiscus, rose mallow and shoeblack plant, is a species of tropical hibiscus, a flowering plant in the Hibisceae tribe of the family Malvaceae. It is wide ...

'' and '' Brunfelsia uniflora''.Miranda, L. C., et al. (2007)
''Brevipalpus'' mites Donnadieu (Prostigmata: Tenuipalpidae) associated with ornamental plants in Distrito Federal, Brazil.
''Neotropical Entomology'' 36(4), 587-92. *'' Brevipalpus phoenicis'', a pest of the tea plant, especially in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. It feeds on the leaves and in large numbers can reduce yields. It has also been observed on

tangerine The tangerine is a type of citrus fruit that is orange in color. Its scientific name varies. It has been treated as a separate species under the name ''Citrus tangerina'' or ''Citrus'' × ''tangerina'', or treated as a variety of ''Citrus retic ...

. This mite is a vector for '' Cilevirus'', a plant virus that causes the disease citrus leprosis. Manifestations of the disease on a citrus tree include chlorotic lesions,

girdling Girdling, also called ring-barking, is the complete removal of the bark (consisting of cork cambium or "phellogen", phloem, cambium and sometimes going into the xylem) from around the entire circumference of either a branch or trunk of a woody ...

, fruit drop, defoliation, and the death of the tree. Of the major types of citrus, the

orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

is most vulnerable to the virus. The mite is also a vector of passion fruit green spot virus and coffee ringspot virus, and ringspots of ''

Cestrum ''Cestrum'' is a genus of — depending on authority — 150-250 species of flowering plants in the family Solanaceae. They are native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the Americas, from the southernmost United States (Florida, Texas: day ...

'' and ''

Solanum ''Solanum'' is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants, which include three food crops of high economic importance: the potato, the tomato and the eggplant (aubergine, brinjal). It is the largest genus in the nightshade family Solanaceae ...

'' plants.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4357524 Trombidiformes genera