The peacock mites of the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

''Tuckerella'' ( the only genus of the

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 ...

family Tuckerellidae) are a significant herbivorous pest in the

tropics The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referr ...

, for example on

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 ...

fruit. Other species dwell in grasses, possibly as root feeders. The peacock mite's name suggests that their feather-like (or leaf-like)

seta In biology, setae (singular seta ; from the Latin word for " bristle") are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms. Animal setae Protostomes Annelid setae are stiff bristles present on the body. ...

e adorning their

back The human back, also called the dorsum, is the large posterior area of the human body, rising from the top of the buttocks to the back of the neck. It is the surface of the body opposite from the chest and the abdomen. The vertebral column runs ...

s are evocative of a peacock's plumage. They also have long hair-like setae projecting from rear ( caudal setae) that have been compared to a trailing peacock tail. The 5–7 pairs of caudal setae can be flicked over the body very quickly, so they are used like whips in defense against predators. They may also help in wind-borne dispersal. They are classified in the superfamily Tetranychoidea, being its most ornate members.

Species

* '' Tuckerella anommata'' Smith-Meyer & Ueckermann, 1997 (South Africa) * '' Tuckerella channabasavannai'' Mallik & Kumar, 1992 (host: ''

Saraca indica ''Saraca indica'', commonly known as the asoka tree, ashok or simply asoca, is a plant belonging to the subfamily Detarioideae of the family Fabaceae. The original plant specimen from which Carl Linnaeus described the species came from Java, but ...

'';

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

) * ''

Tuckerella eloisae The peacock mites of the genus ''Tuckerella'' ( the only genus of the mite family Tuckerellidae) are a significant herbivorous pest in the tropics, for example on citrus fruit. Other species dwell in grasses, possibly as root feeders. The peaco ...

'' Servin & Otero, 1989 (host: ''

Fouquieria diguetii ''Fouquieria diguetii'', known by the common names Adam's tree and palo Adán, is a plant in the family Fouquieriaceae native to the southern half of the Baja California Peninsula, and the coasts of Sonora and Sinaloa. It is a semi-succulent and ...

''; Mexico) * '' Tuckerella filipina'' Corpuz-Raros, 2001 (host: ''

Hydnocarpus ''Hydnocarpus'' is a genus of medium to large trees in the Family Achariaceae; the genus was previously placed in the now defunct family Flacourtiaceae. Species have been recorded from Indochina, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Charact ...

'' sp.: Philippines) * '' Tuckerella hainanensis'' Lin & Fu, 1997 (host: '' Coffea arabica'';

Hainan Hainan (, ; ) is the smallest and southernmost province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), consisting of various islands in the South China Sea. , the largest and most populous island in China,The island of Taiwan, which is slightly l ...

) * '' Tuckerella jianfengensis'' Lin & Fu, 1997 (host: '' Annona muricata''; Jianfengling, Hainan) * '' Tuckerella kumaonensis'' Gupta, 1979 (India) * '' Tuckerella litoralis'' Collyer, 1969 * '' Tuckerella nilotica'' Zaher & Rasmy, 1970 (Egypt) * '' Tuckerella ornatus'' (Tucker, 1926) –

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ...

* '' Tuckerella xiamenensis'' Lin, 1982 (host: ''

Manilkara zapota ''Manilkara zapota'', commonly known as sapodilla (), sapote, naseberry, nispero or chicle, is a long-lived, evergreen tree native to southern Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. An example natural occurrence is in coastal Yucatán in the ...

'') * '' Tuckerella xinglongensis'' Lin-Yanmou & Fu-Yuegua, 1997 (hosts: '' Polyscias fruticosa'' var. ''plumata'' and '' Camellia sinensis''; Hainan) * †'' Tuckerella fossilibus'' Khaustov, Sergeyenko & Perkovsky 2014 (

Rovno amber Rivne amber, occasionally called Ukrainian amber, is amber found in the Rivne Oblast and surrounding regions of Ukraine and Belarus. The amber is dated between Late Eocene and Early Miocene, and suggested to be contemporaneous to Baltic amber. ...

) * †'' Tuckerella weiterschani'' Sidorchuk & Khaustov, 2018 (

Baltic amber The Baltic region is home to the largest known deposit of amber, called Baltic amber or succinite. It was produced sometime during the Eocene epoch, but exactly when is controversial. It has been estimated that these forests created more than ...

)

References

External links

* Trombidiformes Agricultural pest mites Arachnids of Africa {{Agriculture-stub