''Tydeus eriophyes'' is a species 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 evid ...

belonging to the family

Tydeidae Tydeidae is a family of acariform mites. As of 2016, it contained over 300 species in three subfamilies, though more species have been discovered since then. These mites live in a wide range of habitats and there are predatory, fungivorous an ...

. This small oval, eyeless mite is around 300

μm The micrometre ( international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: μm) or micrometer (American spelling), also commonly known as a micron, is a unit of length in the International System of Unit ...

in length with a soft body covered in striations. It can be distinguished from similar species by the bluntly pointed, rod-like dorsal

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. Th ...

e. This species is associated with the

gall Galls (from the Latin , 'oak-apple') or ''cecidia'' (from the Greek , anything gushing out) are a kind of swelling growth on the external tissues of plants, fungi, or animals. Plant galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissues, similar to be ...

mite ''

Eriophyes vitis ''Eriophyes vitis'', also known as grape erineum mite or blister mite, is a mite species in the genus ''Eriophyes'' infecting grape leaves (''Vitis vinifera ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, is a species of flowering plant, native t ...

'' on

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 ago, ...

vines in the vicinity of Grabouw,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

References

*New species of mites of the families Tydeidae and Labidostommidae (Acarina: Prostigmata) collected from South African plants Magdelena K.P. Meyer & P.A.J. Ryke Acarologia vol I Trombidiformes Animals described in 1959 Arthropods of South Africa {{Trombidiformes-stub