Tuckerella

{{Short description|Genus of mites}}

{{Automatic Taxobox

| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Palaeogene|present}}

| image = Peacock mite, Tuckerella sp.jpg

| image_upright = 0.8

| image_caption = False-colour scanning elecron micrograph of Tuckerella sp., magnified 260 times

| parent_authority = Baker & Pritchard, 1953

| taxon = Tuckerella

| authority = Womersley, 1940

| display_parents = 2

}}

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 peacock mite's name suggests that their feather-like (or leaf-like) setae{{cite book|last1=Walter|first1=David Evans|last2=Proctor|first2=Heather|title=Mites: Ecology, Evolution & Behaviour|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kRHHBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA292|year=2013|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-94-007-7164-2|page=292}} adorning their backs are evocative of a peacock's plumage.{{cite web |author=D.E. Walter (University of Queensland) | url= http://www.sel.barc.usda.gov/acari/content/tuck1.html |title="Peacock mites" Tuckerellidae |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture |date=2005-09-28}}

They also have long hair-like setae projecting from rear (caudal setae){{cite book|last=Vacante|first=Vincenzo|title=Citrus Mites|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ja94snTeJ4gC&pg=PA166|year=2010|publisher=Cabi|isbn=978-1-84593-499-6|page=167}} 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,{{cite book |author=David Evans Walter |chapter=Hidden in plain sight: mites in the canopy |pages=224–241 |editor=Margaret Lowman & H. Bruce Rinker |title=Forest Canopies |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F471I0uJv-8C&pg=PA229 |year=2004 |publisher=Academic Press |isbn=978-0-12-457553-0}} being its most ornate members.