spider mite

Spider mites are less than {{convert|1|mm|2|abbr=on}} in size and vary in color. They lay small, spherical, initially transparent eggs and many species spin silk webbing to help protect the colony from predators; they get the "spider" part of their common name from this webbing.

File:Tetranychidae.jpg plant]]

Hot, dry conditions are often associated with population build-up of spider mites. Under optimal conditions (approximately 27 °C), the two-spotted spider mite can hatch in as little as 3 days, and become sexually mature in as little as 5 days. One female can lay up to 20 eggs per day and can live for 2 to 4 weeks, laying hundreds of eggs. This accelerated reproductive rate allows spider mite populations to adapt quickly to resist pesticides, so chemical control methods can become somewhat ineffectual when the same pesticide is used over a prolonged period.

Spider mites, like hymenopterans and some scale insects, are haplodiploid and therefore arrhenotochous: females are diploid and males are haploid.{{cite book |author=Graham Bell |year=1982 |title=The Masterpiece of Nature: the Evolution and Genetics of Sexuality |series=Croom Helm applied biology series |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-85664-753-6 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q5g9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA238 |chapter=Parthenogenesis and vegetative reproduction in multicellular animals |pages=160–331}} When mated, females avoid the fecundation of some eggs to produce males. Fertilized eggs produce diploid females. Unmated, unfertilized females still lay eggs that originate exclusively haploid males.

To spread to new locations, they make use of ballooning for aerial dispersal.{{cite journal | url=https://comptes-rendus.academie-sciences.fr/biologies/item/10.1016/j.crvi.2016.06.007.pdf | doi=10.1016/j.crvi.2016.06.007 | title=Phenological and meteorological determinants of spider ballooning in an agricultural landscape | year=2016 | last1=Simonneau | first1=Manon | last2=Courtial | first2=Cyril | last3=Pétillon | first3=Julien | journal=Comptes Rendus Biologies | volume=339 | issue=9–10 | pages=408–416 | pmid=27527898 | doi-access=free }}

File:Spider mites moving on a leaf.webm

The best known member of the group is Tetranychus urticae, which has a cosmopolitan distribution,{{cite book |editor1=Peter G. Mason |editor2=John Theodore Huber |year=2002 |title=Biological Control Programmes in Canada, 1981–2000 |publisher=CAB International |isbn=978-0-85199-527-4 |author=D. A. Raworth |author2=D. R. Gillespie |author3=M. Roy |author4=H. M. A. Thistlewood |name-list-style=amp |chapter=Tetranychus urticae Koch, twospotted spider mite (Acari: Tetranychidae) |pages=259–265 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tDHWhOEhTckC&pg=PA259}} and attacks a wide range of plants, including peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, beans, corn, cannabis, and strawberries.{{cite web |url=http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/orn/twospotted_mite.htm |title=Twospotted spider mite |publisher=University of Florida / Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences |work=Featured Creatures |access-date=May 20, 2011 |date=December 2009 |author1=Thomas R. Fasulo |author2=H. A. Denmark |name-list-style=amp }} Other species which can be important pests of commercial plants include Panonychus ulmi (fruit tree red spider mite) and Panonychus citri (citrus red mite).

The family is divided into these subfamilies, tribes and genera:{{cite book |author=H. R. Bolland |author2=Jean Gutierrez |author3=Carlos H. W. Flechtmann |name-list-style=amp |year=1997 |title=World Catalogue of the Spider Mite Family (Acari: Tetranychidae) |publisher=Brill Publishers |isbn=978-90-04-11087-8 |chapter=Key to the genera of the world |pages=5–11 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OALu9cfevl8C&pg=PA5}}

{{div col|colwidth=18em}}

;Bryobinae Berlese

• Bryobini Reck

:*Neoschizonobiella Tseng

:*Sinobryobia Ma et al.

:*Marainobia Meyer

:*Bryobia Koch

:*Toronobia Meyer

:*Pseudobryobia McGregor

:*Strunkobia Livshitz & Mitrofanov

:*Mezranobia Athias-Henriot

:*Eremobryobia Strunkova & Mitrofanov

:*Bryobiella Tuttle & Baker

:*Hemibryobia Tuttle & Baker

• Hystrichonychini Pritchard & Baker

:*Bryocopsis Meyer

:*Tetranychopsis Canestrini

:*Notonychus Davis

:*Dolichonobia Meyer

:*Monoceronychus McGregor

:*Mesobryobia Wainstein

:*Hystrichonychus McGregor

:*Parapetrobia Meyer & Rykev

:*Peltanobia Meyer

:*Tauriobia Livshitz & Mitrofanov

:*Aplonobia Womersley

:*Paraplonobia Wainstein

:*Beerella Wainstein

:*Magdalena Baker & Tuttle

:*Porcupinychus Anwarullah

:*Afronobia Meyer

• Petrobiini Reck

:*Neotrichobia Tuttle & Baker

:*Schizonobiella Beer & Lang

:*Schizonobia Womersley

:*Dasyobia Strunkova

:*Lindquistiella Mitrofanov

:*Edella Meyer

:*Petrobia Murray

;Tetranychinae Berlese

• Eurytetranychini Reck

:*Atetranychus Tuttle et al.

:*Synonychus Miller

:*Eurytetranychus Oudemans

:*Eurytetranychoides Reck

:*Eutetranychus Banks

:*Meyernychus Mitrofanov

:*Aponychus Rimando

:*Paraponychus Gonzalez & Flechtmann

:*Sinotetranychus Ma & Yuan

:*Anatetranychus Womersley

:*Duplanychus Meyer

• Tenuipalpoidini Pritchard & Baker

:*Eonychus Gutierrez

:*Crotonella Tuttle et al.

:*Tenuipalpoides Reck & Bagdasarian

:*Tenuipalponychus Channabasavanna & Lakkundi

• Tetranychini Reck

:*Brevinychus Meyer

:*Sonotetranychus Tuttle et al.

:*Mixonychus Meyer & Ryke

:*Evertella Meyer

:*Panonychus Yokoyama

:*Allonychus Pritchard & Baker

:*Schizotetranychus Trägårdh

:*Yunonychus Ma & Gao

:*Yezonychus Ehara

:*Neotetranychus Trägårdh

:*Acanthonychus Wang

:*Mononychellus Wainstein

:*Platytetranychus Oudemans

:*Eotetranychus Oudemans

:*Palmanychus Baker & Tuttle

:*Atrichoproctus Flechtmann

:*Xinella Ma & Wang

:*Oligonychus Berlese

:*Hellenychus Gutierrez

:*Tetranychus Dufour

:*Amphitetranychus Oudemans

{{div col end}}

Predatory mites of the family Phytoseiidae, including Phytoseiulus persimilis, eat adult mites, their eggs, and all developmental stages between. Predatory mites can consume as many as 5 adult spider mites per day, or 20 eggs per day.

In some cases, the application of Harpin Alpha Beta protein may help in the treatment and prevention of infestation by stimulating the plant's natural defenses, restoring sap sugar levels and encouraging replacement of damaged tissues.{{cite web|title=HALO Foliar Plant Feed - Studies|url=http://www.halo-harpin.com/en/studies_2.html|website=www.halo-harpin.com|access-date=9 May 2017}}{{link broken|date=March 2025}} This affects the spider mites' ability to down-regulate the immune response of a plant.{{cite web|title=The effect of harpin protein on plant growth parameters, leaf chlorophyll, leaf colour and percentage rotten fruit of pepper plants inoculated with Botrytis cinerea (PDF Download Available)|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/229118471|website=ResearchGate|access-date=9 May 2017|language=en|date=June 2006}}

Acaricides are applied to crops to control spider mites. They can be either systemic or non-systemic in nature and can be persistent by providing residual activity for over a month. Drawbacks include high potential for development of resurgence and resistance in mite populations, as has been observed in previous generations of miticides, and toxicity of some miticides towards fish. Thus proper selection, precautions and application are required to minimize risks.{{Cite journal|last1=Uesugi|first1=R.|last2=Goka|first2=K.|last3=Osakabe|first3=M. H.|date=2002-12-01|title=Genetic Basis of Resistances to Chlorfenapyr and Etoxazole in the Two-Spotted Spider Mite (Acari: Tetranychidae)|journal=Journal of Economic Entomology|language=en|volume=95|issue=6|pages=1267–1274|doi=10.1603/0022-0493-95.6.1267|issn=0022-0493|pmid=12539841|s2cid=24716020 |doi-access=free}}{{Cite web|url=https://pubs.ext.vt.edu/420/420-013/Table4.html|title=Table 4. Toxicity to fish of commonly used insecticides, miticides, and nematicides|publisher=Virginia Tech|access-date=2016-03-22}}{{Cite web|url=http://hyg.ipm.illinois.edu/pastpest/200415c.html|title=All Miticides Are Not Created Equal|website=Home, Yard & Garden Pest Newsletter|publisher=University of Illinois|access-date=2016-03-22}}

Temporarily modifying environmental conditions has proven an effective method for insect pest control including spider mites. Generally dramatically decreased oxygen and increased carbon dioxide concentrations at elevated temperatures can lead to mortality at all developmental stages. However mild CO₂ enrichment has been shown to in fact increase mite reproduction.{{cite journal|last1=Heagle|first1=A. S.|last2=Burns|first2=J. C.|last3=Fisher|first3=D. S.|last4=Miller|first4=J. E.|title=Effects of Carbon Dioxide Enrichment on Leaf Chemistry and Reproduction by Twospotted Spider Mites (Acari: Tetranychidae) on White Clover|journal=Environmental Entomology|date=1 August 2002|volume=31|issue=4|pages=594–601|doi=10.1603/0046-225X-31.4.594|doi-access=free}} One study determined a concentration of 0.4% O₂ and 20% CO₂ gave a LT₉₉ (time to 99% mortality) of 113h at 20 °C and 15.5h at 40 °C.{{cite journal|last1=Whiting|first1=D. C.|last2=Van Den Heuvel|first2=J.|title=Oxygen, Carbon Dioxide, and Temperature Effects on Mortality Responses of Diapausing Tetranychus urticae (Acari: Tetranychidae)|journal=Journal of Economic Entomology|date=1 April 1995|volume=88|issue=2|pages=331–336|doi=10.1093/jee/88.2.331}} Another study reported 100% mortality of various stages of the two spotted spidermite using 60% CO₂ and 20% O₂ at 30 °C for 16h.{{cite journal|last1=Oyamada|first1=Koichi|last2=Murai|first2=Tamotsu|title=Effect of Fumigation of High Concentration Carbon Dioxide on Two Spotted Spider Mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae) and Strawberry Runner Plant|journal=Japanese Journal of Applied Entomology and Zoology|date=2013|volume=57|issue=4|pages=249–256|doi=10.1303/jjaez.2013.249|doi-access=free}}{{cln|Define the "%"!!! Is it a mass fraction, a volume fraction or a mole fraction? Using ambiguous units like "percent", "permille", "parts per million", etcetera, without clearing the ambiguity, is unacceptable, because it confuses, misleads and irritates readers, who are not expected to read the writer's mind!|date=January 2023}}

Advantages would include decreased ability for resistance development compared to miticides and potential ease of application while drawbacks might include sensitivity of the plant to the conditions, feasibility of application, and human safety.

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{{Reflist|32em}}

• {{cite web

| url=http://www1.montpellier.inra.fr/CBGP/spmweb/

| title=Spider Mites Web: a comprehensive database for the Tetranychidae

| publisher=Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)

| work=Spider Mites taxonomy, host-plants and distribution}}

• {{cite web |url=http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/orn/mites/clover_mite.htm |title=Bryobia praetiosa, clover mite |publisher=University of Florida / Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences |work=Featured Creatures}}
• {{cite web |url=http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/orn/shrubs/southern_red_mite.htm |title=Oligonychus ilicis, southern red mite |publisher=University of Florida / Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences |work=Featured Creatures}}
• {{cite press release |title=Spider mite's secrets revealed |publisher=Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia |date=November 24, 2011 |url=http://www.igc.gulbenkian.pt/media/article/87 |access-date=November 24, 2011 }}

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Category:Trombidiformes

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