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Citrus Mites

Citrus red mite - Panonychus citri

  • Adult females are dark red, oval in shape and about 0,5 mm long. Long white setae arise from prominent tubercles on the back and sides. The eggs are small, red, onion shaped, with an upright stalk and guy threads to the surface of the leaf where they are laid. The males are also reddish but smaller than females and pointed posteriorly.

  • The mites feed on fruit, leaves and green bark of citrus. They prefer the upper surface of leaves, which become stippled and later grey, silver or yellow. Similar damage is done to the fruit, which is often reduced in size or dropped prematurely due to weakening of the fruit stem.

Flat mite - Brevipulpus californicus

  • Adult females are small, less than 0.5 mm long, flat and oval in shape, and pale red with a large dark red blotch on the back. The rear end of the male is pointed and it does not have the dark red pattern in the middle of the body. Males are less common than females. The eggs are bright red. This species has six pairs of short dorso-lateral setae around the rear half of the body, which distinguishes it from reddish-black flat mite.

  • The mites infest young twigs but damage to fruit is more important, consisting of brown to bronze scab like corky spots. On smooth grapefruit, blemishes are often larger and irregular in shape. The blemishes are largely cosmetic but cause downgrading of the fruit.

Citrus Lowveld mite - Eutetranychus orientalis

  • Adult females are broadly oval, about 0,5 mm long, brownish green to dark green in colour, with dark blotches in the body. The legs are yellow-brown. The eggs are flattened without a stalk, clear at first, later parchment-yellow in colour. The males are small and roughly triangular in shape.

  • The damage is similar to that of citrus red mite. Feeding of the mites causes chlorotic stippling of fruit and leaves. They also prefer the upper surface of leaves. As infestation progresses, the trees becoming silver-grey in appearance, some leaves turn yellow and drop and twigs may die back. The damage is seriously accentuated by drought conditions.

Citrus Rust mite - Phyllocoptruta oleivora

  • The mites are microscopically small, about 0,1 mm long, slightly wedge-shaped and yellow to light brown in colour.

  • The mites feed superficially on the fruit, causing silver, reddish brown or purplish black blemishes in spots, blotches, bands or over the entire fruit. Damaged fruit lose moisture rapidly and do not keep well. Leaves and twigs are also damaged and leaf drop may occur when infestation is severe.


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[ last update: Monday, April 2, 2012 ]