How long do eriophyoid mites live?

The eriophyoid mites (Acari: Eriophyoidea) are extremely small, highly specialized and obligately phytophagous, and ~ 80% of the ~ 5,000 known species are monophagous. They include pests of more than 50 important food and industrial crops and ornamental plants. Conversely, other species have been investigated for their potential role in the biological control of weeds. In this literature review, the data on the development time, adult longevity and lifespan of eriophyoid species generated in 74 studies from 1930 to 2021 was compiled. The eriophyoids were from three families, Eriophyidae, Diptilomiopidae and Phytoptidae, 24 genera and 47 species that included 43 eriophyids, two phytoptids and two diptilomiopids. The most studied genus was Aceria (13 species), followed by Aculus (4) and Calacarus (3). The host plants were in a range of vegetative forms, including grasses, a climber, shrubs and trees, in different families that included Poaceae, Rosaceae and Rutaceae. Almost all the investigations were carried out in laboratory settings under numerous combinations of species, gender, diet/host plant, temperature, relative humidity and photoperiod. These variables all affected the development time, adult longevity and lifespan of eriophyoid mites, with temperature consistently a major influence and relative humidity consistently important. Male life stages were always shorter than female life stages. Phyllocoptruta oleivora (Ashmead) males had the shortest lifespan of 7.1 d at 32 °C on green orange fruit and Aculops lycopersici (Massee) females had the longest lifespan of 46.4 d at 11 °C on young tomato leaves. Biological studies on the duration of their life stages are required to develop models that predict the dynamics of eriophyoid populations in the field to support IPM programs and organic farming. Moreover, these studies are becoming increasingly valuable as globalization and climate change facilitate the spread of invasive eriophyoid mite species.

Two new genera, three new species and three new records of eriophyoid mites (Acari: Trombidiformes: Eriophyoidea) in China

Two new genera, three new species and three new records of eriophyoid mites from China are described and illustrated: Medicavarus rhododendrus gen. nov. et sp. nov. from Rhododendron delavayi Franch. (Ericaceae); Rhycanonaequitas laevifolia gen. nov. et sp. nov. from Magnolia laevifolia (Y.W. Law & Y.F. Wu) Noot. (Magnoliaceae); Cosella quihouis sp. nov. on Ligustrum quihoui Carr. (Oleaceae); Rhombacus eucalypti Ghosh & Chakrabarti, 1987 rec. nov. on Eucalyptus sp. (Myrtaceae); Keiferana neolitsiae (Channabasavanna, 1966) rec. nov. on Cinnamomum burmanni (Nees et T. Nees) Blume (Lauraceae); Petanovicia cathartica Zhao, Li & Wang, 2018 rec. nov. on Allamanda schottii Pohl (Apocynaceae).

Genome and Metagenome of The Phytophagous Gall-Inducing Mite Fragariocoptes Setiger (Eriophyoidea): Are Symbiotic Bacteria Responsible For Gall-Formation?

Eriophyoid mites represent a hyperdiverse, phytophagous lineage with an unclear phylogenetic position. These mites have succeeded in colonizing nearly every seed plant species, and this evolutionary success was in part due to the mites' ability to induce galls in plants. A gall is a unique niche that provides the inducer of this modification with vital resources. The exact mechanism of gall formation is still not understood, even as to whether it is endogenic (mites directly cause galls) or exogenic (symbiotic microorganisms are involved). Here we (i) investigate the phylogenetic affinities of eriophyoids and (ii) use comparative metagenomics to test the hypothesis that the endosymbionts of eriophyoid mites are involved in gall-formation. Our phylogenomic analysis robustly inferred eriophyoids as closely related to Nematalycidae, a group of deep-soil mites belonging to Endeostigmata. Our comparative metagenomics, fluorescence in situ hybridization, and electron microscopy experiments identified two candidate endosymbiotic bacteria shared across samples, however, it is unlikely that they are gall-inducers (morphotype1: novel Wolbachia, morphotype2: possibly Agrobacterium tumefaciens). We also detected an array of plant pathogens associated with galls that may be vectored by the mites; a mite pathogenic virus (Betabaculovirus) has the potential to be used in the biocontrol of agricultural pests.

Five new eriophyoid mite species associated with plum orchards, Prunus domestica L. and five new records of the superfamily Eriophyoidea (Acari: Trombidiformes) from Hamedan Province, Iran

Eriophyoid mites from plum trees (Prunus domestica L.) in Hamadan Province, northwestern Iran, were collected during a survey in 2018–2020. Altogether 12 species, belonging to eight genera and two families, are reported herein. Five species are new to science and five species are new records for Hamadan province of Iran. The collected mites according to their families, genera and species are as follows: family Diptilomiopidae: Quadracus reticulatus sp. nov., Rhinophytoptus nemalobos Lotfollahi & de Lillo, 2014, Diptacus hamedanicus Jafari & Khanjani, 2020, Diptacus gigantorhynchus (Nalepa, 1892); family Eriophyidae: Acalitus iranicus sp. nov. causes small irregular galls around of buds, Aculus flechtmanni sp. nov., Aculus fockeui (Nalepa & Trouessart, 1891), Eriophyes prunorum sp. nov. causes blisters on leaf surface, Eriophyes savagei Keifer, 1939 causes leaf nail galls, Phyllocoptes hamedi sp. nov., Phyllocoptes abaenus Keifer, 1940, and Tetra pruni Jafari, Khanjani & Ueckermann, 2020.

Two new species of Aceria (Acariformes: Eriophyoidea) associated with Amaranthaceae in Egypt

Two new species of eriophyoid mites inhabiting amaranthaceous plants in Egypt are described and illustrated. Aceria mosalahi sp. nov. heavily induces galls on leaves and stems of Chenopodiastrum murale (L.) S. Fuentes, Uotila & Borsch, while Aceria nudata sp. nov. induces red galls on the stems and leaves of Traganum nudatum Delile. Twenty-two Aceria species are known to inhabit plants of the Amaranthaceae family, and those inducing galls are listed here along with their diagnostic characteristic.

Eriophyoid mites fauna (acari: prostigmata) on pyrus communis l. In the fomin botanical garden

On the territory of the Academician A.V. Fomin Botanical garden three species of mites of the superfamily Eriophyoidea were found in pear orchards. It has been found that Eriophyes pyri Pgst and Epitrimerus pyri Nal. dominate. For the first time, individuals of Epitrimerus marginemtorguens Nal., have been found on pear 12 leaves. Eriophyes pyri is a widespread and dangerous pest of pears in all localities of cultivating this plant species in Ukraine. Epitrimerus pyri is less harmful in pear plantations of the botanical garden. Epitrimerus marginemtorguens appeared mainly in the second half of the growing season. The phenology of four-legged mites has been clarified and the sequence of Eriophyes pyri leaf population on a growing pear shoot has been determined. The period of formation of 7–9 ordinal leaves on the growing shoot is the key moment when the first generation of mites leaves the old galls and colonizes the newly formed leaves. During this period, the phytophagy moves from a hidden to an open way of life and is available for methods and means used in plant protection. A similar moment is also observed during the migration of the second generation to the apical leaves and the third generation – to the buds for wintering, but this process is greatly extended over time and is not so suitable for applying the acaricides.

Three new species of the family Eriophyidae (Acari: Eriophyoidea) from South China

In this paper, three new species of eriophyoid mites of the family Eriophyidae from South China are described and illustrated. They are: Stenacis cryptomeris sp. nov. infesting Cryptomeria japonica (Thunb. Ex L.f.) D.Don (Cupressaceae), Tetra guizhouensis sp. nov. infesting Caesalpinia sp. (Leguminosae), and Nothopoda schimae sp. nov. infesting Schima superba Gardner & Champ. (Theaceae). All of these three new species are vagrants on lower leaf surface and causing no apparent damages to their host plants.

Three new species of subfamily Phyllocoptinae (Acari: Eriophyidae) from Vietnam and China

Three new species of eriophyoid mites in the subfamily Phyllocoptinae Nalepa from Vietnam and China are described and illustrated: Acaricalus cinnamoma sp. nov. infesting Cinnamomum burmanni (Nees & T. Nees) Blume. (Lauraceae), Neoshevtchenkella maesa sp. nov. infesting Maesa perlaria (Lour.) Merr. (Myrsinaceae) and Shevtchenkella meizhouica sp. nov. infesting Vitex negundo L. (Lamiaceae). All three new species are vagrant on the leaves of their host plant respectively causing no visible damage.

Three new species of eriophyoid mites (Acari: Eriophyoidea) associated with Melicope pteleifolia from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China

During a field survey in 2019, three new species of eriophyoid mites were collected from Melicope pteleifolia, in Rongan county, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. Aceria melicope sp. nov. causes blister-like galls on the upper side of the leaves, forming thickened, wrinkled and distorted leaves. Phyllocoptruta pteleifoliae sp. nov. and Diptilomiopus ronganensis sp. nov. are vagrant on the leaves and no apparent symptom was observed.