Seven new species of Phyllocoptini from Tibet Autonomous Region, China (Acari: Eriophyidae: Phyllocoptinae)

In this paper, seven new species of the Phyllocoptini (Acari: Eriophyidae: Phyllocoptinae) from China are described and illustrated. They are Calvittacus swidanus sp. nov. on Swida macrophylla (Cornaceae); Vasates desmodius sp. nov. on Desmodium sp. (Fabaceae); Epitrimerus nyingchicus sp. nov. on Cotoneaster ambiguus (Rosaceae); Calepitrimerus painus sp. nov. on Rhododendron sp. (Ericaceae); Calepitrimerus cotoneaster sp. nov. on Cotoneaster buxifolius (Rosaceae); Phyllocoptruta deutzianus sp. nov. on Deutzia sp. (Saxifragaceae) and Phyllocoptruta smilanus sp. nov. on Smilax sp. (Liliaceae). All the eriophyoid mite species described here are vagrants on the undersurface of host leaves.

What Could Arrest an Eriophyoid Mite on a Plant? The Case of Aculops allotrichus from the Black Locust Tree

Aculops allotrichus is a vagrant eriophyoid that lives gregariously on the leaves of the black locust tree. This study demonstrated that conspecifics can have a significant impact on A. allotrichus females on unprofitable, old black locust leaves and can arrest them on those leaves. The effect was more pronounced in females that were exposed to artificially injured individuals than to intact ones. They not only prolonged their sojourn on leaf discs with pierced conspecifics, but also preferred the leaf disc halves with damaged individuals to clean ones. Aculops allotrichus is the first described herbivore in which artificially injured conspecifics, instead of causing alarm, keep the foraging individuals within a risky patch. Other objects, such as artificially injured or intact heterospecifics, pollen or sand, were irrelevant to the eriophyoid females on old leaf patches. In tests with old leaves of maple, magnolia and hard kiwi vine, the females postponed their movement from non-host leaf discs, which suggests that they may need more time to recognise and evaluate unfamiliar plants than familiar ones.

Hitchhiking or hang gliding? Dispersal strategies of two cereal-feeding eriophyoid mite species

Dispersal shapes the dynamics of populations, their genetic structure and species distribution; therefore, knowledge of an organisms’ dispersal abilities is crucial, especially in economically important and invasive species. In this study, we investigated dispersal strategies of two phytophagous eriophyoid mite species: Aceria tosichella (wheat curl mite, WCM) and Abacarus hystrix (cereal rust mite, CRM). Both species are obligatory plant parasites that infest cereals and are of economic significance. We investigated their dispersal success using different dispersal agents: wind and vectors. We hypothesised that in both mite species the main mode of dispersal is moving via wind, whereas phoretic dispersal is rather accidental, as the majority of eriophyoid mite species do not possess clear morphological or behavioural adaptations for phoresy. Results confirmed our predictions that both species dispersed mainly with wind currents. Additionally, WCM was found to have a higher dispersal success than CRM. Thus, this study contributes to our understanding of the high invasive potential of WCM.

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.

INCREASING THE HARMFULNESS OF THE ERIOPHYOID MITE ACULUS SCHLECHTENDALI (NALEPA), A PHYTOPARASITE OF APPLE TREE IN THE NON-BLACK EARTH ZONE OF RUSSIA

Apple rusty mite Aculus schlechtendali (Nalepa) (Eriophyidae) is an invasive parasite in the Central region of the Non-Black Earth Zone of Russia. At the beginning of the XXI century, there were only small foci of the phytoparasite, but at present it is widespread almost everywhere, periodically giving a massive outbreak of reproduction. The number of mites reaches 1000 and more mobile individuals per 1 leaf (25.5 per 1 cm2). The body is microscopic (160–175 microns), so it is very difficult to be detected. Also, with a small number of A. schlechtendali, symptoms of plant infection do not appear outwardly, which allows the active spread of the mite with planting or other plant material. To count the number of the parasite in the spring, the tops of annual growths up to 10 cm long were sampled at 10 discount sites (in order to view opening buds), and during the vegetation, 10 leaves (4-5th leaves from the top of the sprout) were taken from each discount site. Selected samples of buds and leaves were examined under an MBS-10 binocular microscope. A. schlechtendali is especially dangerous in nurseries and young fruiting plantations of apple trees; it feeds not only on leaves (from the underside) and young sprouts, but damages flowers and buds of the apple tree. Effective control of the parasite requires constant monitoring and strict quality control of the planting material.

Biological Control of the Raspberry Eriophyoid Mite Phyllocoptes gracilis Using Entomopathogenic Fungi

There is an urgent need to develop biological control methods against the eriophyoid mite, Phyllocoptes gracilis, which causes significant losses in organic raspberry production in Europe. The use of entomopathogenic fungi (EF) is a sustainable alternative to conventional chemical pesticides, reducing the risks of pesticide resistance and other negative environmental impacts of agriculture. The objective of this study was to assess the pathogenicity of three strains of EF, two of Beauveria bassiana and one of Metarhizium anisopliae, on P. gracilis under laboratory conditions. Fungal spore suspensions (1 × 107 spores per mL) were sprayed on detached leaves infested with P. gracilis. Treated mites were kept under controlled conditions (25 ± 3 °C, 72 ± 10% relative humidity and photoperiod of 16:8 (light/dark)) and mite mortality was assessed three, five and seven days after inoculation. At all three measurement points (days after inoculation), the mortality of P. gracilis was highest for B. bassiana strain BB 1.1 and M. anisopliae strain MA 10.1. Our data demonstrate that EFs are promising candidates for the development of biological control agents against P. gracilis in raspberry crops.

Eriophyoid (Acariformes: Eriophyoidea) and Phytoseiid (Parasitiformes: Phytoseiidae) Mite Fauna of Selected Rubus taxa (Rosaceae) with Re-description of Anthocoptes rubicolens Roivainen and Epitrimerus rubi (Domes)

Mite species (Acari: Parasitiformes, Acariformes) living on foliage of brambles (Rubus sp.) were collected in Hungary, Austria and Slovakia. Four eriophyoid mite species (Acariformes: Eriophyoidea) associated with 14 Rubus taxa were identified. Female of Anthocoptes rubicolens Roivainen, 1953 is re-described, the male is described and illustrated from Rubus praecox Bertol., and recorded for the first time from R.bifrons Vest, R.clusii Borbás, R.grabowskii Weihe, R.praecocifrons Király et Trávn., Rubus ser. Rhamnifolii (Bab.) Focke, R.slavonicus Király, Trávn. et Žila, and R. solvensis W. Maurer. Anthocoptes rubicolens is a new species for the fauna of Hungary. Female of Epitrimerus rubi (Domes, 1960) is re-described, male and nymph are described and illustrated from R.bertramii G. Braun. Morphological differences distinguishing these species from the similar Anthocoptes rubi Domes and Epitrimerus gibbosus (Nalepa) are discussed. Out of the four identified phytoseiid species, Phytoseius juvenis Wainstein et Arutunjan (Parasitiformes: Phytoseiidae) was the most frequent predatory mite on the leaves of studied Rubus spp.

Unexpected Effects of Local Management and Landscape Composition on Predatory Mites and Their Food Resources in Vineyards

Viticultural practices and landscape composition are the main drivers influencing biological pest control in vineyards. Predatory mites, mainly phytoseiid (Phytoseiidae) and tydeoid mites (Tydeidae), are important to control phytophagous mites (Tetranychidae and Eriophyidae) on vines. In the absence of arthropod prey, pollen is an important food source for predatory mites. In 32 paired vineyards located in Burgenland/Austria, we examined the effect of landscape composition, management type (organic/integrated), pesticide use, and cover crop diversity of the inter-row on the densities of phytoseiid, tydeoid, and phytophagous mites. In addition, we sampled pollen on vine leaves. Typhlodromus pyri Scheuten was the main phytoseiid mite species and Tydeus goetzi Schruft the main tydeoid species. Interestingly, the area-related acute pesticide toxicity loading was higher in organic than in integrated vineyards. The densities of phytoseiid and tydeoid mites was higher in integrated vineyards and in vineyards with spontaneous vegetation. Their population also profited from an increased viticultural area at the landscape scale. Eriophyoid mite densities were extremely low across all vineyards and spider mites were absent. Biological pest control of phytophagous mites benefits from less intensive pesticide use and spontaneous vegetation cover in vineyard inter-rows, which should be considered in agri-environmental schemes.

Two new eriophyoid mite species (Acari: Prostigmata: Eriophyoidae) associated with plum trees in Hamedan

In the plum orchards, in the vicinity of Hamedan, we found different phytophagous insects and mites with eriphyiods the main group. To date, no eriophyiods were reported from this region. In this study two new species were collected and identified namely: Diptacus hamedanicus sp. nov.and Tetra prunura sp. nov. from Prunus domestica (L.) (Rosaceae) in Hamedan province. Both species are vagrants and not harmful to their host