Introduction of Mites , importance and role in agriculture

2. ENT-518
Arachnids Pests
And Their
Management

3. Presentation Title ;
Introduction
Of Mites;
Importance;
Role In
Agriculture;
Economic
Impact On
Agriculture;

4. Submitted To;
Dr. Muhammad Asif Farooq
Submitted By ;
Muhammad Ijaz
Reg. #
2017-ag-8900
University of Agriculture, Faisalabad
Burewala-Campus

5. Introduction
 Mites are small arthropods belonging to the class Arachnida and the subclass Acari.
 Mites are not a clade as they span two different groups of arachnids: the Acariformes are sister to
the camel spiders,
 While the Parasitiformes are sister to the false scorpions; also, they exclude the ticks order Ixodida,
although ticks and mites are closely related.
 Mites are distantly related to spiders and scorpions.
 The body is in two sections, the cephalothorax or prosoma (there is no separate head), and
an opisthosoma.
 The scientific discipline devoted to the study of ticks and mites is called Acarology.
 Most mites are tiny, less than 1 mm (0.04 in) in length, and have a simple, unsegmented body plan.
 Their small size makes them easily overlooked; some species live in water, many live in soil
as decomposers, others live on plants, sometimes creating galls,
 While others again are predators or parasites.
 This last type includes the commercially important Varroa parasite of honey bees, as well as
the scabies mite of humans.

6. Conti…
• Mites differ from insects in several ways, their damage to ornamental plants resembles that of
thrips and lace bugs.
• Most mites have eight legs as adults (adult insects usually have six).
• Mites do not have wings (some adult insects have wings) but can be aerially dispersed by
breezes and winds more or less like aerial plankton, particularly in hot, dry weather.
• It is thought the mouthparts (chelae) of mites evolved from legs with a prehensile joint, (the
digitus mobilus) which allows the mite to chew with a vertical, scissors like action.
• In Mites, the chelae have evolved into sharp mouthparts that mites use to pierce the surface of
the plants they feed on in order to suck out the contents of the plant cells.
• Mites evidently inject saliva as they feed for one of the first symptoms of broad mite and
cyclamen mite feeding is failure of the host plant to blossom.
• Infested Plants then exhibit a variety of plant growth regulator symptoms including twisted
and distorted growth, and shortened internodes and petioles.

7. Mites
Importance
Numerous species of mite are parasitic on
a) mammals
b) birds
c) occasionally attack humans
Their bites can cause
 irritation
 inflammation of the skin
. One group, the trombiculid mites, transmits typhus
fever due to R. tsutsugamushi in Asia and the Pacific
Nuisance

8. Role In Agriculture
• More than 6 000 species of
plant feeding (phytophagous)
mites are known worldwide.
The majority of plant feeding
species belong to the obligate
plant parasitic Eriophyoidea
(e.g. gall mites, erinose mites,
bud mites, rust mites) and
Tetranychoidea (e.g. spider
mites, false spider mites), while
a number of species belong to
other lineages (e.g.
Eupodoidea, Tarsonemidae,
and single oribatid mites).

9. Conti…
• Plant feeding mites form an integral and important part of the natural ecosystem.
• Some species, especially eriophyoid mites, can be utilised for the biological control of weeds. Many plant feeding
mites are of economic importance as pests of crop plants.
• About 65 species cause damage to agricultural crops and ornamental plants.
• All eriophyoid mites are plant feeding.
• They are extremely tiny, the majority are less than 300 micron long, and essentially invisible to the unaided eye.
• They have elongated, worm-like bodies, with only two pairs of legs.
• Eriophyoid mites are commonly known as gall mites, bud mites, rust mites, erineum mites, witches' broom mites,
blister mites and so on, referring to the symptoms caused by a particular species.
• The feeding of almost half of eriophyoid species known, though, does not cause visible damage to their plant hosts.
• The eriophyoid mites belong to three families: Phytoptidae, Eriophyidae and Diptilomiopidae.
• About 3400 species are known, but these probably represent only as little as 5% or less of extant eriophyoid species.
• Most woody and many herbaceous flowering plants, and gymnosperms and ferns most likely host these minute
mites. Most eriophyoid species are highly host specific, restricted to one or single closely related plant species.

10. Crop mites
Mites are among the most diverse and successful of all invertebrate
groups. They are small in size and often go unnoticed, however mites
are one of the most important pest groups attacking grain crops. Some
species have become more problematic over the last decade as farming
practices have changed, and others are proving difficult to control due
to tolerance and chemical resistance issues. There are only a few mite
species considered major crop pests . These are the
Redlegged Earth Mite,
 Blue Oat Mite,
 Bryobia Mite
 Balaustium Mite
Brown Wheat Mite and the Two-Spotted Mite (a serious pest in
horticulture).

11. Conti…
 Spider Mites are mites that attack both indoor and outdoor crops.
 They are often hard to see with the naked eye and can only be observed keenly by agricultural pest
experts.
 They live in colonies under plant leaves and feed on the tissues of plants, by piercing and sucking
moisture in them.
 As they continue with this feeding, the leaves of the plants dry up and turn yellowish in colour.
 Spider mites are most common in hot, dry conditions, especially where their natural enemies have
been killed off by insecticide use.
 Some of the many species common predators of the plant-feeding mites, which make up the vast
majority. They are also very prolific, which is why heavy infestations often build up unnoticed
before plants begin to show damage.
 Due to the minute nature of spider mites, it is often hard to detect infestation on time but primary
detection can be noticed from webs underneath leaves of plants.
 Symptoms of attack may include, yellow coloring of plant leaves and unusual curl of the leaves as
well

12. Redlegged Earth Mites
 DESCRIPTION
 Red legged earth mites grow to about 1 mm in length.
 Adults have a velvety black body and eight red legs.
 Newly hatched mites are pinkish-orange with six legs and are 0.2 mm long.
 Nymphs develop into mature adults in approx. 4-6 weeks.
 In autumn, over-summering eggs hatch when there is significant rainfall and the
mean daily temperatures fall below approx. 21°C.
 Redlegged earth mites can have three generations per season.
CROPS ATTACKED
 Canola, pulses and other legume seedlings are the most susceptible.
 Redlegged earth mites feed on broadleaf weeds, particularly capeweed.
 They also attack cereals and grasses especially when selective herbicides
eliminate preferred hosts.
 Redlegged earth mites are often found in feeding aggregations, of up to 30
individuals.
 Feeding causes silvering or white discoloration of leaves and distortion or
shrivelling in severe infestations.

13. Blue Oat Mites
DESCRIPTION
• Blue oat mites are 1 mm in length when adults.
• Adults have a blue-black body with a distinctive red mark on their back and eight red-orange
legs.
• Nymphs are pinkish-orange in colour with six legs on hatching, but soon become greenish
and then blue-black.
• Blue oat mites usually have three generations per season, with each generation lasting 8-10
weeks.
• Over-summering diapause eggs hatch in autumn, stimulated by cold temperatures and
adequate moisture.
• There are three blue oat mite species that are pests of grain crops in Australia.
• A microscope is required to distinguish between species.
CROPS ATTACKED
• All crops and pastures are vulnerable to attack and are most susceptible at the seedling stage.
• Blue oat mites feed on cereals, grasses, canola, field peas, legumes and various weeds.
• Feeding causes silvering or white discoloration of leaves and distortion or shrivelling in
severe infestations.

14. Balaustium Mites

15. Balaustium Mites
DESCRIPTION
 Balaustium mites grow to 2 mm in length and have a rounded redbrown body with eight red-orange legs.
 When fully grown, they are much larger in size than other mites.
 Adults are covered with short stout hairs, are slow moving and have distinctive pad-like structures on their forelegs.
 Newly hatched mites are bright orange with six legs and are only 0.2 mm in length.
 Balaustium mites usually have two generations per season and do not require cold temperatures to stimulate egg hatching.
 Eggs hatch when there is sufficient moisture.
CROPS ATTACKED
 Canola, lupins and cereals are the most susceptible, particularly at the seedling stage.
 Some broadleaf weeds are alternative hosts.
 Balaustium mites typically attack leaf edges and leaf tips of plants.
 In canola damage is characterised by distorted cupped cotyledons, which may have a leathery appearance.
 In pulses and cereals Balaustium mites cause irregular white spotting or bleaching of the leaves.

16. Conti…
CONFUSED WITH
Commonly confused with blue oat mites, and sometimes with Balaustium mites and Bryobia mites.
Redlegged earth mites generally feed on leaf surfaces in large groups unlike other species that tend to
feed singularly.
MANAGEMENT
 Snout mites and other predatory mites are occasional natural enemies, especially in established pastures.
 Heavy grazing of pasture paddocks during the spring period will reduce mite population carry-over to the following
autumn.
 Removal of weeds prior to sowing crops can reduce populations by destroying their food source, however this will not be as
effective in seasons with an early break.
 There are many pesticides registered, although resistance to synthetic pyrethroid chemicals has been detected in some
populations. Rotate chemical classes of pesticides.
 Carefully timed applications of chemicals in spring using Timerite® will minimise mite populations the following autumn

17. Crops Affected
Acrology studies have shown that spider mites attack the following
types of crops.
Annual vegetable crops like squash
Melons and water leaves, which an attack on them reduces significant
crop yield.
Crops like sugar peas and beans where they attack the plant pods.
Ornamental plants

18. Spider Mites

19. Economic Importance of Mites• The acari family, from which mite comes from, is made up of over 30,000 species
Certain species of mites are important pests of agricultural value.
• These are mostly known as plant Mites.
• These mites feed on plants by piercing the cells and feeding on the moisture inside.
• The most common of these plant mites is known as the spider mite.

20. Stored Grain and Stored Product Mites
Mites of stored grain and stored product are of great economic
importance.
These mites infest and cause damage to goods in following ways:
• Stored grain cereals.
• Seeds of all kind
• Bulbs, tubers and decaying material
• Fresh, cultivated and stored mushrooms
• Dried fruits of all kind

21. Direct Damages
 Some free living mites live in the stored grains and their products
where they
Multiply rapidly and attain the status of pests.
 Food products, especially the cereals are liable to be infested directly.
 The mites penetrate the seeds through cracks, tear the outer covering
of
Embryo and eat away cavities where they develop and multiply.

22. Conti…
These mites feed on the grain itself or fungi growing on it.
 These mites have blunt chelicerae for scraping and gouging the food.
 Majority of these mites feed on the embryo while some can feed on
cotyledons as well.
 Due to the attack of these mites quality of the stored grains is affected
more
badly as compared to the quantity.

23. Indirect Damages
These mites cause damage to stored grains products by raising the
moisture content
Generating sufficient heat which favors growth and infections of
pathogens.
They contaminate the space between the grains with their dead bodies,
cast skins and
Excrement hereby hindering the circulation of the air in the stock.
They also act a vectors of fungal and bacterial diseases and spread
those through out the whole mass.

24. Conti…
The flour which is prepared from infested grains is more acidic in
nature, bitter
taste, stagnant smell, more hygroscopic and has a tendency to stick
together.
They are clumsy, slow in movement and almost incapable of covering
large distance by themselves.
They can undergo a transitory quiescent stage which is very difficult
to control

25. Important Families Of Stored Grain and Stored
Product Mites
1.Acaridae 2.Tyroglyphidae

26. Conti…
If a person is bitten from a flour mite they might suffer a reaction called
Baker's itch.
4.Glycyphagidae also known as
Furniture Mites
3.Carpoglyphidae

27. Effects of Mites on Animals
 Although majority of mite species are harmless,
there are also a few of them that transfer bacterial
infections to their hosts.
 Skin diseases like scabies are caused by bites from
mites called sarcoptes scabies which set up shop on
the human skin, laying eggs on the layers. This
infestation can lead to itching and rashes all over
the human body.
 It can spread through skin to skin contact from an
infected person to healthy persons and also through
sexual intercourse. Scabies mites can last up to 3
months in the human body once it enters the body.
They usually die within a few hours without human
contact

28. Effects of Mites on Humans

29. Parasitic Mites Of Mammals, Birds And
Humans
1.Family Sarcoptidae (sarcoptic mites) 2.Family Psoroptidae (psoroptic mites)

30. Parasitic Mites Of Mammals, Birds And
Humans
4. Family Dermanyssidae (red poultry mites3.Family Pyroglyphidae (house dust mites)

31. Conti…
6.Family Listrophoridae (fur mites)5.Family Demodicidae (follicle mites)

32. Conti…
7.Family Pyemotidae - pyemotid 8.Family Tarsonemidae - Acarapis woodii

33. Conti…
9.Family Trombidiidae