This document provides information about mites, including their classification and importance. It discusses how mites can infest and damage agricultural crops, stored produce, and furniture. Mites can cause allergies in humans. The document describes the characteristics of mites such as their body structure and life cycle. It provides details on different families of mites including phytophagous and predatory mites. Specific mite species that damage important crops are listed. The symptoms of mite damage and methods of mite management including chemical and biological controls are summarized.

1. ENTO 401
• Submitted to:-
Dr. O.P. Chaudhary
• Submitted By:-
VAIBHAV(K2011A53BIV)

2. MITES
• class: Arachnida
• Order: Acarina

3. IMPORTANCE OF MITES
• Mites are very tiny creatures capable of infesting and
causing severe loss to a variety of agricultural crop in
dry situations.
• Some of the mites found in carpets, sofa etc furniture
in the houses and cause allergies in human beings.
• The mites even cause loss to the stored produce.Not
only they cause damage to crops they are also
harmful to productive insects like honeybees acting as
parasites.
• some of the mites (predatory mites) are very useful in
biological control of some insect pests and mites.

4. Characteristics of mites
• They are found in a variety of habitats ie., aquatic
(lakes or ponds) or terrestrial (plants, mammals, on
birds and insects).
• Mites can be distinguished from their insect relatives
by the presence of two body regions (cephalothorax
and abdomen, in some these two are fused), four pairs
of legs(only two pairs in Eriophyidae) , sucking
mouth parts and lack of antennae and Wings.

5. Characteristics of mites……
• Mites possess chelicerae as mouth parts which are
needle like useful for sucking sap from plants.Adults
vary in body shape and possess 2 or 4 pairs of legs.
• The life cycle consists of an egg, larva , proto nymph,
deuto nymph, trito nymph and adult stages.
• Oval shaped eggs are laid on leaves. Incubation
Period is 6-13 days. The no.of nymphal instars vary
among the families.

6. Phytophagous mites:
• The mites that feed on plants are called
phytophagous mites which mainly belong to families
namely
1. Eriophyidae (Erenium or gall or itch or rust
mites)
2. Tetranychidae (spider mites)
3. Tenuipalpidae (Broad mites)
4. Tarsonemidae (False spider mites)

7. Others mites
• Predatoy Mites: (Phytoseiids)
• Phytoseilus persimilis
• Amblyseius fallacies
• House Dust Mite: Dermatophagoides farina
• Stored grain mite: Acarus siro

8. Family: Tetranychidae
( spider mites)
1. Body colour is red, green, yellow, brown etc.and
size 0.2-0.8 mm long.Body is flat, oval.And is not
divided into divisions and Not segmented.
2. Chelicerae are fused to form a stylopore and the
movable segment of chelicerae forms a flagellate
stylet. Threre is no mitotic division in larval stage.
3. Most of the species are having narrow host range.
4. Palpal thumb claws are present.

9. Life cycle
• Egg
• Larva (3 pairs of legs)
• Adults ( 4 pairs of legs)
• Examples:
1. Red spider mite on okra, cotton, citrus, tomato, grape,
papaya, jasmine, pumpkin. Tetranychus macfarlani(
telarius) results in Browning of leaves.
2. Jowar mite ( greyish green colour): Oligonychus indicus,
lower side of leaf becomes wet, red spots appear in patches
on leaf.
3. Vegetable mite, Tetranychus cucurbitae

10. Family:Tenuipalpidae
(false spider mites)
• Characters:
• Same as Tetranychidae, but without thumb claws.
• Three types of setae namely hysterosomal, dorsocentral and mediolateral
are
• present.
• The true tarsal claw is hooked or pad like and with tenent hairs.
• Examples:
1. Citrus flat mite Brevipalpus lewisi
2. Brevipalpus californicus- It causes serious injury to a wide variety of
3. Ornamental and agricultural crops.

11. Family: Tarsonemidae
(Broad mites)
• Characters:
• 1. Body is elliptical ( ovoid) and body measures 0.1-0.3 mm long.
• 3. Body is divided in to three parts Capitulum, Propodosoma and Prohysterosoma
(the later two parts together known as Idiosoma).
• 4. Mouth parts are contained in a distinct capsular head known as Capitulum.
• 5. Females are bigger than males and body colour is opaque white,light green,
pinkish.
• 7. Adult integument is hard and shiny.
• 8. Few hairs, spines are present on body.
• 9. Chelicerae are needle like.
• Examples:
• Yellow mite on chilli- Palyphagotarsonymus latus
• Paddy panicle mite - Stenotarsonemus spinki

12. Family: Eriophyidae
(Blister, rust, gall mites)
• Characters:
• 1. Body is minute measuring 0.08 – 0.2 mm long and body is segmented
• 2. Body is 2 types:
• a) Elongate ( vermiform), worm like, soft body
• b) Wedge shaped, hard body
• 3.Body is divided into cephalothorax and tapering abdomen.
• 5. Abdomen is finely striated with long setae.
• 6. Two pairs of legs on anterior end of body ( in all the life stages)
• 7. Pedipalpi or chelicerae are capable of making some independent movements and form a telescope or fold
base.No thrusting stylopore.
• 8. Egg, Protonymph (2 pairs of legs),Deuteronymph (2 pairs of legs)
• Adult (2 pairs of legs)
• Examples:
• 1. Citrus rust mite- Phyllocoptruta oleivora ( Pinkish brown blotches on fruits ).
• 2. Jasmine mite- Aceria jasmini
• 3. Mango gall mite- Aceria mangiferae
• 4. coconut mite- Eriophyes guerreronis

13. Nature and symptoms of Mite
damage :
• Both nymphs and adults suck sap from plant parts like leaves, terminal or axillary
• shoots, fruits etc with their needle like chelicerae .
• They cause symptoms like
• 1) Formation of white blotches on leaves in vegetables.
• 2) Characteristic red spots that enlarge and coalese making whole leaf reddish.
• 3) Drying of leaves and stems in sugarcane.
• 4) Formation of galls on leaves in pongamia.
• 5) Production of felt like growth on leaves in jasmine.
• 6) Formation of crowded buds ,crumpled shoots in mango.
• 7) Formation of pinkish blotches on fruits of citrus.
• 8) Curling of leaves upwards in chillies.
• 9) Formation of warts and longitudinal tissues on nuts of coconut.
• 10) Act as vectors by transmitting viral diseases.
• 11) Spin delicate webs on the lower surface of the leaf and live inside the web and
suck sap from leaves.

14. Mites of Agricultural Importance
• 1. Jowar mite : Oligonychus indicus - Tetranychidae
• 2. Red spider mite : Tetranychus neocaledonicus
• 3. Citrus rust mite :Phyllocoptruta oleivora – Eriophyidae
• 4. Citrus leaf mite : Eutetranychus banski - Tetranychidae
• 5. Sugarcane mite : Schizotetranychus andropogonii Tetranychidae
• 6. Coconut eriophyid mite :Aceria guerreronis
• 7.Jasmine mite (felt mite) : Aceria jasmini – Eriophyidae
• 8.Sweet potato rust mite :Oxpleurites convolvuli –Eriophyidae
• 9.scarlet mite of tea :Brevipalpus anstralis – Tetranychidae
• 10.Chilli mite :Tarsonemus transluscens,Polyphagotarsonemus latus
- Termipalpidae
• 11.Sugarcane mite :Tarsonemus spinipes
• 12.Coffee mites :Oligonychus coffeae –Tetranychidae

15. Management of mites
• 1. Removal of alternate hosts in the field .
• 2. Spraying of sulphur @ 3 gm/ Dimethoate 30 EC @
2 ml/lt/.Methyldemeton 25 EC @ 2 ml /lt /.kelthane
(Dicofol) 5 ml /lt /.Ethion @ 1 ml/lt.
• 3. Fungal pathogen, Hirsutella thompsoni reported to
be effective against coconut eriophid mite
• 4. Predaceous insects on mites Ex. Scolothrips
indicus
• Scymnus gracilis

16. THANKS