False spider mite

Brevipalpus phoenicis

Description
Adult specimens can grow to 280 µm (0.011 in) long (including the rostrum) and 150 µm (0.0059 in) wide. They are flat, oval, and have a dark green to red-orange colour. The adult males are more wedge-shaped than females. This species has two pairs of legs that extend forward and two extending back. It has two sensory rods on tarsus II that distinguish it from another mite species that is known to occur on the same plants, the privet mite, (Brevipalpus obovatus Donn.).A black, "H"-shaped mark occurs on females when raised in temperatures of 68 °F to 77 °F, although this marking is not present at 86 °F.

Larvae are about 140 µm (0.0055 in) long, have six legs, and are bright orange-red when newly emerged, later becoming opaque-orange. The protonymphs and deutonymphs are somewhat transparent, with some of their inner organs appearing a diffuse green colour, with black or yellow patches. Like the adults, they are eight-legged.

Eggs can be seen with the unaided eye, as clusters of reddish-orange.

Damage
This species damages fruit by injecting the cells with toxic saliva. They do this to be able to digest the contents. They puncture numerous cells in close proximity to one another, causing visible chlorotic spots around the area. Later, these spots merge to become brown patches. This can stop the plant's growth and result in deformations. This may cause the skin of the fruit to rupture, and shoots to lose leaves and occasionally die back.

On papaya, the mites begin by feeding on the trunk of the tree. As the population becomes more dense, they migrate to the leaves and fruit. Characteristic evidence of feeding sites is drying of the surrounding areas, with brown colour appearing and the area becoming callous and suberized.

Damage to citrus is more severe. When cholorotic spots are great in number, production of the host plants may be severely reduced. Characteristic galls at the nodes may be observed, and the buds may be unable to sprout. Shoots may be grossly misshapen, and very few leaves may develop. This can result in the death of the entire tree.

Apart from the physical damage this species can cause, it is also a vector of both citrus leprosis and the coffee ringspot virus.

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