Citrus broad mite damage
Identification tip: Broad
mites feeding on succulent shoots cause expanding young
leaves to curl. This leaf cupping and distortion can resemble
injury caused by glyphosate (Roundup) herbicide application. |
Citrus broad mite damage
Identification
tip: Broad mites prefer to feed on young fruit, up
to about 1 inch in diameter, that are growing sheltered
within the inner canopy. When fruit grow and expand, this
earlier injury becomes apparent as discolored, scarred
or cracked tissue on the rind surface. Often the inner-facing
side of fruit is scarred but the outward-facing side is undamaged. |
Citrus broad mite adults
and eggs
Identification tip: Broad mites
often feed and lay eggs in depressions on fruit. Adults and
nymphs are yellowish with a white stripe on the female's back.
Eggs are dimpled, translucent, and covered in white speckles.
Broad mites are smaller than spider mites. To see broad
mites, you need a quality hand lens or preferably a binocular
dissecting microscope.
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Citrus rust mite damage
Identification tip: Rust
mite feeding causes blackish or gray discoloration on green
(unripe) oranges. On lemons, rind damage is pale or silverish
and this pest is called silver mite.
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Citrus rust mite damage
Identification
tip: On ripe oranges, citrus rust mite feeding causes brownish
scarring (russeting) of the rind.
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Citrus rust mite adults
Identification tip: These tiny mites
are wedge shaped and pale. Eriophyids have only four legs,
all attached at their front (widest) end.
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Citrus flat mite adult
Identification tip: This mite is variably
colored, often pinkish or salmon, and is much smaller than
citrus red mite. It is a secondary invader that occurs where
rinds were injured by leafhoppers, thrips, or wind. Flat
mite occasionally is a pest when its feeding causes these
otherwise damaged spots to develop into more obvious scars
on rinds.
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Citrus bud mite damage
Identification tip: Feeding within lemon buds on new succulent
growth distorts flower buds (shown here), fruit, shoot tips,
and leaves. Feeding occurs in buds during the fall and winter
causing damage to spring bloom and the resulting fruit. Bud
mite is usually a pest only on coastal lemons.
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Citrus bud mite damage
Identification
tip: Citrus bud mite feeding can distort young lemons,
although fruit is usually not this severely misshapen.
This injury was caused several months earlier while the
tiny eriophyid mites were feeding inside the flower bud.
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