Mite Pests

Crop pests that are mites, tiny eight-legged relatives of spiders that feed on plant sap and leaf cells and can multiply very fast in warm dry weather. A pest belongs here when its cited article calls it a mite or places it among the spider mites, green mites or other plant-feeding mites. Mites are too small to see easily, so damage such as stippled, bronzed or mottled leaves is often noticed first, and some species have become serious pests after being carried to new continents without their natural enemies. Management uses monitoring, predatory mites and other natural enemies, resistant varieties and selective miticides. This heading gathers the plant-feeding mites of the atlas so a visitor can compare the crops they attack and how each is controlled.