Gall mites

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Gall mites
Gallen of the species Eriophyes tiliae

Gallen of the species Eriophyes tiliae

Systematics
Class : Arachnids (arachnida)
Subclass : Mites (acari)
Superordinate : Acariformes
Order : Trombidiformes
Superfamily : Eriophyoidea
Family : Gall mites
Scientific name
Eriophyidae
Nalepa , 1898

The gall mites (Eriophyidae) form a family in the subclass mites (Acari).

features

The gall mites only have two pairs of legs, which distinguishes them from the rest of the mites, which normally have four pairs of legs. The body is elongated, worm-shaped and curled or equipped with many back plates. The bowel is simple, there are no sacs in the bowel. Heart and circulatory systems are absent, which is what makes the very small body size possible. The chelicerae are used for sucking. The gall mites are very small, the largest reach a length of 0.3 mm, the smallest 0.08 mm.

Damage

The name gall mites comes from the versatile growths that they can cause on various plants and are called galls . It can u. a. are so-called tangled plaits on willows, felt lawns, small croissants, witch brooms and nail bites. Under certain circumstances, they can cause severe damage to the host plants. So prevents z. B. the blackberry mite ( Acalitus essigi ) to ripen individual fruits of the blackberries , these unripe fruits remain partly or completely reddish in color. In black currants and hazelnuts , gall mites can cause the formation of large round buds. Diseases can also be transmitted by some species of gall mites, e.g. B. the currant mite ( Cecidophyophis ribis ) can transmit the viruses of nettle leaves .

ecology

The wind spreads it. The overwintering usually takes place under bud scales . The ratio of the sexes is usually not 1: 1, there are more female specimens than males, and seasonal dimorphism is often present. The development via larva and a free nymph stage can, if the conditions are favorable, already take place in 10-15 days. This can often lead to mass reproductions.

Systematics

Aceria anthocoptes

The family of gall mites (Eriophyidae) belongs to the order of the Trombidiformes . The family was created by Alfred Nalepa in 1898. In 2013, 274 genera with over 3000 species were described. Some example genera:

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Volker Storch, Ulrich Welsch: Systematic Zoologie , Fischer, 1997, ISBN 3-437-25160-0 .
  2. ↑ a b Lexicon of Biology . Spectrum Academic Publishing House, Heidelberg 2004.
  3. ↑ Horst Füller, Hans-Eckhard Gruner, Gerhard Hartwich, Rudolf Kilias & Manfred Moritz: Urania Tierreich - Invertebrates 2. Urania-Verlag, Leipzig, Jena 1994, p. 70 u. 88, ISBN 3-332-00502-2 .
  4. ↑ Zhang, Z.-Q. (Editor): Animal Biodiversity: An Outline of Higher-level Classification and Survey of Taxonomic Richness (Addenda 2013) . P. 129 Link .

literature

  • Lexicon of Biology . Spectrum Academic Publishing House, Heidelberg 2004.
  • Volker Storch, Ulrich Welsch: Systematic Zoology . Fischer, 1997, ISBN 3-437-25160-0 .

Web links

Commons : Gall mites (Eriophyidae)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files