Spider mites

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Spider mites
Common spider mite (Tetranychus urticae)

Common spider mite ( Tetranychus urticae )

Systematics
Subclass : Mites (acari)
Superordinate : Acariformes
Order : Trombidiformes
Subordination : Prostigmata
Superfamily : Tetranychoidea
Family : Spider mites
Scientific name
Tetranychidae
Donnadieu , 1876

The spider mites (Tetranychidae) are a family of about 1,200 species of the suborder Prostigmata within the subclass of the mites . Spider mites generally live on the underside of plant leaves, where they spin fine webs for protection and feed on sap. Since they puncture the epidermal cells of the leaves for food intake , they can damage the plant. Spider mites are known for several hundred plant species.

Spider mites are found worldwide. Some species of spider mite are pests of enormous economic importance, such as the red spider ( Panonychus ulmi ), the common spider mite ( Tetranychus urticae ) or the linden spider mite ( Eotetranychus tiliarum ).

features

Spider mites on a plant

Spider mites have a more or less pronounced pear-shaped shape and reach a body length of 0.25 to 0.8 mm. They are yellowish, greenish, orange or red in color. The fourth phalanx of the pedipalp has a claw-like appendage and on the idiosoma there are at most 16 pairs of hairs. The larvae have three pairs of legs, the nymphs and after two, sometimes three stages developing imagines , however, have four pairs of legs.

The name-giving ability in German to produce a spider thread is only found in the subfamily of the Tetranychinae and is there mediated by a large, single-celled gland at the tip of the pedipalp, the secretion of which is spun into a double thread with a hollow bristle on each of the pedipalps.

Internal system

The family includes the following subfamilies , tribes and genera :

  • Subfamily Bryobinae Berlese
  • Subfamily Tetranychinae Berlese

Individual evidence

  1. a b Horst Börner: Plant diseases and plant protection. 8th, revised and updated edition. Springer, Berlin et al. 2009, ISBN 978-3-540-49067-8 , pp. 181-184.
  2. ^ A b Alfred Kaestner (founder): Textbook of special zoology. Volume 1: Hans-Eckhard Gruner (Ed.): Invertebrates. Part 4: Hans-Eckhard-Gruner, Manfred Moritz, Wolfram Dunger: Arthropoda (without Insecta). 4th, completely revised and greatly expanded edition. Gustav Fischer, Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-334-60404-7 , pp. 374-375.
  3. ^ Hans R. Bolland, Jean Gutierrez, Carlos HW Flechtmann: World Catalog of the Spider Mite Family (Acari: Tetranychidae). Brill, Leiden et al. 1998, ISBN 90-04-11087-9 , pp. 5-11 : Key to the Genera of the World.

Web links

Commons : Spider Mites  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files