Ticks Are Plant Pests

2023 Author: Ava Durham | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 07:50

Ticks are usually small (0.2 to 0.4 mm) arthropods of the arachnid class. This is the largest group in the class: at present, about 50 thousand species have been described. In this article, we will talk about mites that damage cultivated plants.

Dry air and high temperatures, and in some cases excessive humidity, are favorable conditions for the development of ticks. They multiply very quickly, from laying eggs to the appearance of an adult it can take only 7 days. Due to their small size, they are difficult to detect in a timely manner. In the later stages of the lesion, there is nothing left how to get rid of the plant. Control measures for all types of ticks are practically similar.

Let's take a look at a few common ticks and how to deal with them.

Varieties

Spider mites (Tetranychinae)

Spider mites are a family of mites from the superorder Acariformes. Found in all regions, including Antarctica. More than 1270 species, 95 genera. Small pliers, less than 1 mm long. The eyes are two pairs, the legs consist of 5 segments. Herbivores (including dangerous pests of cultivated plants), secrete cobwebs. The most famous member of the common spider mite family (Tetranychus urticae) is ubiquitous.

The spider mite is a dangerous pest of fruit and berry crops. It damages the leaves of raspberries, strawberries, currants, gooseberries and other plants.

The mites are very small. The female is greenish in summer, orange-red in spring and autumn. Eggs are spherical, transparent, small. Settling on the underside of young leaves and covering them with cobwebs, mites suck the juices out of them and cause browning, coagulation and drying out within 2-3 days.

Plants are completely entangled in cobwebs. In the presence of food and heat, ticks multiply until mid-September, especially in dry and hot weather. Rains and coolness have a depressing effect on the tick.

Control measures. In case of damage, spraying with acaricides is used: Sunmite, Nissoran, Apollo, Agravertin, Akarin, Oberon. If the plant is slightly damaged, you can try rubbing the leaves and stems with soapy water.

Flat ticks (Tenuipalpidae)

Flat ticks are very small ticks with a body length of 0.25 to 0.4 mm. The body of the tick is ovoid, yellow or brick-colored. The most common red flat mites (or orange flat mites) Brevipalpus obovatus, as well as the Cactus flat mites Brevipalpus russulus. They damage cacti, citrus fruits, ficuses, aucubi and other indoor plants. These very small pests are very difficult to detect and do not form cobwebs. A sign of the appearance of these pests is the slow wilting of the leaves, and in the future - the death of the plant. Flat mites are also dangerous because at an ordinary room temperature of 18 to 24 ° C, they are able to reproduce throughout the year.

Do not confuse it with a non-webbing red spider that feeds on mites and their larvae.

Control measures. In case of damage, spraying with acaricides is used.

Briobia (Bryobia)

Known representatives of Bryobia graminum and Clover mite (Bryobia praetiosa). Briobia cereal is rather difficult to notice on the plant, although it is not so small: it measures about 0.8 - 1 mm in length. Its body is reddish, broadly oval, with long legs. Briobia cereal is very mobile and moves quickly throughout the plant. It lays large orange eggs along the veins on the upper side of the leaf. The clover mite is smaller - up to 0.6 mm, has an oval body of brown or green color. Lays globular dark red eggs on leaves.

A sign of the appearance of these pests is white or yellowish spots-streaks appearing on the surface of the leaf. The skin on the leaves is dead and cracked, the leaves are deformed and twisted. The damage caused by briobia is very similar to that caused by thrips, but unlike the latter, briobia leave eggs on the upper side of the leaf. Despite the fact that briobia are not such frequent pests, they can still harm indoor plants, entering the house from the street or affecting plants exposed to the garden for the summer.

Control measures. In case of severe damage, spraying with acaricides is used.

Root mites

Root mites are more difficult to detect, as the plant must be removed from the ground to detect it. There are several different types of root mites, which have in common that they damage underground parts of plants. The most common root mites are Bulbous Root Mite (Rhizoglyphus echinopus) and Bulbous Mite (Steneotarsonemus laticeps). These mites harm, first of all, bulbous plants (gladioli, hyacinths, tulips, orchids, etc.).

The bulbous root mite is approximately 0.5 - 1 mm, has a wide oval body of light yellow color, narrowed towards the end, and four pairs of legs.

The bulb mite is slightly larger - up to 1.5 mm long, has an oval body and four pairs of legs. They gnaw the tissues of the bulb, laying eggs there in huge quantities - about 300 eggs from one female bulbous root mite. At the same time, at the initial stage of the lesion, eaten places and ticks are visible, but gradually the ticks gnaw out the entire bulb. The damaged bulb will easily fall apart in the hands or break, all internal tissues are eaten away in it, only white dust remains, and ticks are visible with the naked eye.

Root mites actively reproduce and develop in a wide temperature range - from 10 to 25 ° C and even higher; when conditions change, they do not die, but fall into a state of diapause. Root mites reproduce especially strongly at high air humidity. Therefore, one of the measures to prevent the appearance of root mites is to store tubers, bulbs and root crops in a cool dry room, with a humidity not higher than 60%.

Control measures. Inspect the bulbs carefully before planting. It promotes the appearance of root mites, as already noted, conditions of high soil moisture. In this case, you do not need to water the plant less than it requires, you just need to prevent stagnation of water in the roots, i.e. make good drainage and drain water from the sump.

Affected bulbs and plant roots are kept or watered with a solution of acaricide.

Cyclamen pliers

Cyclamen mites (Phytonemus pallidus) are microscopic mites that cannot be seen with the naked eye. The average size of an adult female Cyclamen tick is 250µ (microns), and the eggs are not more than 150µ.

One female lays up to three eggs daily, the total number of eggs in a clutch is from 12 to 16. The eggs ripen within three to seven days, another 3-4 days are required for the larvae to develop before pupation, the tick spends no more than a week in the pupa, after which it is ready to reproduction.

Cyclamen mite is a pest of many ornamental flowers and shrubs such as cyclamen, violets, begonias, gerberas, ivy, chrysanthemums, geraniums, fuchsias, delphiniums, petunia, snapdragons, and others. Strawberries are also striking. In this regard, it has a synonym - strawberry mite.

The cyclamen mite, as a rule, lives in the points of growth of young shoots, and in the buds being born. High humidity and heat favors the development of cyclamen mites, reducing the development of new generations to two weeks.

External signs of defeat. The growth of the affected plant stops, the edges of the leaves curl up, the stems twist, the buds wither. High humidity contributes to this lesion. A severely infected plant looks like it is covered in a layer of dust.

Control measures. Plants affected by the pest need to be isolated or the distance between adjacent pots should be increased. Cyclamen mites do not tolerate dry air, therefore, to combat them, it is necessary to stop spraying the leaves and reduce the number of waterings. All affected parts are removed from the plant; repeated spraying with drugs of the avermectin group can be applied, because mite eggs are protected by a shell impermeable to most chemicals. You can also carry out heat treatment. To do this, the plant is immersed in warm water at 43.5 ° C for 30 minutes.

How do you deal with these pests?