Halotydeus destructor | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
Class: | Arachnida |
Order: | Trombidiformes |
Family: | Penthaleidae |
Genus: | Halotydeus |
Species: | H. destructor |
Binomial name | |
Halotydeus destructor (Tucker, 1925) | |
Halotydeus destructor is a species of earth mites in the family of Penthaleidae, first described by Tucker in 1925 as Penthaleus destructor. [1] [2]
This species is a major winter pest of a variety of crops and pastures in southern Australia. [3] As a major pest, it has been the subject of much study: some studies looking at its response to pesticides, [4] [5] others at biological controls, some at both, [6] and others at its spread and potential spread. [7]
Pesticides are substances that are meant to control pests. The term pesticide includes all of the following: herbicide, insecticides nematicide, molluscicide, piscicide, avicide, rodenticide, bactericide, insect repellent, animal repellent, antimicrobial, fungicide, and lampricide. The most common of these are herbicides which account for approximately 80% of all pesticide use. Most pesticides are intended to serve as plant protection products, which in general, protect plants from weeds, fungi, or insects. As an example, the fungus Alternaria solani is used to combat the aquatic weed Salvinia.
Insecticides are substances used to kill insects. They include ovicides and larvicides used against insect eggs and larvae, respectively. Insecticides are used in agriculture, medicine, industry and by consumers. Insecticides are claimed to be a major factor behind the increase in the 20th-century's agricultural productivity. Nearly all insecticides have the potential to significantly alter ecosystems; many are toxic to humans and/or animals; some become concentrated as they spread along the food chain.
Biological control or biocontrol is a method of controlling pests such as insects, mites, weeds and plant diseases using other organisms. It relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or other natural mechanisms, but typically also involves an active human management role. It can be an important component of integrated pest management (IPM) programs.
A pest is any animal or plant harmful to humans or human concerns. The term is particularly used for creatures that damage crops, livestock, and forestry or cause a nuisance to people, especially in their homes. Humans have modified the environment for their own purposes and are intolerant of other creatures occupying the same space when their activities impact adversely on human objectives. Thus, an elephant is unobjectionable in its natural habitat but a pest when it tramples crops.
Pesticide resistance describes the decreased susceptibility of a pest population to a pesticide that was previously effective at controlling the pest. Pest species evolve pesticide resistance via natural selection: the most resistant specimens survive and pass on their acquired heritable changes traits to their offspring. If a pest has resistance then the pesticide lacks efficacy – efficacy and resistance are inversely related.
Mites are small arachnids.
Varroa destructor is an external parasitic mite that attacks and feeds on the honey bees Apis cerana and Apis mellifera. The disease caused by the mites is called varroosis.
Varroa is a genus of parasitic mesostigmatan mites associated with honey bees, placed in its own family, Varroidae. The genus was named for Marcus Terentius Varro, a Roman scholar and beekeeper. The condition of a honeybee colony being infested with Varroa mites is called varroosis.
The Phytoseiidae are a family of mites which feed on thrips and other mite species. They are often used as a biological control agent for managing mite pests. Because of their usefulness as biological control agents, interest in Phytoseiidae has steadily increased over the past century. Public awareness of the biological control potential of invertebrates has been growing, though mainly in the US and Europe. In 1950, there were 34 known species. Today, there are 2,731 documented species organized in 90 genera and three subfamilies.
Penthaleidae, also referred to as earth mites, are a family of mites that are major winter pests of a variety of crops and pastures in southern Australia.
The environmental effects of pesticides describe the broad series of consequences of using pesticides. The unintended consequences of pesticides is one of the main drivers of the negative impact of modern industrial agriculture on the environment. Pesticides, because they are toxic chemicals meant to kill pest species, can effect non-target species, such as plants, animals and humans. Over 98% of sprayed insecticides and 95% of herbicides reach a destination other than their target species, because they are sprayed or spread across entire agricultural fields. Other agrochemicals, such as fertilizers, can also have negative effects on the environment.
The paradox of the pesticides is a paradox that states that applying pesticide to a pest may end up increasing the abundance of the pest if the pesticide upsets natural predator–prey dynamics in the ecosystem.
Penthaleus is a genus of earth mites in the family of Penthaleidae, first described by Carl Ludwig Koch in 1835.
Brevipalpus phoenicis, also known as the false spider mite, red and black flat mite, and in Australia as the passionvine mite, is a species of mite in the family Tenuipalpidae. This species occurs globally, and is a serious pest to such crops as citrus, tea, papaya, guava and coffee, and can heavily damage numerous other crops. They are unique in having haploid females, a condition caused by a bacterium that change haploid males into females.
Aceria tosichella, commonly known as the wheat curl mite (WCM), is a global cereal pest and a vector for spreading and transmission of viruses like wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV) and wheat mosaic virus (WMoV)
Eupodoidea is a superfamily of mites in the order Trombidiformes. There are about 8 families and more than 160 described species in Eupodoidea.
Guntheria coorongensis is a species of mite in the family Trombiculidae, found from the tip of Cape York in Queensland to South Australia.
Cyta latirostris is a species of snout mite in the family Bdellidae. The cosmopolitan species was first described by Jean-Frédéric Hermann in 1804 as Scirus latirostris.
Halotydeus is a genus of earth mites in the family of Penthaleidae, first described by Antonio Berlese in 1891.