Penthaleus major | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
Class: | Arachnida |
Order: | Trombidiformes |
Family: | Penthaleidae |
Genus: | Penthaleus |
Species: | P. major |
Binomial name | |
Penthaleus major (Dugès, 1834) | |
Penthaleus major, known generally as the winter grain mite or blue oat mite, is a species of earth mite in the family Penthaleidae. [1] [2] [3] [4] They are black or dark blue in color and are widespread across the world. They are commonly found on oats and in pastures and spend most of their time on the surface of soil, and are occasionally found on wheat, barley, peas, lentil and lucerne, and seldom on canola. [5]
The blue oat mite measures anywhere from 1/32 to 1/16 inch, and has orange-red legs and a dark blue to black body with a red or orange spot on its upper abdomen. [6] Their front legs are barely the longest. Blue oat mite anuses are dorsal. [5]
Right after they hatch from their eggs, these mites are pink-orange colored, then brownish in a short time, before turning green and eventually becoming adults. [5] Blue oat mite larvae are about 0.3 millimeters in length, 6-legged, and oval. [7]
The blue oat mite has been reported across the world, in New Zealand, Australia, Germany, Spain, France, Greenland, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Morocco, South Africa, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Japan, [8] and Brazil. [5] They are not located in hot equatorial areas. [8] P. major is found in pastures and crops, sometimes along with Halotydeus destructor , Sminthurus viridis and other pests. [9]
They were introduced to other parts of the world from Europe, the first identified Australian specimen being a New South Wales specimen in 1921. [7] These mites were found damaging oats in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande Do Sul on July 2, 2009 and were hastily reported to the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture due to the presence of a new pest in the country. [5]
In its southern distribution, it is particularly a pest in the winter, but in southern Greenland and northern Iceland, it is considered a summer pest. [8] Blue oat mites were found to be present in parts of Texas in 1954, damaging many fields. [10]
These mites have three stages before adulthood; the egg stage, the larva stage, and the nymph stage. [5] They live for around 45 days on average, [11] and are eaten by insects and arachnids such as lacewings, ladybugs and other mites. [12] They reproduce asexually, with 3 generations per season, and are active from May to November. [13]
In a 2023 study, it was concluded that Penthaleus major could develop from a temperature range of anywhere from nine to twenty-one degrees Celsius; adults would not appear at six degrees Celsius and eggs would not hatch at twenty-four degrees Celsius. [14] In a study that took place in 2018, Penthaleus major abundance was linked with a plentiful amount of grass, and the relation with the type of field was noteworthy yet differed from the relation of Halotydeus destructor and field type. [15]
Blue oat mites cause damage by removing chlorophyll from a plant’s cells and tearing its epidermis, causing the plant to give off a silvery color. [5] [16] In Iceland, damage is particularly clear on Phleum pratense and Alopecurus pratensis . [8]
Likely, blue oat mites spread across a long distance when their diapause eggs are blown in the wind, and clinging on to humans and animals along with some wind is the most prominent means of low and medium-distance transport; although, blue oat mites can be accidentally transported in soil by farm machinery, livestock and plant material relocation. [5]
In Australia, fungi of the genus Neozygites are known to be relatively effective at decreasing blue oat mite populations by halting female egg production, having somewhere around an 8-50% mortality rate, and in subarctic to arctic environments, using pesticides was found to be only partly successful. [16] Using permethrin and 5 milliliters of deltamethrin saw great reduction in numbers of P. major and visible plant damage, although a side effect of this method is reduction of potassium in the yield. [8]
One common name for this mite, the 'winter grain mite', comes from it being a pest in its southern distribution during the winter. [8]
Mites are small arachnids. Mites span two large orders of arachnids, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari. However, most recent genetic analyses do not recover the two as each other's closest relative within Arachnida, rendering the group non-monophyletic. Most mites are tiny, less than 1 mm (0.04 in) in length, and have a simple, unsegmented body plan. The small size of most species makes them easily overlooked; some species live in water, many live in soil as decomposers, others live on plants, sometimes creating galls, while others are predators or parasites. This last type includes the commercially destructive Varroa parasite of honey bees, as well as scabies mites of humans. Most species are harmless to humans, but a few are associated with allergies or may transmit diseases.
Tetranychus urticae is a species of plant-feeding mite generally considered to be a pest. It is the most widely known member of the family Tetranychidae or spider mites. Its genome was fully sequenced in 2011, and was the first genome sequence from any chelicerate.
Spider mites are members of the Tetranychidae family, which includes about 1,200 species. They are part of the subclass Acari (mites). Spider mites generally live on the undersides of leaves of plants, where they may spin protective silk webs, and can cause damage by puncturing the plant cells to feed. Spider mites are known to feed on several hundred species of plants.
Varroa destructor, the Varroa mite, is an external parasitic mite that attacks and feeds on honey bees and is one of the most damaging honey bee pests in the world. A significant mite infestation leads to the death of a honey bee colony, usually in the late autumn through early spring. Without management for Varroa mite, honey bee colonies typically collapse within 2 to 3 years in temperate climates. These mites can infest Apis mellifera, the western honey bee, and Apis cerana, the Asian honey bee. Due to very similar physical characteristics, this species was thought to be the closely related Varroa jacobsoni prior to 2000, but they were found to be two separate species after DNA analysis.
The Acariformes, also known as the Actinotrichida, are the more diverse of the two superorders of mites. Over 32,000 described species are found in 351 families, with an estimated total of 440,000 to 929,000 species, including undescribed species.
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.
Prostigmata is a suborder of mites belonging to the order Trombidiformes, which contains the "sucking" members of the "true mites" (Acariformes).
The Raphignathoidea is a superfamily of the Acari (mite) order Trombidiformes, comprising 1087 species in 62 genera and 12 families.
Trombidiidae, also known as red velvet mites, true velvet mites, or rain bugs, are small arachnids found in plant litter and are known for their bright red color.
Raoiella indica, commonly known as the red palm mite, is a species of mite belonging to the family Tenuipalpidae. A pest of several species of palm in the Middle East and South East Asia, it is now becoming established throughout the Caribbean. The invasion of this species is the biggest mite explosion ever observed in the Americas.
The Trombidiformes are a large, diverse order of mites.
Acarophenacidae is a family of mites in the order Trombidiformes that are egg parasitoids and ectoparasites of beetles or thrips. It contains eight genera and around 40 species.
Bryobia is a genus of mites in the spider mite family, Tetranychidae. The taxonomy of the genus is difficult. The genus has been revised several times. It is difficult to distinguish these tiny species from each other on the basis of morphological characters, and there is little agreement on which characteristics are of importance. Also, species can be variable in morphology. Over 130 species have been described, but many of the names are likely synonyms.
Stigmaeidae is a family of prostigmatan mites in the order Trombidiformes. At over 600 species, it is the largest family in superfamily Raphignathoidea. It has a worldwide distribution.
Limnochares is a genus of mites in the family Limnocharidae. There are at least two described species in Limnochares.
Cocceupodidae is a family of mites in the order Trombidiformes. There are at least 3 genera and about 23 described species in Cocceupodidae.
Eupodoidea is a superfamily of mites in the order Trombidiformes. There are about 8 families and more than 160 described species in Eupodoidea.
Neotrombidiidae is a family of velvet mites and chiggers in the order Trombidiformes. There are at least four genera in Neotrombidiidae.
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 destructor is a species of earth mites in the family of Penthaleidae, first described by Tucker in 1925 as Penthaleus destructor.