Tetranychinae

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Taxonomy

Common names

fruittree spider mitespider mite:
a member of the family Tetranychidae (Prostigmata).
, hawthorn spider mitespider mite:
a member of the family Tetranychidae (Prostigmata).
, red spider mitespider mite:
a member of the family Tetranychidae (Prostigmata).

Probability of encounter

high

Quarantine importance

Very high. The genus Amphitetranychus consists of only 3 described species, all of which were originally described as species of Tetranychus and all of which infest woody dicots. Amphitetranychus quercivorous (Eharah & Gotoh) and A. savenkoe (Reck) feed on oaks in Japan and Russia, respectively. The remaining species, however, the fruittree spider mitespider mite:
a member of the family Tetranychidae (Prostigmata).
A. viennensis (Zaqcher) is a significant pest of a variety of fruit trees and ornamentals and of especial concern to quarantine in the U.S.

• Hawthorn spider mitespider mite:
  a member of the family Tetranychidae (Prostigmata).
  or fruittree spider mite—Amphitetranychus viennensis (Zacher) (=Tetranychus viennensis Zacher, T. crataegi Hirst, Apotetranychus longipenis Ugarov & Nikolskii) attacks apple, apricot, most cherries, peach pear, logan berry, hazel nut, and a variety of ornamentals including poppy, crab apple, oak, and ash in Europe, Turkey, mainland Asia, and Japan.

Diagnosis

• With 1 pair of paranal setaeseta:
  (pl. setae, from L. = bristle) cuticular process composed of a hollow shaft (sometimes filled with a refractive material) produced from a membranous socket (the alveolus); the hair-like, spine-like, branched or variously expanded structures on the surfaces of the legs and body.  Most setae function as mechanoreceptors, but others (e.g., solenidia) are chemoreceptors or have unknown or ambiguous functions.
  (h3); setaeseta:
  (pl. setae, from L. = bristle) cuticular process composed of a hollow shaft (sometimes filled with a refractive material) produced from a membranous socket (the alveolus); the hair-like, spine-like, branched or variously expanded structures on the surfaces of the legs and body.  Most setae function as mechanoreceptors, but others (e.g., solenidia) are chemoreceptors or have unknown or ambiguous functions.
  h2 terminal.
• Empodiumempodium:
  (pl. empodia) an unpaired structure arising between the tarsal claws, ranging from pad-like to claw-like and often bearing structures such as tenent hairs, dense setulae, or taking the form of a featherclaw (Eriophyoidea)..
  split distally into 3 pairs of hairs
• Empodial spurspur:
  a projection, usually tooth- or spine-like, from the body or limbs.
  absent
• Peritremes anastomosed distally

Similar taxa

The empodiaempodium:
(pl. empodia) an unpaired structure arising between the tarsal claws, ranging from pad-like to claw-like and often bearing structures such as tenent hairs, dense setulae, or taking the form of a featherclaw (Eriophyoidea)..
have tenent hairs in the Bryobiinae. Eutetranychini (e.g., species of Eutetranychus) have a clawclaw:
like - having a distal hook; resembling a claw.
-like or highly regressedregressed:
reduce from normal as, for example, the capitulum of astigmatan deutonymphs or the fixed digit of the chelicerae in varroa.
empodium. Other Tetranychini have either 2 pairs of paranal setaeseta:
(pl. setae, from L. = bristle) cuticular process composed of a hollow shaft (sometimes filled with a refractive material) produced from a membranous socket (the alveolus); the hair-like, spine-like, branched or variously expanded structures on the surfaces of the legs and body.  Most setae function as mechanoreceptors, but others (e.g., solenidia) are chemoreceptors or have unknown or ambiguous functions.
(e.g., Allonychus, Panonychus) or have hooked empodiaempodium:
(pl. empodia) an unpaired structure arising between the tarsal claws, ranging from pad-like to claw-like and often bearing structures such as tenent hairs, dense setulae, or taking the form of a featherclaw (Eriophyoidea)..
with proximoventral hairsproximoventral hairs:
the hair-like processes on the empodia of some spider mites; apparently represents a finely divided empodium, and not tenent hairs.
and the duplex setaeseta:
(pl. setae, from L. = bristle) cuticular process composed of a hollow shaft (sometimes filled with a refractive material) produced from a membranous socket (the alveolus); the hair-like, spine-like, branched or variously expanded structures on the surfaces of the legs and body.  Most setae function as mechanoreceptors, but others (e.g., solenidia) are chemoreceptors or have unknown or ambiguous functions.
of tarsustarsus:
(pl. tarsi) the subdistal leg segment between the tibia and the pretarsus (apotele).
I distaldistal:
towards the free end of an appendage.
and adjacent (e.g., Oligonychus) or have an empodial spurspur:
a projection, usually tooth- or spine-like, from the body or limbs.
and have peritremes recurvedrecurved:
a curved suture or line of dehiscence that arches posteriorly; opposed to procurved.
distally (Tetranychus).

References

• Baker and Pritchard 1960Baker and Pritchard 1960:
  Baker EW, Pritchard AE. 1960. The tetranychoid mites of Africa. Hilgardia 29 (11): 455–574.
• Baker and Tuttle 1994Baker and Tuttle 1994:
  Baker EW, Tuttle DM. 1994. A guide to the spider mites (Tetranychidae) of the United States. Indira Publishing House, West Bloomfield, Michigan. 347 pp.
• Beard et al. 2003Beard et al. 2003:
  Beard JJ, Walter DE, and Allsopp P. 2003. Spider mites of sugarcane in Australia: A review of grass-feeding Oligonychus Berlese (Acari: Prostigmata: Tetranychidae) with the description of four new species. Australian Journal of Entomology 42: 51-78.
• Bolland et al. 1998Bolland et al. 1998:
  Bolland HR, Gutierrez J, Flechtmann CHW. 1998. World catalogue of the spider mite family (Acari: Tetranychidae). Brill, Leiden.
• Helle and Sabelis 1985Helle and Sabelis 1985:
  Helle W and Sabelis MW, eds. 1985. Spider mites: Their biology, natural enemies, and control. World Crop Pests, Vol. 1A. Elsevier, New York.
• Jeppson et al. 1975Jeppson et al. 1975:
  Jeppson LR, Keifer HH, and Baker EW. 1975. Mites injurious to economic plants. University of California Press, Berkeley.
• Meyer 1974Meyer 1974:
  Meyer MKPS. 1974. A revision of the Tetranychidae of Africa (Acari) with a key to the genera of the world. Republic of South Africa, Department of Agricultural Technical Services, Entomology Memoir No. 36: 291 pp.
• Meyer 1987Meyer 1987:
  Meyer MKPS. 1987. African Tetranychidae (Acari: Prostigmata) - with reference to the world genera. Republic of South Africa, Department of Agriculture and Water Supply, Entomology Memoir No. 69: 175 pp.
• Navajas et al. 1997Navajas et al. 1997:
  Navajas M, Gutierrez J, and Gotoh T. 1997. Convergence of molecular and morphological data reveals phylogenetic information in Tetranychus species and allows the restoration of the genus Amphitetranychus (Acari: Tetranychidae). Bulletin of Entomological Research 87: 283-288.
• Navajas et al. 1999Navajas et al. 1999:
  Navajas M, Gutierrez J, Lagnel J, Fauvel G, and Gotoh T. 1999. DNA sequences and cross-breeding experiments in the hawthorn spider mite Amphitetranychus viennensis reveal high genetic differentiation between Japanese and French populations. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 90 (2): 113-122.
• Ochoa et al. 1994Ochoa et al. 1994:
  Ochoa R, Aguilar H, and Vargas C. 1994. Phytophagous mites of Central America: An illustrated guide. CATIE, Turrialba, Costa Rica.
• Tseng 1990Tseng 1990:
  Tseng Y-H. 1990. A monograph of the mite family Tetranychidae (Acarina: Trombidiformes) from Taiwan. Taiwan Museum Special Publication Series 9. 224 pp.
• Zhang 2003Zhang 2003:
  Zhang Z-Q. 2003. Mites of greenhouses: Identification, biology and control. CABI Publishing, Wallingford. 244 pp.