Cyclamen Mite: Appearance, Territory, Damage and Life

Latin name: Phytonemus Pallidus

Appearances: One of the tiny mites that harm ornamental plants is this one. The adult female mite measures 250 to 260 mm in length and has thin threadlike structures for hind legs. The size of the male is roughly seventy-five percent that of the female. The fourth pair of legs on mature males are modified and utilized to carry pupae or adult females. The eggs measure approximately 125 by 75 millimeters. They are about twice as long as wide, oval, opaque, and smooth. The larvae are opaque white and have an oddly enlarged triangular region at the back of the body. Pupae do not move around.

Host plant: Many decorative flowers and shrubs, including cyclamen, African violets, begonias, gerberas, ivy, chrysanthemums, geraniums, fuchsias, larkspur, petunias, snapdragons, and other greenhouse-grown plants, are susceptible to the cyclamen mite. Strawberries cultivated in fields may also be infected if the humidity is excessive.

Territory: It has been transported throughout the world on unopened leaflets of plants and on the tubers of cyclamen. This mite avoids light and needs high humidity. In the temperate zone, it overwinters in the adult stage. It can be found all throughout Asia, Hawaii, Europe, and North America.

Damage insect caused: The cyclamen mite (Phytonemus pallidus) penetrates plant tissue with its piercing-sucking mouthparts to feed on plant sap. The symptoms can resemble those of viruses and can differ depending on the host plant. Infested leaves are smaller than normal, deformed, brittle, and twisted or curled. Cyclamen suffers from harmed flowers and stunted leaf growth. A mite attack on the header can result in stem-part baldness. With the leaves turning bronze, mostly along the midrib, gerbera flowers become deformed and discolored. Even a little infestation can do significant harm, and larger infestations stop plant growth and severely harm flower buds, causing them to shrivel and die.

Life cycle and habits: Egg, larva, and adult are the stages of the cyclamen mite’s (Phytonemus pallidus) life cycle. Pharate females, on the other hand, stay in their larval skin until they emerge. This stage is frequently regarded as the fourth and is also known as the pupa, fake pupa, or quiescent nymph. The hind legs of adult females are reduced to slender threadlike structures that are not used for walking. They are yellowish-brown and about 0.25 mm long. Males are smaller than females, and they have modified hind legs that are utilized to carry pharate females.