{"id":28185,"date":"2022-07-21T20:43:49","date_gmt":"2022-07-21T20:43:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agsci.colostate.edu\/agbio\/?post_type=ipm-pests&p=28185"},"modified":"2024-03-11T15:03:54","modified_gmt":"2024-03-11T15:03:54","slug":"spider-mites-in-wheat-and-corn","status":"publish","type":"ipm-pests","link":"https:\/\/agsci.colostate.edu\/agbio\/ipm-pests\/spider-mites-in-wheat-and-corn\/","title":{"rendered":"Spider mites in wheat and corn"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Spider mites in wheat and corn<\/h1>\n

Order: Acari
Family: Tetranychidae<\/p>\n

Description and life history<\/h2>\n

Brown wheat mite (Petrobia latens)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In Colorado, brown wheat mites are most active on drought stressed winter wheat grown in the Eastern Plains. Brown wheat mite populations quickly decrease during periods of heavy rain of 8.5 mm (1\/3 inch) or more. The eggs are round and red when laid in cooler months, or white when laid in summer.<\/p>\n

Brown wheat mites can use a variety of cultivated plants other than wheat as a host. These include sorghum, onions, fruit trees, carrots, cotton, lettuce, iris, alfalfa, and clover. These mites spend the night in soil and feed on host plants during the day. They are cool-season pests and oversummer in the soil as white eggs that are resistant to heat and desiccation. In the fall when conditions are cooler and wetter, the eggs hatch after an incubation period of about 10 days. Females spend two weeks feeding on wheat and then begin to lay eggs. Outbreaks are historically associated with dry weather events. More recently, outbreaks have been documented in the High Plains of the central United States, and periods of heavy rainfall can significantly reduce spider mite populations.<\/p>\n

Banks grass mite (Oligonychus pratensis)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Banks grass mites are grass-feeding specialists found throughout the grain producing areas of Colorado. They primarily use corn as a summer host and migrate to winter wheat when corn begins to mature and dry out. Adults have pigmentation along both sides and the rear of the body. These mites overwinter as brightly colored orange adults in the crowns of wheat plants. They feed until spring and begin to lay small white eggs. A single generation completes development in 10-20 days.<\/p>\n

Banks grass mite colonies are typically found on the undersides of leaves. These mites produce webbing to protect the eggs, immatures, and adults in a colony. Webbing is also used to disperse to new hosts. Banks grass mites reproduce throughout the summer until the following fall when they return to winter wheat. While Banks grass mites mainly attack corn, they are also considered pests of wheat, sorghum, and turf.<\/p>\n

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