Spider mite

Who are ticks

Herbivorous mites belong to several families (Eriophyidae, Tetranychidae) of the order Acariformes acariformes, class Arachnida arachnids.

You need to understand that arachnids, and therefore ticks too, are not insects, they are arthropods. Upon closer examination, you can see how they look like spiders: also a body divided into large sections (cephalothorax and abdomen), and 4 or 2 pairs of limbs (sometimes 1-2 pairs of legs on the abdomen are reduced). Moreover, the legs of herbivorous ticks have a complex claw apparatus, with the help of which they are held on the leaves quite firmly . The covers of the body are thin, leathery, usually covered with small setae, of different colors, usually light brown, dark brown or brick red. The oral organs are also adapted for puncturing the epidermis and sucking juice .

Tick development cycle

The cycle of development of spider mites includes the phases of the egg, prelars, larvae, protonymphs and the stage of the nymph in the breeding phase. This process is called metamorphosis. In many species of ticks, some phases of development are absent. For example, in the formation of an individual male, some species of ticks have only one nymph stage. Each phase occurs with a change in the cuticular layer, in other words, molting.

Interestingly, many herbivorous ticks belong to the superorder of acariform ticks, they are characterized by the completion of body segments during development to the adult stage. For example, larvae have only six legs, an adult tick has eight.

From the point of view of the florist, the anatomy of ticks, flower pests, is not so important and interesting - their bodies are too small, usually no more than 1 mm in length (on average 0.2-0.45 mm) to consider, and try to distinguish one type of tick from another. Therefore, we will not describe the structure of the bristles and genitals, especially since many hundreds of species are very different in body shape, leg length, etc. Let's dwell on more useful information.

There are several types of herbivorous ticks to focus on.

The most common are the Tetranychus mite superfamily Tetranychoidea. These include the spider mites Tetranychidae and the Planeflies Tenuipalpidae. The frequency of their reproduction varies, it depends on the time of metamorphosis, but in general, this process is continuous. The duration of metamorphosis (periods between molts) depends primarily on the temperature and humidity of the air. So, tropical species of herbivorous ticks develop almost without interruption, forming about 15-20 generations a year. In temperate climates (or, for example, when growing plants with winter rest in cool conditions), ticks manage to form only a few generations. In the cold period, eggs, or fertilized females, winter in a state of diapause.

Among spider mites and flat ticks there are polyphages - feeding on the juice of a wide variety of plants and leafy, and coniferous, and cacti; monophages that prefer any one genus of plants; and oligophages, which like gourmets, eat selectively, some species of plants.

Spider mites

Tetranychus telarius form a web, but it is not always possible for a flower grower to see it immediately. Sometimes it is so small and thin that it is clearly visible only with a huge accumulation of ticks, or when the plant has already completely dried out. Therefore, when suspicious spots are found on the leaves, do not strive to look for cobwebs, look for skins that remain from the links - usually they are gray or almost white, you can see them on the back of the sheet, they look like fine dandruff. This is due to the fact that the ordinary spider mite lives mainly on the back of the leaf, and weaves the spider web between the veins, if you look closely, you can see it with a magnifying glass along the central vein. But if nothing is found, this does not mean that there are no ticks.

Characteristic signs of damage: punctures, whitish or yellowish, are visible in the sheet lumen. At first there are few of them, but gradually they merge into spots. The leaves turn pale, acquire a grayish or pale yellow tint. Then the leaves dry out, completely lose their color. This is a typical picture, but in some cases the leaves turn red or take on a bronze hue. In some plants, the leaves do not change shape even when the spots are large, in other cases they are greatly deformed and twisted .

Continue to inspect the plant every day, because under favorable conditions, ticks multiply rapidly. The female lays over 150-200 eggs for two to three weeks of life under favorable conditions. The generation duration is 2-3 weeks, at the same time all stages of development are present on the plant: eggs, larvae, nymphs, females and males. The entire path of metamorphosis (from a larva to an adult tick) at an average temperature of 20-24 ° C usually takes no more than 10 days, at temperatures above 32 ° C, the regeneration rate is reduced to a week. The "ripening" rate of a tick egg is 1-3 days.

Mature individuals are greenish in color, inconspicuous on the leaves. With reduced daylight hours (since August), females appear in dry hot weather, preparing for winter. They stop feeding on the juice of the plant, acquire a red-brownish color, and look for more securely places to hide (in the upper layers of the soil, under the fallen leaves, in the cracks of the bark). At the same time, females secrete a large amount of cobwebs, this is especially noticeable on garden roses - in a few days they become braided cobweb cocoons. If the temperature does not drop below 10-12 ° C, then spider ticks will not winter, but will continue to actively multiply (this is the minimum temperature at which the vital activity of ticks is still ongoing). It is sad that even prolonged freezing does not kill spider ticks. Tick eggs are able to persist in soil or other secluded places (for example, in straw, compost heap, window frame crevices) for years.

Six-legged ticks

Phytoptipalpus paradoxus is another subfamily of tetranich ticks, characterized by having only three pairs of walking legs. These herbivorous mites were formed during evolution. The fact is that the formation of a cuticle and hatching from an egg in ticks occurs at a time when the embryo has not yet developed a fourth pair of legs. A six-legged larva with a shortened abdomen hatches - the last segments and sexual leaflets are underdeveloped. As a result of mutations during evolution, some adults developed the abdomen normally, and the last pair of legs never developed. As a result, the sign was fixed, and a subfamily of six-legged spider mites was formed. All available three pairs of legs are very short, and the body is much wider than that of the common spider mite, almost round. In six-legged ticks, the pre-larval stage is absent in the life cycle.

Flat pegs

Tenuipalpidae flatheads - or false spider mites (not to be confused with the Cucujidae flathead beetle by name), Brevipalpus Brevipalpus and Tenipalpus Tenuipalpus. In size and shape, they are very similar to spider mites, also sit on the underside of the leaves, move slowly. Their sizes are very small from 0.1 to 0.4 mm.

If you don't have enough of these images, you can see another spider tick photo.

In many species, colonies consist only of females that hatch from unfertilized eggs. Development occurs in three stages: larva, protonymph, and deutonymph. Maturation from egg to adult tick is 12 to 24 days. The eggs of some species of squamous trees can be seen with the naked eye, they look like clusters of reddish-orange color. Larvae of flat calves are six-legged, orange-red, translucent, nymphs are opaque, dark spots appear on the body. Adult ticks are brown, eight-legged with a flattened body. Adult females live for 5-6 weeks, producing 6-10 generations per season. Many flat calves between molts have a pause (rest) of 1-2 days, at which time they do not feed, remain motionless on the leaves.

Plants affected by squamous trees differ in the nature of the spots. The fact is that most flat calves have toxic saliva, which causes necrosis when it enters plant tissues. Therefore, brown or gray-brown spots appear on the upper side of the leaf. First small, point, 1-2 mm, then increasing in size. The leaves are often deformed, and in plants with dense fleshy leaves (senpoli, gloxinium), the edges of the leaves begin to turn inward.

Worst of all, squamous cells are the main carriers of viruses (mosaic and ring spotting). But even worse, the ideal conditions for the reproduction of flat trees are a temperature range of 25-30 ° C and a fairly high humidity, at least at 70-80% air humidity they are comfortable, while spider mites with such humidity inhibit development.

Mite metamorphosis rate versus temperature:

• at an ambient temperature of 15 ° C: eggs ripen for about 2 weeks, another about a week for each subsequent stage: larvae, pronymphs and deutonymphs, a total of 33-36 days from egg to adult
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• at an ambient temperature of 20 ° C: eggs ripen for about a week, about 3 more days for each subsequent stage: larvae, pronymphs and deutonymphs, only 2 weeks from egg to adult
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• at an ambient temperature of 30 ° C: eggs ripen for about 3 days, another 1.5 days for each subsequent stage: larvae, pronymphs and deutonymphs, only a week from egg to adult
.

Spider mite on orchids and cacti

Among flatwoods and spider mites there are specific species that harm indoor plants of certain families, especially cacti and orchids - this is the Brevipalpus russilus cactus flatwort, the Brevipalpus obovatus greenhouse flatwort, the oncidium flat mite Brevipalpus oncidii, the phalaenopsis tick Tenuipalpus pacificus. But the same ticks are happy to eat other indoor plants, especially love citrus fruits, ferns, fuchsia, roses, senpoli.

Spider mite - how to fight

If you have already found a tick on indoor flowers, do not rush to run for chemistry. The fact is that ticks have incredible resistance to chemicals. With a huge rate of generational change, repeat treatments will not be successful in a month. And more than twice the same pesticide does not make sense. This is especially true for flowers newly purchased in the store (they are often processed at the base).

What to do? Firstly, the decisive factor for the rate of reproduction of ticks is the microclimate, or rather the temperature and humidity of the air. Spider mites love it when it's warm and dry. On hot days in summer, they breed at a breakneck rate. Therefore, our task is to increase the humidity of the air. Unfortunately, spraying, even twice or three times a day, does not ease the situation. Moisture quickly evaporates from the leaves. Imagine how much water you splash on the leaves, on the strength of a half glass (more will simply drain to the ground) and dry these half glasses in 15 minutes. The only way out in the case of spider mites is an air humidifier, wide trays of water, table fountains and hanging batteries with damp sheets in winter. But increasing humidity with these methods will not kill ticks, but only slow down their development rate.

There are plants that cannot be wet on the leaf, such as senpolia (and the rest of the gesnerium), some other plants. These are mainly indoor flowers with thin delicate leaves, easily prone to decay at the slightest dampness. But they can also be worn to the bathroom, just not under the shower, but in the steam room. In this case, you turn on a very hot shower (maximum possible), but do not direct it to the flowers, but leave it to pour into the bathroom. After 10 minutes, the bathroom is filled with thick steam, and it is advisable to leave the shower for minutes on the 15. Do not open the bathroom door until the wet steam has evaporated. You can then repeat the procedure. And continue as much as financial considerations and a water meter allow.

You need to repeat a hot shower every 3-5 days. You can do without chemicals altogether if you wash the plants in the shower about 3-4 times a week, and then every 3-4 weeks. You can increase the effectiveness of a hot shower if you first wash the leaves with soap foam. As a detergent, the following are suitable: green soap, tar soap, laundry soap and, at worst, ordinary shampoo. Green or tar soap should be foamed on the leaves and left for 5 minutes. Then flush. Shampoos can be washed off immediately. However, do not forget that ticks are extremely tenacious and hot showers are not a panacea! This is just a safe way to try first.

If you have plants affected by a tick that cannot be transferred to the shower (very large tuberous specimens), there is no shower, or the plants cannot tolerate hot water, we are forced to fight spider mites with chemical protective equipment.

Remember that tick-killing drugs are not called insecticides, but acaricides are anti-arthropod drugs. In extreme cases, there are drugs that work against insect pests (thrips, aphids) and against ticks. These are called insectoacaricides (e.g. phytoverm). Each drug must have an instruction indicating the consumption rates. If the tick is not mentioned among these pests, then this drug will not help, do not even try, just breathe in toxic substances once again. Very often they try to kill a tick with a common actara - this drug does not work on a tick. If it seemed to you that after spraying the ticks became less, then the point here is not in the drug, but in the very fact of spraying with water.

Some drugs, acaricides are described separately, with detailed instructions and consumption rates, see Acaricides, see Insectoacaricides.

When using acaricides, pay attention to the hazard class (not everything can be used in the apartment), and, if indicated, at what stages of the tick this drug acts. For example, biologics usually destroy only adults, but do not work on eggs and larvae. In addition, many intestinal acaricides become simply useless at the moment when the tick is at rest before the next molt and does not feed on the plant's juice. In this case, it is better to repeat the reprocessing after 3-4 days, when the undestructed larvae enter the nymph stage, but do not yet form adults in order to postpone new larvae.

• You can alternate between spraying with acaricide and a hot shower. By the way, as for spraying, the wettability of the leaves should be as best as possible. Therefore, for some plants, for example, ficus benjamin varieties with curly and twisted leaves, it is better not to spray, but to immerse the crown in a solution with acaricide for 1-2 minutes (in a bucket with a solution).

With a large defeat by ticks, it makes sense to alternate drugs from different chemical groups. For example, Apollo (clofentesin) and Bi-58 (dimethoate), or neoron (bromopropylate) and actellic (pyrimiphos-methyl).

Remember that ticks are carried at a distance by blowing wind, the slightest movement of air, so if a tick appears on one plant, all plants must be treated on the windowsill, and possibly in the apartment. It is not necessary that plants living in another room will be infected, but prevention will not hurt. I've had cases of ticks appearing on just two plants standing on a balcony completely lined with flowers. Incredibly, nevertheless, if you isolate the infected in time (at the slightest yellow spot), you can avoid long tedious procedures.

Also, do not forget that ticks can be on frames, windowsill surfaces, pot walls and other surfaces. Therefore, while plants are being processed, the window or shelf must also be wiped. Preferably soapy and then alcoholic solution (boric alcohol is sold in a pharmacy).

When transplanting plants, it is better to disinfect the land. The best way is to microwave for 10 minutes (slightly moisturize the ground). True, there will be a smell of pretty earth throughout the apartment. And this does not guarantee that the tick does not appear in the spring-summer season during ventilation. By the way, ticks fly to the high floor (even 14 or 16).

How to deal with spider mite on orchids

Orchids are distinguished by the fact that they cannot be soaked for a long time in any solutions, sometimes it is impossible to allow the ingress or retention of water in the axils of the leaves. Very often, after treatment for a tick, orchids get rotten - from waterlogging of the soil, leaves, basal zone. But to chemicals, oddly enough, orchids are resistant, phytotoxicity is not expressed. Therefore, if you fight ticks on orchids, then develop a method that allows you to get rid of pests at one time. The easiest way is to prepare an acaricide solution and completely immerse the orchid in it with a block or pot for 2-3 minutes. Then let the solution drain, thoroughly dry all the sinuses of the leaves, a piece of toilet paper folded in a cone (it absorbs moisture better than cotton buds). If the orchid is in the bark, the pot may smell for a while. Do not rush to wash the bark, ticks could hide inside. Put the orchid in a place where drafts are excluded (even a window in the warm season). In the next watering, add phytosporin to the water: 5 g of powder per 500 ml of water.

You can wipe the leaves of an orchid (phalaenopsis, dendrobium, miltonia, etc.) daily with a soft cloth dipped in boiled water. Without insecticides, gently wipe each leaf on both sides (for 3-5 days). Firstly, the ovipositors and larvae that have been preserved on the leaves will be erased, and secondly, the new ones will not have time to settle. And most importantly, after processing from ticks, isolate orchids from other indoor plants, until everything is rid of pests.

Orchids tolerate tick treatment well by such means as actellic, neoron, apollo, envidor, ortus. These agents are most effective, unlike other acaricides (phytoverms).

Folk tick control

The most common way to control leaf plants is with onion infusion. One of the forum women (YASolnce) prepares it like this: cuts half of the middle onion, pours warm water from the tap into a half-liter jar, covers it with a lid and insists for 5-7 hours, filters and sprays the flowers. Here you need to add that if the water in your area is hard, then the infusion should be done only on boiled water. In addition, you can use one large onion per half liter of water, this is a more concentrated solution, but it will not get worse.

An even easier way to get rid of the tick is garlic water. 1the garlic clove must be crushed, preferably in a mortar or finely grated, poured with a glass of hot water and strained. Immediately spray the leaves of plants with a fresh solution.

Acetone and alcohol against tick

Viktor Serbin recommends this method of disinfection of cacti: 2 parts of 97% alcohol and 1 part of acetone.
In spring transplantation, the plant is cleaned of the old substrate with a thin stick, then immersed for 5 seconds in a solution of alcohol and acetone. Then he puts it on the newspaper to dry. Plants dry very quickly, due to the volatility of the components (for this reason, alcohol cannot be changed to vodka or moonshine, and acetone to a nitro solvent).
This solution kills eggs, larvae, and adult pests, any insects at any stage of development, regardless of structure and species (also an alcohol-acetone solution is effective against scutes and worms). There is no addiction. Burns of the roots and body of the cactus - too. Even seedlings can be dipped in solution.

In general, an alcoholic solution, even without acetone, can be effective for wiping the leaves of some plants. First of all, those with leathery wide leaves (monsters and other philoderndrons, adeniums, alocasia and other aroid, calathea and other maranteans with non-pubescent leaves). But alcohol cleans the leaves of pests only in the place where you wiped. And ticks, as you know, hide in secluded places, for example, in the axils of leaves, where it is difficult to get even with a brush. Therefore, a simple rubbing of the leaves with alcohol cannot guarantee a 100% result, as in the case of dipping the entire plant in a solution, like Viktor Serbin.

In addition to pure alcohol, some growers are trying to apply various tinctures, for example, calendula infusion. All this is good, and the alcohol solution is effective, but it leaves a sticky film on the surface of the sheet. Firstly, it clogs the stomata, which makes it difficult for plants to breathe, and secondly, sooty or other fungi easily settle on sticky surfaces. Therefore, such infusions need to be washed off, a day or two after spraying.

Natalia Rusinova