222 Acarology 



nulate and with two pairs of legs, and the typical plant-feeding 

 Tetranychidae. 



Although many members of this family appear to do little damage 

 to the plants upon which they feed, some are of distinct economic 

 importance. McGregor 1916 reports defoliation of privet throughout 

 Florida, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana by 

 Brevipalpus inornatus (Banks). Green 1900 records a species as caus- 

 ing serious damage to tea plants in Ceylon; the mites denude branches 

 and even whole bushes of their leaves, terminal buds are damaged, 

 and at times the bush is killed. Lewis 1944 found Brevipalpus lewisi 

 McGregor scarring lemon fruit at Porterville, California; in parts of 

 an infested grove, which had received no commercial spray treatment 

 for about ten years, more than twenty-five per cent of the fruit 

 was scarred, whereas in adjacent treated orchards these mites were 

 hard to find. Jones et al. 1941 describes a Brevipalpus {B. phoenicis 

 Geijskes) as sometimes causing serious damage to papaya fruits in 

 Hawaii. T. H. The fruits develop gray, scaly, or cracked areas, most 

 frequently at points where they are in contact with the trunk. This 

 same species also damages citrus in Spain. Blanchard 1940 reports 

 B. pseiidocimeatus (Blanchard) as a pest of citrus in Argentina. An- 

 other is found damaging passion fruit in Australia. 



Tenuipalpus pacificiis Baker is a pest of orchids as is Brevipalpus 

 australis (Tucker). Sayed 1942 reports Tenuipalpus granati Sayed as 

 causing browning of the leaves in vineyards in Egypt; it has also been 

 taken on leaves, branches and occasionally on fruits of pomegranates. 



Pseudoleptus and Dolichotetranychus are to be found in various 

 salt grasses throughout the world; the two species at times cause dis- 

 tortion of the grass heads. 



Rejerences: 



Baker, E. W. 1945. Mites of the genus Tenuipalpus (Acarina: Tricha- 



denidae). Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash 47(2):33-38. 

 . 1948. A new trichadenid mite which further indicates a phylogenetic 



relationship between the Tetranychidae and Eriophyidae. Proc. Ent. 



Soc. Wash. 50(3) :59, 60. 

 . 1949. The genus Brevipalpus (Acarina: Pseudoleptidae). Amer. 



Midland Nat. 42(2) :350-402. 

 Blanchard, E, E. (1939) 1940. Tres acaros dahino para los cultivos argen- 



tinos. Rev. Fac. Agron. La Plata (3)24:11-18. 

 Green, E. 1900. Tea-mites, and some suggested experimental work against 



them. Roy. Bot, Gard., Ceylon. Cir. 17(Ser. 1):202, 203. 



