520 CITRUS FRUITS AND THEIR CULTURE. 



most members of its family. It is of oval shape, being 

 widest just back of the eyes. General color pale greenish 

 yellow, the abdomen in mature specimens being marked 

 with six or less small dusky spots, arranged in two lat- 

 eral rows of three in each row on the back. Most of the 

 younger mites are without these spots or have but part 

 of them present. Some of the mature specimens have 

 fewer than six spots and these are often quite indistinct. 

 Eyes, two on each side, the anterior one of each pair being 

 blood-red, and the pigment so disposed as to give the ap- 

 pearance of two red eyes on each side; the posterior eyes 

 are colorous and transparent. A lateral constriction just 

 back of the eyes divides the body in two more or less 

 distinct regions. The terminal joint of the legs is long- 

 est. The thumb of the palpus is quite stout and bears 

 on its tip three fingers, of which the middle one is the 

 largest. The young mites have but three pairs of feet. 

 The eggs, which are globular in shape and either color- 

 less or of a pale greenish yellow, are losely attached to 

 the delicate web which may be found chiefly along the 

 under sides of the leaves. With warm, dry weather the 

 life cycle from egg to adult is not more than ten days. 



The insects are carried from tree to tree upon the 

 feathers of birds, by becoming attached to the feet of 

 lady bugs, upon fallen leaves driven before the wind, etc. 

 They can travel upon a leaf surface about two inches 

 in one minute or ten feet in an hour, and therefore they 

 quickly spread from any point where they have become 

 newly established. 



A yellowing of the leaves, showing as streaks and 

 spots along the midrib on the upper surface of the leaves 

 and as blotches of yellowish rusty brown on the lower 

 sides, indicates the insect's presence. The excrements 



