April 1954 E-876 
LIBRARY 
STATE PLANT BOARD United States Department of Agriculture 
Agricultural Research Service 
Entomology Research Branch 
THE TOMATO RUSSET MITE 
By J. Wilcox and A. F. Howland 
The tomato russet mite ( Vasates lycopersici (Massee)) was first 
discovered in the United States in a hothouse at Modesto, Calif., in 
May 1940 (Keifer 4). About 500 acres of tomatoes were severely 
damaged in central California that year (Bailey and Keifer 1). By 1941 
the mite had spread over most of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys. 
In 1942 it appeared almost simultaneously throughout southern California 
and caused serious damage in fields where control measures were not 
promptly applied. 
This mite has gradually spread over the rest of the country, but has 
caused alarm in the Eastern States only in the last 2 years. Its occur- 
rence in the United States, according to the Insect Pest Survey and 
Cooperative Economic Insect Report and other sources, is as follows: 
1940 California; 1943 Colorado; 1944 Arizona; 1946 Ohio; 1947 Utah; 
1948 Nevada and New York; 1949 Oklahoma; 1950 Texas; 1952 Illinois, 
Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania; 1953 Delaware, 
Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, and Maryland. In 1952 it was also found in 
Ontario, Canada. 
The tomato russet mite is also a pest of tomatoes in Australia, New 
Zealand, Spain, Hawaii, Tasmania, and New Hebrides. In some of these 
places it has been known as the tomato mite (Morgan 10, Cottier and 
Taylor 2). It has been known by the scientific names Phyllocoptes 
lycopersici Masse (7) and Phyllocoptes destructor Keifer (4, 5), now 
recognized to be synonymous with Vasates lycopersici (Massee) 
(Lamb 6). 
Host Plants 
Tomatoes are the only cultivated plants seriously damaged by this 
pest. However, it also lives on petunia (Petunia hybrida), potato, 
nightshade ( Solanum nigrum and villosum), tomatillo ( Physalis ixocarpa ), 
and Jimsonweed (Datura stramonium and ferox) in California, and on 
popolo (Solanum nodiflorum) in Hawaii (Bailey and Keifer 1). 
