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National & World Ag News Headlines |
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Uncommon Mite Shows Up in Southwest Missouri Wheat
USAgNet - 04/23/2018
Jill Scheidt, agronomy specialist with University of Missouri Extension, scouted wheat fields in the southwest corner of the state and found an unusual pest she determined was the winter grain mite.
"I was scouting wheat fields and saw a small black insect with red legs and thought it was a nest of spiders at first. Then I began to see them everywhere, by the thousands, in the field and knew it was something else," said Scheidt.
Scheidt scouted several fields in southwest Missouri to determine if the pest was occurring in more than just the one field.
"I contacted the University of Missouri Extension field crop entomologist, Kevin Rice, to see if this pest was previously in Missouri," said Scheidt.
Rice could find no mention of the winter grain mite in previous publications. Later Scheidt spoke to a local crop consultant who said he had seen them several years back, but not in the densities described by Scheidt.
The winter grain mite is a pest of small grains and grasses. These mites are one millimeter in length and have black colored bodies with distinct reddish-orange legs.
The telltale identifier of this mite is the presence of an anal pore on the upper surface of the abdomen viewed when using a hand lens. The anal pore looks similar to a water droplet on the mite's back.
There are generally two generations per year. The first begins early fall through December. The second, and higher populated generation of winter grain mite occurs from March to May.
Winter grain mites are most active on cloudy days when temperatures range from 40 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
They feed on plants by piercing the leaf and stippling plant cells. Injury to plants results in leaves taking on a gray to silver cast.
Heavily damaged fields have brown leaf tips, which can progress to kill the entire plant.
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