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Balaustium mite |
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Balaustium medicagoense
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Adult mite (Balaustium medicagoense)
© Agriculture Western Australia
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Description
The balaustium mite has a greyish / red body , red legs and looks similar in appearance to the redlegged earth mite. If viewed under a magnifying glass or microscope short stout hairs can be seen covering the body. The adult balaustium mite grows to almost twice the size of redlegged earth mites.
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Life cycle
Require rainfall before over-summering eggs can hatch. Newly hatched nymphs have six legs and are an orange colour. Development from egg to adult takes about 5-6 weeks. Several generations can occur each year. |
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Damage
Although balaustium mites are seen in pastures and occasionally crops it was not until 1997 that reports were received of them being an economic pest. A few properties West of Raventhorpe and some in the Esperance area have had cereal, lupin and canola crops severely bleached and wilted to the point of death from this pest. Mite numbers from 20 to 50 per seedlings were recorded on barley at the 3 leaf stage. Mites feed on the leaves of plants by probing into the surface cells with their mouth parts, and sucking out sap.
High risk situations:
Reports indicate that crops sown into paddocks which were in pasture last year, with high levels of broad leaf weeds, especially capeweed, will be most at risk from mite damage. |
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Control
In most situations crops will not require spraying and balaustium will cause little or no damage.Early control of summer weeds in paddocks that are to be cropped will prevent the build up of mite populations. Weeds present in paddocks prior to cropping should be checked to determine the numbers of balaustium mites present. If they are found in very large numbers then the incorporation of insecticide with herbicide immediately prior to sowing is a more effective control strategy than spraying when the crop is emerging and has very little cover of green material.
No chemicals are currently registered for control of balaustium mite. Farmer trials have shown high rates of synthetic pyrethroids can be effective, however they can be difficult to kill. High rates of dimethoate, omethoate, chlorpyrifos and phosmet have been found to be ineffective in controlling these mites. |
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