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The mite and the rose: Non-threatening new mite species found in Xinjiang, China

Date:
June 22, 2015
Source:
Pensoft Publishers
Summary:
Three new eriophyoid mite species all coming from different genera were found in Xinjiang, China. One of the new species is the first representative of the genus Paracolomerus to be described from a plant of the rose family Rosaceae. Neither of the species is found to cause any apparent damage to their host plants.
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Inspired by the discovery of more than 1000 eriophyoid mite species in China so far, Dr. Ji Wei Li and his team collected mites from four different areas across the autonomous region of Xinjiang, China. A consecutive study of the samples proved the existence of three new mite species all from separate genera. The study was published in the open access journal ZooKeys.

All new species come from representatives of the rose family Rosaceae. Interestingly, one of the new mites is also the first ever representative of the genus Paracolomerus found to inhabit a Rosaceae plant.

Eriophyoid mites are so tiny that they are invisible to the naked human eye. Nevertheless, they are recognized as important pests in agriculture and forestry all over the world. They can induce plant malformations such as galls and disturb the normal growth of plants by piercing their cells with saliva.

About half of the eriophyoid mites, however, don't cause any apparent damage to their hosts.

Such is the case with the newly discovered three species. The mites were found to infest the undersurface of the leaves of two species of flowering plants (Rosa beggeriana and Cotoneaster ignavus), without causing any apparent damage to the host.

The collected type specimens are now being kept at the Department of Plant Protection, Shihezi University, China.


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Materials provided by Pensoft Publishers. The original story is licensed under a Creative Commons License. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Jian Zhang, Ji Li, Zhen Wang, Xiao-Feng Xue. Three new species of eriophyoid mites (Acari, Eriophyoidea) from Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. ZooKeys, 2015; 508: 97 DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.508.8940

Cite This Page:

Pensoft Publishers. "The mite and the rose: Non-threatening new mite species found in Xinjiang, China." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 22 June 2015. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/06/150622122853.htm>.
Pensoft Publishers. (2015, June 22). The mite and the rose: Non-threatening new mite species found in Xinjiang, China. ScienceDaily. Retrieved October 4, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/06/150622122853.htm
Pensoft Publishers. "The mite and the rose: Non-threatening new mite species found in Xinjiang, China." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/06/150622122853.htm (accessed October 4, 2024).

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