Various species

1. Symptoms: Adult mites are usually less than 1 mm long, and most of the plant-inhabiting species have sucking mouth parts. Mites are not insects. Adults typically possess four pairs of legs (picture at left, while larvae have only three pairs. However, the wheat curl mite, Eriophye tulipae (syn. Aceria tulipae), has only two pairs of legs. When present in large numbers, mites cause a silvery flecking on leaves (picture at right). Some species may produce webs and/or may cause infested plants to be severely stunted, to head poorly, and to turn white. Individual mites are so small that they can scarcely be seen with the unaided eye. Even so, if an infested leaf is held over a piece of white paper (folded to form a trough) and tapped sharply several times, hundreds of mites will fall onto the paper and can be seen moving about.
2. Hosts/Distribution: Mites can be found wherever cereals are grown.
3. Importance: Mites generally are not an important problem, with the exception of the wheat curl mite, which is a vector of wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV).