Phytophagous mites with potential to become invasive species in Brazil

摘要

Phytophagous mites are very prone to become invasive aliens, and many species are directly harmful as crop pests in agricultural systems. Gall mites or rust mites (superfamily Eriophyoidea) and spider mites (superfamily Tetranychoidea) are also efficient vectors of viruses and other causal agents of plant diseases. Populations of phytophagous mites quickly develop resistance to pesticides, enhancing their potential as pests; about 71 species of the 540 arthropods known to be resistant to pesticides are mites (Michigan State University, 2002). Mites are often difficult to detect, owing to their small size and because they are often hidden on the host plant and, usually, symptoms of mite infestation appear only when populations become large. Mites have a considerable capacity to survive adverse conditions (such as low winter temperatures); they can also reproduce parthenogenetically (and so can start a new population from an individual female). Finally, phytophagous mites can be readily introduced into a region on a specific host plant or plant product; they may then spread in the environment and, if they do not find the preferred host plant, less specialized species may well adapt to another host.