| Plum tree bud mite, Plum spur mite |
| Acalitus phloeocoptes (Nalepa) |
| Mites |
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PLUM TREE
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| Description: |
| The adult has a milky white cylindrical body of 0.15 by 0.38 mm, triangular propodosoma, opisthosoma marked with 60 to 70 annular striae. Rostrum and legs short. |
| Biology: |
- Host plant: Plum.
- The nymphs colonise the base of the current year's shoots and attack the scar tissues corresponding to the insertion bases of the scales of the buds. |
| Life cycle: |
| One single annual generation. The sexual forms winters in the galls formed at the base of the current year's twigs. |
| Damage: |
| The feeding by nymphs causes the formation of small spherical, smooth - more - or - less uni - or plurilocular galls, the walls of which thicken. When the flowering shoots are attacked, their growth is interupted and the flowers develop imperfectly. |
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Photos: 4 |
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