Redlegged earth mite: its status and control

摘要

Crops vary in their vulnerability to redlegged earth mite (RLEM), as does the stage of life at which they are attacked. Seedlings of crops such as lupins and lentils are attacked but mature plants are not. However, all stages of canola, pasture legumes, such as vetches and clovers, and weeds, such as capeweed and bristly ox-tongue, are RLEM hosts. Juvenile RLEM also can exist on algae and mosses on the soil surface. In pastures, RLEM spend most of their time sheltering on the soil surface under the cooler, more humid tall patches that are often dominated by capeweed, moving out of these to feed. RLEM are active from May-October and normally have three generations a year.