Material examined

specimens not examined

Taxonomy

Subfamily Bryobiinae

Tribe Hystrichonychini

Common Name

Sour-sob mite

Distribution

+Australia, *Italy, South Africa

Taxonomy Changes

Tetranychopsis histricina Berlese 1910

Aplonobia histricina (Berlese) Pritchard & Baker 1955

Aplonobia oxalis Womersley 1940, synonymy Pritchard & Baker 1955

Diagnosis

Female

• dark reddish in colour
• all dorsal setae approximately 120 long
• dorsal setae about as long as distances between them
• dorsum with regular striae
• peritreme expansion ovate

Hosts

*Oxalis pes-caprae, Oxalis sp. (Oxalidaceae), Pyrus communis (Rosaceae), Sphaeralcea ambigua (Malvaceae)

Similar Taxa

Aplonobia citri Meyer 1974

Biology

In many localities, the mite occurs on Sour-sob (Oxalis cernua), a noxious weed in Australia, probably introduced from the Mediterranean Region.  Its feeding turns the leaves yellow and withered.  This species has also been collected on fruit trees.  The eggs are laid in clusters under bark and twigs lying on the ground.

References

*Berlese, A. (1910)  Lista di nuove specie e nuove generi di acari.  Redia 6: 242-271

Bolland H.R., Gutierrez J., and Flechtmann C.H.W. (1998)   World Catalogue of the Spider Mite Family (Acari: Tetranychidae). Brill Academic Publishers, Leiden, 392 pp.

+Gutierrez, J. and Schicha, E. (1983)  The spider mite family Tetranychidae (Acari) in New South Wales.  International Journal of Acarology 9: 99-116

Inserra, R. and Barbagallo, S. (1971)  Notifications of two mites new to the Italian fauna Aplonobia histricina (Berlese) (Acarina, Tetranychidae) and Diptacus gigantorhynchus (Nalepa) (Acarina, Rhyncaphytoptidae).  Entomol. Bar 7: 61-74

Meyer, M.K.P. and Tyke, P.A.J. (1959)  A revision of the spider mites (Acarina: Tetranychidae) of South Africa, with descriptions of a new genus and new species.  Journal of the Entomological Society of South Africa 22: 330-366

Pritchard, A.E. and Baker, E.W. (1955)  A revision of the spider mite family Tetranychidae.  Pacific Coast Entomology Society Memoirs 2: 1-472

+Womersley, H. (1940)  Studies in Australian Acarina, Tetranychidae and Trichadenidae.  Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 64: 233-265

Notes

In 1910, Berlese described Tetranychopsis histricina from fruit trees in NSW, collected by Froggatt.  Then Womersley (1940) described a new genus and species Aplonobia oxalis from Oxalis in South Australia and from peach trees in NSW.  Womersley indicated that his species was similar to another species that had been recorded on fruit trees in Australia by Froggatt, Tetranychopsis histricina Berlese 1910.  

Pritchard and Baker (1955) introduced a new combination, redescribed the troublesome Aplonobia histricina (Berlese) and made Aplonobia oxalis a synonym of Aplonobia histricina.  However, Gutierrez and Schica (1983) examined some of Womersley's original material and felt that the specimens from Oxalis were A. histricina, but the specimens from peach were in fact A. citri Meyer-Smith.  Gutierrez and Schica (1983) believe that both species occur in Australia, but a detailed revision of the genus is needed to confirm this.