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Fig. 1.  Schizotetranychus asparagi adult female (non-type) - detail of empodia I and IV (redrawn from Geijskes 1939).

Fig. 2.  Schizotetranychus asparagi adult female (non-type) - dorsal habitus (redrawn from Geijskes 1939).

Fig. 3.  Schizotetranychus asparagi adult male (non-type) - detail of empodia I and IV from a dorsal aspect (redrawn from Geijskes 1939).

Fig. 4.  Schizotetranychus asparagi adult male (non-type) - detail of empodia I and IV from a ventral aspect (redrawn from Geijskes 1939).

Fig. 5.  Schizotetranychus asparagi adult male (non-type) - detail of tarsi I-IV (redrawn from Geijskes 1939).

Fig. 6.  Schizotetranychus asparagi adult male (non-type) - dorsal habitus (redrawn from Geijskes 1939).

Fig. 7.  Schizotetranychus asparagi adult male (non-type) - detail of aedeagus, lateral aspect (redrawn from Geijskes 1939).

Fig. 8.  Schizotetranychus asparagi adult male (non-type) - detail of aedeagus, dorsal aspect (redrawn from Geijskes 1939).

Material examined

specimens not examined

Taxonomy

Subfamily Tetranychinae

Tribe Tetranychini

Common Name

Pineapple mite

Distribution

+Australia, Germany, Hawaii, Israel, Morocco, Portugal, Puerto Rico, South Africa, *The Netherlands, USA

Taxonomy Changes

Epitetranychus asparagai Oudemans 1928

Schizotetranychus asparagi (Oudemans) Oudemans 1931

Divarinychus floridensis McGregor 1930

Schizotetranychus floridensis (McGregor) McGregor 1950, synonymy Pritchard & Baker 1955

Diagnosis

Female (from literature; illustrations redrawn from Geijskes (1939))

• empodia I-IV = divided into two short, stout, curved claws with two pairs of dorsal hairs present on each claw; proximoventral hairs absent (Fig. 1; see also Fig. 3 for dorsal aspect)
• pregenital striae transverse, somewhat arched
• tarsus I with the sockets of five tactile setae proximal to the socket of the proximal duplex seta
• tarsus II with the sockets of two tactile setae proximal to the socket of the duplex seta
• dorsal setae short, slender, half as long as distance to next setal base; all subequal in length (Fig. 2) 
• dorsal striae on opisthosoma mostly transverse, with some irregular between setae e1-e1 (Fig. 2)
• peritreme ends in simple bulb
• dorsal striae with broad rounded lobes
• ventral striae without lobes
• tibia I with nine tactile setae
• tibia II with seven tactile setae
• light green in colour when alive

Male

• empodia I-IV = divided into two short, stout, curved claws with two pairs of dorsal hairs present on each claw; proximoventral hairs absent (Figs 3-5)
• dorsal setae short, slender, half as long as distance to next setal base; all subequal in length (Fig. 6) 
• aedeagus ventrally directed, with distinct knob, short neck; anterior projection small, broad triangular; posterior projection narrow triangular, tapered to point, directed ventrally at 30-40° angle to ventral margin of shaft, parallel with dorsal margin of shaft; dorsal margin of shaft at 30-40° angle to ventral margin of shaft, abruptly directed ventrally at right angle to form knob (Figs 7, 8)
  • illustrated as dorsally directed in Baker & Tuttle (1994: 201), though it is described in text as ventrally directed
  • aedeagus illustrated in Meyer (1974: 168) more abruptly bent ventrad than that in Jeppson et al. (1975)

Hosts

Relatively few species of host plant, mainly Asparagaceae: Acacia horrida, A. longifolia (Mimosaceae), *Asparagus aethiopicus, Asparagus spp., Protasparagus spp. (Asparagaceae)

Biology

This species is known to occur on asparagus ferns grown in green/glasshouses, and it frequently also causes serious damage to pineapple plants, which remain small as a result and produce little or no fruit.  Serious infestations can kill the plant.

References

Baker, E.W. and Tuttle, D.M. (1994)  A guide to the Spider Mites (Tetranychidae) of The United States .  347 pp.  Indira Publishing House, Michigan.

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.

+Davis, J.J. (1968f)  Survey of Tetranychidae.  Item 12 Qld. Dept. Agric.

Geijskes, D.C. (1939) Beiträge zur kenntnis der Europäischen spinnmilben (Acari, Tetranychidae), mit besonderer berücksichtigung der Niederländischen arten.  Mededeelingen van de Landbouwhoogeschool te Wageningen (Nederland) 42(4): 1-68

Jeppson, L.R., Keifer, H.H. and Baker, E.W. (1975)  Mites injurious to economic plants.  614pp.  Berkeley, University of California Press.

McGregor, E.A. (1950)  Mites of the family Tetranychidae.  American Midland Naturalist 44: 257-420

Meyer, K.P. Smith (1974)  A revision of the Tetranychidae of Africa (Acari) with a key to the genera of the world.  Republic of South Africa Department of Agricultural Technical Services Entomology Memoir 36: 1-291

*Oudemans, A.C. (1928)  Acarologische Aateekeningen LXXXIX.  Entomol. Ber., Amst., 7: 285-293

Oudemans, A.C. (1931)  Acarologische Aateekeningen CX.  Entomol. Ber., Amst., 8: 289-293

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