Petrobia is a genus in Tetranychidae (spider mites), containing 34 described species.[1][2][3][4] It includes some pest species.

Petrobia
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Trombidiformes
Family: Tetranychidae
Subfamily: Bryobiinae
Genus: Petrobia
Murray, 1877

Description edit

Petrobia mites can be recognised by their reddish-brown cuticle, dark body contents and the first leg pair being very long. Each leg ends in pad-like claws and a hooked (uncinate) empodium with more than 1 pair of tenent hairs. The prodorsum of the body has three pairs of setae (ve, sci, sce) and there are no prominent lobes over the gnathosoma. The paranal setae (h2-3) are in a ventral position.[5]

The genus is usually divided into three subgenera: Mesotetranychus, Petrobia and Tetranychina (sometimes one or more of these are considered separate genera). Mesotetranychus has simple peritremes whereas Petrobia has anastomosing peritremes. Tetranychina usually has long dorsal setae on small tubercles (other subgenera sometimes have tubercles as well, but their dorsal setae are short).[6]

Reproduction edit

Species of Petrobia may reproduce either sexually (e.g. P. harti) or asexually (e.g. P. latens).[7][8]

In P. harti, males make up 10% or less of field populations. Eggs are laid on the ventral surfaces of host plant leaves.[7]

Petrobia latens, on the other hand, has only female individuals. Females lay their eggs parthenogenetically on soil and under stones.[8]

Pests edit

Several Petrobia species are polyphagous plant pests, meaning they attack a wide range of plants:[5]

Species edit

These 34 species belong to the genus Petrobia:

Data sources: i = ITIS,[9] c = Catalogue of Life,[1] g = GBIF,[2] b = Bugguide.net[3]

Identification edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Browse Petrobia". Catalogue of Life. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
  2. ^ a b "Petrobia". GBIF. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
  3. ^ a b "Petrobia Genus Information". BugGuide.net. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
  4. ^ "Petrobia Overview". Encyclopedia of Life. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
  5. ^ a b "Petrobia". idtools.org. Retrieved 2022-11-28.
  6. ^ Khanjani, Mohammad; Khanjani, Mohammad -; Seeman, Owen D. (2016-10-19). "Two new spider mite species of the subgenus Petrobia (Petrobia) (Acari: Tetranychidae) from Iran". Systematic and Applied Acarology. 21 (10): 1473. doi:10.11158/saa.21.11.4. ISSN 1362-1971.
  7. ^ a b "Factsheet - Petrobia (Tetranychina) harti (Ewing, 1909)". keys.lucidcentral.org. Retrieved 2022-11-28.
  8. ^ a b "Factsheet - Petrobia (Petrobia) latens (Muller, 1776)". keys.lucidcentral.org. Retrieved 2022-11-28.
  9. ^ "ITIS, Integrated Taxonomic Information System". Retrieved 2018-04-06.

Further reading edit

External links edit