What are the symptoms of red spider mite damage? A quick identification guide

Red spider mite is a pest that threatens many plants, mainly damaging vegetable crops in the Solanaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Fabaceae and Liliaceae families, so what exactly are the symptoms of red spider mite damage?

1. Basic introduction to red spider mite

Red spider mite is an animal of the Tetranychidae family; adult mites are red, 0.42-0.52 mm long, with great variation in body color and one black elongated spot on each side of the back; the larva is nearly round, with 3 pairs of legs; overwintering-generation larvae are red, while non-overwintering-generation larvae are yellow.

Red spider mite lays eggs once a year, about 100 eggs each time, and they begin to hatch after one month; the mother spider guards them day and night and is even willing to become her children's first food, teaching her children to hunt, but sacrificing herself.

2. Symptoms of red spider mite damage

In the early stage, extremely small yellow-brown spots appear on the leaves; when their numbers are large, red spider mites will spin silk and crawl on the plant surface, and large red patches appear on the underside of the leaves; afterward the leaves curl, turn yellow and dry, and even fall off, and the leaves of the entire plant turn yellow and whitish.

Red spider mite damage reaches its peak outbreak period in mid-May, with July to August being the annual peak occurrence period, and damage is most severe especially from late June to early July.

3. Control methods for red spider mite

1. For most red spider mites, they belong to the high-temperature activity type. The temperature level determines the development cycle of each mite stage, the reproduction speed and the population size. Dry and hot climatic conditions often lead to major outbreaks. Be sure to control them in time before the hot and dry season arrives.

2. Use a 1000-fold dilution of 10% fenbutatin oxide + pyridaben EC (such as Guoguang Hongsha) or a mixture of a 1000-fold dilution of 10% fenbutatin oxide + pyridaben EC (such as Guoguang Hongsha) plus a 3000-fold dilution of 5.7% emamectin benzoate EC (such as Guoguang Leke) for spray control; it is recommended to use it 2 times in succession, generally at an interval of 7-10 days.