• Worldwide distribution. In Australia, New Zealand, but NOT in Pacific island countries.
• Serious pest, mainly Solanaceae. White speckling of leaves; later, as populations increase, webbing on undersides and leaves turn yellowish then brown and fall. Females about 0.5mm, oval, orange-red; males smaller.
• Spread: carried on wind, water, clothing and tools, and via domestic and international trade in plants. When food depleted, mites congregate at tops of plants awaiting dispersal.
• Biosecurity: quarantines for trade in fresh fruit and living plants.
• Natural enemies: ladybird beetles, lacewing larvae, pirate bugs, big-eyed bugs, and predatory thrips.
• Cultural control: weed, especially potato family; check nursery plants before replanting out; avoid water-stressed plants; use mulches; avoid planting next to mite-infested crops or planting downwind from those infested; plough in or collect and burn debris after harvest.
• Chemical control: (i) use soap, white or horticultural oils; (ii) sulphur; or (iii) abamectin. Avoid organophosphates and synthetic pyrethroids.

Tomato red spider mite

Tetranychus evansi; previously known as Tetranychus takafujii. Note, it is similar to the two spotted mite, Tetranychus urticae (see Fact Sheet no. 024).