Page 14 - Volume 1, Issue 2, July 2008

Anagnou-Veroniki et al. 66
ly defoliation. In case of severe attacks,
plants may die. T. evansi is morphological-
ly similar to the other spider mite species
of the genus Tetranychus already present
in Europe, it can be easily confused with
them and thus escape detection. For the
control of this mite, classical chemical
methods are recommended.
2.2. Eriophyidae
In the group of four olive mites, Erio-
phyes oleae (Nalepa), Oxycenus maxwelli
(Keifer), Dytrimacus athiasellus (Κeifer) and
Aceria cretica (Hatzinikolis), which cause
damage of high economic impact in sev-
eral olive growing areas in Greece, one
more species was added, Aculus olearius
Castagnoli (Castagnoli, 1977). This species
was first recorded in Greece in 1982, in ol-
ive groves of Lefkada and Zakynthos (Papa-
ioannou-Souliotis, 1982). These mites can
cause brown patches to young shoots and
subcircular, irregular greenish patches that
turn chlorotic on leaves. Large mite popula-
tions on the inflorescences and young fruits
turn them brown and make them fall.
Eriophyes granati (Canestrini and Mas-
salongo) was initially regarded as a Medi-
terranean species but today it is considered
cosmopolitan. This species was first record-
ed in Greece on nursery trees of ornamen-
tal pomegranate, which is its only reported
host (Papaioannou-Souliotis, 1994). The in-
fested leaves become twisted.
The carrot bud mite Eriophyes peuce-
dani (Canestrini) is a pest of the umbelif-
erous crops and is a common species in
Europe and North-Western America. It
was reported as a new record for Greece,
in the area of Kopaida (Central Greece) on
carrot plants, in 1993 (Papaioannou-Souli-
otis, 1993). During 1995 it was also found
in the island of Lesvos on the same crop
plant. Τhis mite can cause discoloration of
leaves, while in heavy infestations it ex-
tends its feeding to the leaf margins re-
sulting in deformation. The plants grow
abnormally, bearing few or no flowers at
all. Infestation possibly starts from wild
plants of the family Umbeliferae while
large populations may develop due to the
intensive cultivation.
Eriophyes ( Aceria) paradianthi Keif-
er is a very common species in Argentina
and California (U.S.A.) on Dianthus caryo-
phyllus L . It was first recorded in Greece,
in glasshouses in the area of Attica and
in Crete during 1987 (Papaioannou-Souli-
otis, 1987). Since then, it has also been re-
corded in the regions of Galata and Poros.
It is supposed to have been introduced in
Greece through the large and frequent im-
Table 2. New records of phytophagous mites from Greece during 1990-2007.
Mite species Host Reference
Aculus olearius (Eriophyidae) olive trees Papaioannou-Souliotis, 1982
Eutetranychus orientalis (Tetranychidae) citrus trees Papaioannou-Souliotis &
Markoyiannaki-Printziou, 2002
Eriophyes cynodoniensis (Eriophyidae) Bermuda grass Kapaxidi et al., 2008
Eriophyes ( Aceria) granati (Eriophyidae) pomegranate Papaioannou-Souliotis, 1994
Eriophyes ( Aceria) paradianthi (Eriophyidae) carnation Papaioannou-Souliotis, 1987
Eriophyes peucedani (Eriophyidae) carrot Papaioannou-Souliotis, 1993
Phytocoptella yuccae (Eriophyidae) yucca Papaioannou-Souliotis, 1991
Raoiella macfarlanei (Tenuipalpidae) olive trees Papadoulis & Emmanouel, 2002
Tetranychus evansi (Tetranychidae) Solanaceous plants Tsagkarakou et al., 2007