FNZ 4 - Eriophyoidea except Eriophyinae (Arachnida: Acari) - Historical Review
Manson, DCM 1984. Eriophyoidea except Eriophyinae (Arachnida: Acari). Fauna of New Zealand 4, 144 pages.
(
ISSN 0111-5383 (print),
;
no.
04.
ISBN 0-477-06745-X (print),
).
Published 12 Nov 1984
ZooBank: http://zoobank.org/References/C249A0E0-4F66-431B-9DB6-5C01ACA8CF65
Historical Review
Alfred Nalepa, an Austrian working in the period 1886-1929, was a dominant figure in early studies of eriophyoid mites. He was the first to provide adequate species descriptions and information on hosts and life histories, and his work was a solid foundation for further studies. In 1929 he published a host list of eriophyoids of the world, including all the species then known.
Mr H. H. Keifer, of California, began studying eriophyoid mites in the 1930s, and is today to the forefront of this field. His descriptions are models of precision, and his classification is largely followed by other workers. Keifer has published numerous articles on his studies, and much of his knowledge of eriophyoids, particularly economically important forms, is summarised in the book Mites Injurious to Economic Plants (Jeppson et a1. 1975, pp. 327-591).
In New Zealand it was the economic forms that first gained attention, probably because of the damage caused to the host plants, which is far more obvious than the mites themselves. The first eriophyoid mite recorded from New Zealand was Eriophyes pyri, regarding which Thomson (1922) states: "... reported in 1896 and 1897 as very common in the colony. It appears in spring and early summer and attacks foliage. In 1909 the Agriculture Department reported it as very prevalent, and doing considerahle damage on unsprayed trees. Generally distributed throughout New Zealand on pear trees." Woodfin (1927) noted the grape erineum mite, Colomerus vitis (as Eriophyes vitis) . Cottier & Taylor (1937) recorded the tomato russet mite, Phyllocoptes lycopersici, on glasshouse tomato plants at Auckland - isolated attacks occurred in some Auckland areas. Keifer (1939c) described Eriophyes waltheri from Nothofagus menziesii at San Francisco, the plant having been imported from New Zealand; the mites caused severe terminal stunting and branching, producing a heavy cluster of large, aborted buds. This shows how easy it is for pest species to be introduced into other countries through shipments of infested plants, and also shows the importance of plant quarantine services in preventing the establishment and spread of such pests. Miller (1944) recorded the walnut blister mite, Eriophyes tristriatus; and Hamilton (1948) recorded the blackberry mite (Aceria essigi) from the Nelson area, where it caused "redberry disease".
Dr K. P. Lamb was the first New Zealand worker to concentrate specifically on eriophyoid mites, particularly native species, which had been largely ignored previously. Again, the species dealt with affected the host plant to some extent, forming either galls or leaf erinea (see 'Damage to Host Plants'). In 1952 he described nine new species from galls on native plants, and his preliminary list of New Zealand Acarina showed a total of 16 species of eriophyoid mites occurring here. In 1953 Lamb described a further eight species, and in his 1960 checklist of New Zealand plant galls he recorded a total of 23 species, together with hosts and distribution records, and mentioned the presence of a number of undescribed species. This latter is an important data source on which to base further studies.
Ramsay (1958) described a new species of gall mite, Aceria victoriae, from Haloragis erecta and gave an account of its life cycle - the first of an eriophyoid mite from New Zealand.
Manson (1959, 1965, 1970) added nine further species to the New Zealand fauna, but as recently as 1971 Spain & Luxton were able to list only 38 species known from this country.