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Balaustium Mite
Balaustium medicagoense
Adults grow up to 2mm long and are variable in colour, but mainly dark red-brown with characteristic short stout hairs covering the body. They have eight red coloured legs. Newly hatched nymphs have six legs and are bright orange in colour.
Check crops from March to early December, particularly in paddocks with a history of chemical treatments for redlegged earth mites (RELM). They have been shown to be more tolerant than RLEM to a range of synthetic pyrethroids and organophosphates.
Mites feed on the leaves of plants by probing into the surface cells with their mouth parts, and sucking out sap. Leaves may become bleached with high mite numbers, but plants are usually able to outgrow the damage. In severe cases plants will be retarded or die.
Crops sown into paddocks, with high levels of broad leaf weeds, especially capeweed, will be most at risk from mite damage.
DAFWA