Introduction

Biology

Damage

Cultural Control

Biological Control

Chemical Control

References

Links

Acknowledgments

Your turn

BIOLOGY

Bamboo mites have a flattened body, which is straw-colored to greenish yellow with small blackish green spots. These mites form colonies on the underside of the leaves and live under a densely woven web. Generally the mites remain under the web to feed and lay eggs, leaving to defecate in black fecal piles slighted removed from the nest. Adults and nymphs can sometimes be found outside the webbing, particularly as they begin to form new nests. Multiple males and females can be found in the web nests and often many webbed nests will form alongside each other running down the underside of the bamboo leaves. Saito and Ueno (1979) report 26 generations per year for S. celarius Banks reared in controlled laboratory environments.

There are preferred bamboo host species for S. longus. Sasa appears to be one of the most susceptible hosts. The other reported preferred hosts are bamboo plants of the genera: Indocalamus, Phyllostachys, and Pleioblastus (Cooper, 97). It is thought that leaf pubescence may deter the mite.

Cultivar effects - Note increased damage on Sasa

Multiple life stages

Egg mass

Mites outside web

United web