Abacarus hystrix

Abacarus hystrix, the cereal rust mite or grain rust mite, belongs to the family Eriophyidae. They are extremely small with adults measuring up to 1 mm in length and only have four legs at the front of the body. Viewing by the human eye requires a 10 – 20X lens.Whalen, J. and Cissel, B. 2012. Cereal Rust Mite in Timothy. Available at: The adult mites are usually yellow but also have been seen to be white or orange. The cereal rust mite was first found on Elymus repens (couch grass), a very common perennial grass species. It has now been found on more than 60 grass species including oats, barley, wheat and ryegrass, found in Europe, North America, South Africa and Australia.Skoracka, A. 2008. Quackgrass- and ryegrass-adapted populations of the cereal rust mite, Abacarus hystrix (Acari: Eriophyidae), differ in their potential for wheat, Triticum aestivum, colonization. Bulletin of Entomological Research, 99 pp. 33-39.Gibson, R. 1974. Studies on the feeding behaviour of the eriophyid mite Abacarus hystrix, a vector of grass viruses. Annals of Applied Biology, 78 (3), pp. 213-217. [Accessed: 28 Oct 2013]. Mites migrate primarily through wind movement and are usually found on the highest basal sections of the top two leaf blades. Abacarus hystrix produces up to twenty overlapping generations per year in South Australian perennial pastures, indicating that the species breeds quite rapidly.Frost, W. 1997. Polyphenic wax production in Abacarus hystrix (Acari: Eriophyidae), and impfications for migratory fitness. Physiological Entomology, 22 pp. 37 - 46. It has been noted that the cereal rust mite can cause losses in yield of up to 30-70%.Fleming, R. 1980. The potential for control of cereal rust by natural enemies. Theoretical Population Biology, 18 (3), pp. 375 - 395.

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