lime nail gall mite

(Eriophyes tiliae)

Conservation Status
lime nail gall mite
  IUCN Red List

not listed

     
  NatureServe

not listed

     
  Minnesota

not listed

     
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
 
Description
 
 

Eriophyid mites (Eriophyes spp.) are so small that they are almost impossible to see with the naked eye. Unless a scanning electron microscope is available, a morphological description of an adult individual is useless. However, many mites can be easily identified by the shape of the galls they produce and the plant species on which they are found.

Lime nail gall mite is a specialized plant feeder. In Minnesota it can be found on American basswood and littleleaf linden, mostly on the lower leaves.

The nail galls appear randomly scattered across the upper side of a leaf. There are usually many galls on a single leaf. The are generally absent along the veins.

The galls are tube-shaped and 3 16 to ½ long. They taper at the top to a rounded or pointed tip. They may be straight or curved, erect or oblique. They are mostly solitary though sometimes two galls join at the base but remain separate at the top. They are greenish-yellow to pinkish at first, eventually turning red to brown.

 
     
 

Size

 
 

Tiny, almost microscopic

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
  Linden wart gall midge (Contarinia verrucicola) creates round, wart-like or beebee-like galls, each one raised on both the upper and lower leaf surfaces.  
     
 
Habitat and Hosts
 
 

In Minnesota, American basswood and littleleaf linden.

 
     
 
Biology
 
 

Season

 
 

One generation per year: June to August

 
     
 

Life Cycle

 
 

The adult overwinters in a bark crevice or near a bud. It emerges in the spring and seeks a newly developing leaf. As it feeds on the leaf, a chemical in its saliva causes the leaf cell to expand, creating a finger-like gall. In late summer the adult leaves the gall and seeks a location to overwinter.

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

7, 29, 30.
 
  5/18/2021      
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

Common

 
         
 
Taxonomy
 
  Class Arachnida (arachnids)  
  Subclass Acari (mites)  
  Superorder Acariformes (mites)  
 

Order

Endeostigmata  
 

Superfamily

Eriophyoidea  
 

Family

Eriophyidae (gall and rust mites)  
 

Subfamily

Eriophyinae  
 

Tribe

Eriophyini  
 

Genus

Eriophyes  
       
 

The superfamily Eriophyoidea was formerly placed in the order Trombidiformes. A recent mitochondrial DNA study and phylogenetic analysis (Arribas et al., 2020) showed that the superfamily evolved earlier than Trombidiformes. It is sometimes now included in the order Endeostigmata. In modern taxonomic treatments Eriophyoidea is sister to the clade containing Trombidiformes.

 
       
 

Synonyms

 
 

Phytoptus tiliae

 
       
 

Common Names

 
 

lime nail gall mite

red nail gall mite

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Visitor Photos
 
           
 

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Sarah Boeka

 
    lime nail gall mite      
           
 
MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos
 
 

 

 
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slideshow

       
 
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Visitor Sightings
 
           
 

Report a sighting of this arachnid.

 
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Be sure to include a location.
 
  Sarah Boeka
5/13/2020

Location: Washington County, Nebraska

   
  Alyssa Breece
6/6/2017

Location: 10th Ave S between 54th and 55th St E

I'm sure it is a much larger area as nearly every tree on the block seems overrun.

 
           
 
MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings
 
   

 

 

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