hostilis Posted April 2, 2014 Okay. So I have a question. About 4 months ago I found a solo spider mite on one of my plants. Killed it and couldn't find anymore so I stopped worrying. I got a case of scale and treated my plants with a systemic insecticide recently. About 1.5 months ago. Today I found another solitary spider mite. Got me kinda worried. Is it normal to find solo pests like this? Does this mean I may have an infestation or does it just mean that there was one looking for a new spot possibly? Thanks! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hellonasty Posted April 2, 2014 It would be very rare to only have a single mite, where there is one there is 1000. How big was the the mite you saw? To give you an idea of what you are looking for, spider mite are about the size of a single granule of flour. It would be almost impossible to see just one with the naked eye. The giveaway is usually tiny silky webs or the typical scaring they cause. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Optimystic Posted April 2, 2014 (edited) I just found very few little red mite looking things on a plant in the last few days... They are a little bigger than what im used to seeing with spider mites and in a few days I still see no webs... I find no more than 2 or 3 to a leaf and only on a few leaves... before I had some wierd light green looking aphid type bugs on there....they are tiny but large enough that I can see the front of them looks like a tiny red spider... a dark blood red with yellow fangs or mouthparts, front legs or whatever... my best guess is that they are predatory mites... I looked some up and there are apparently some red friendlies that are a little bigger and move a little faster than the actual spider mites.... im waiting a few more days to make sure theres no leaf damage and no webbing on this plant... I freaked out at first and smushed one but I also considered the absence of webbing and the fact that theres so few of them and so I decided to just wait and see if anything changes... it is the time of year here that the friendlies show up to eat up the miners... I think the extra winter changed things around a bit... i've already found a mosquito which makes no sense cause the water isn't warm enough and I have only seen a single thrip which is kinda odd but then again i've been busy with alot of things there are actually some small red friendly spiders too, and though small they are much bigger than any mite and move much much faster like they are speedballing or some shit... but in this case im talking really tiny critters that you really have to get close in order to see em... I just checked again and theres still very very few and most leaves have none so im pretty hopeful that they might be the friendlies Edited April 2, 2014 by Spine Collector Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hostilis Posted April 2, 2014 (edited) I'm not sure what it was. It was pretty big. I could see it crawling around so i took out my 60x pocket microscope and it looked like a little spider. I can't find any other signs of an infestation on any of my plants though. And this thing was more like 50 granules of flower rather than 1. It was a reddish color too. I think it may be what spine collector is talking about possibly. There are definitely not very many of them and they've been around for a while. Edited April 2, 2014 by hostilis Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theuserformallyknownasd00d Posted April 2, 2014 I agree with the "when there's 1 there's a 1000"! They'll be where u can't see them, at or just below soil level and all the little cracks in your plants.... There's never 1 spider mite, I've learnt that a hundred times now and would bet my first born on it too lol. Do a nuke if you don't mind the chems! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Evil Genius Posted April 2, 2014 (edited) There is no such thing as a single Spidermite. They are like tiny Rabbits. Edited April 2, 2014 by Evil Genius 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hellonasty Posted April 2, 2014 Yeah smallish red spiders approx 1-2mm are no problem at all. Usually solitary or maybe a couple at a time, and they won't damage your plants. Spider mite will cause damage before you notice them 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
doxneed2c-me Posted April 2, 2014 I used to call those red mites ketchup bugs when I was young. You will see why when you mush them. I assure you they are harmless. Spider mites sneak up on you like sneeze then they are everywhere. They are a massive pain and they destroyed my sinicuichi... Luckily they never got to my cacti. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hostilis Posted April 2, 2014 My plants were all treated with a systemic insecticide. So I think that if those were spider mites they'd be dead anyways soon. We'll see. It was big and crawled very fast so I don't think it was one. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Evil Genius Posted April 3, 2014 What did you use? Most Spider mites are fairly immune against Imidacloprid. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hostilis Posted April 3, 2014 (edited) That is what I used. Thanks for letting me know it doesn't work, but I am 90% sure these aren't typical spider mites. This thing was way too big to be one and crawled SUPER fast. Also there is no damage or signs of them anywhere. I'll keep an eye out though. Edited April 3, 2014 by hostilis Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kapitän kamasutra Posted April 3, 2014 these guys here maybe en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trombidium_holosericeum 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hostilis Posted April 3, 2014 That looks like the one I saw. The one I saw was more like 1.5mm though. Maybe it was a small one of those. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
