CHECKLIST OF SPIDER MITES OF BELARUS (PROSTIGMATA: TETRANYCHIDAE)

About authors:

All-Russian Plant Quarantine Center, Bykovo, Moskovskaya Oblast, Russia

Institute of Plant Protection, Minskaya Oblast, Belarus

Acknowledgments:

The authors are grateful to L. Golovchenko (Central Botanical Garden of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus), K. Karyttsa and Y. Chorny (Institute of Plant Protection, Minskaya Oblast, Belarus) for their help in mite collecting. We are also thankful to Prof. S. Buga (Belarusian State University) for the useful information about previous studies of spider mites in Belarus.

This study was carried out within the framework of the agreements on the scientific and methodologic cooperation between the All-Russian Plant Quarantine Center, Russia, and the Institute of Plant Protection of the Republic of Belarus.

Abstract:

The checklist includes 24 species belonging to 10 genera of Tetranychidae from Belarus (Eastern Europe). Fifteen of the 24 species are reported from this region for the first time. New data on the host plants of Bryobia vasiljevi Reck, 1953, Eotetranychus uncatus Garman, 1952, Panonychus ulmi (Koch, 1836), Tetranychus przhevalskii Reck, 1956 and T. turkestani (Ugarov and Nikolskii, 1937) are provided.

DOI: 10.21684/0132-8077-2026-34-1-73-79

References:

Baker, E. W. and Tuttle, D. M. 1994. A Guide to the Spider Mites (Tetranychidae) of the United States. Indira Publishing House, West Bloomfield. 347 pp.

Banki, O., Roskov, Y., Döring, M., Ower, G., Hernandez Robles, D. R., Plata Corredor, C. A., Stjernegaard Jeppesen, T., Örn, A., Vandepitte, L., Hobern, D., Schalk, P., DeWalt, R. E., Ma, K., Miller, J., Orrell, T., Aalbu, R., Abbott, J., Adlard, R., Aedo, C. et al. 2024. Catalogue of Life (Annual Checklist 2024). Catalogue of Life, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dg9ld

Chikilevskaya, I. V., Labetskaya, A. G., Efremova, G. A., Balagina, N. S. (Comps.). 1998. Kleshchi Fauny Belarusi: Katalog [Acari of the Fauna of Belarus: Catalogue]. BelADI, Minsk. 224 pp. [In Russian]

Dishuk, N. G. and Golovchenko, L. A. 2016. [Pests of coniferous introductions in cities of Belarus]. In: H. G. Yakubov (Ed.). Problemy Ozeleneniya Krupnykh Gorodov [Problems of Greening Large Cities]. Proceedings of the XVII International Research Conference. Moscow, pp. 62–66.

Dolmatov, D. A. and Pryshchepa, I. А. 2010. [Features of noxious arthropods complex formation in protected ground vegetable crops in Belarus]. Information Bulletin IOBC/EPRS, 41: 108–126. [In Russian]

Gorlenko, S. V. and Panko, N. A. 1967. Vrediteli i Bolezni Introdutsirovannykh Rastenii [Pests and Diseases of Introduced Plants]. Nauka i tekhnika, Minsk. 136 pp.

Kamayev, I. O. 2023. Annotated list of Tetranychoidea mites (Acari: Trombidiformes) of Central European Russia. Acarina, 31 (1): 101–118. https://doi.org/10.21684/0132-8077-2023-31-1-101-118

Khotko, E. I., Pankevich, T. P., Molchanova, R. V., Yarchakovskaya, S. I. 2005. Spravochnik Vreditelei Plodovykh i Yagodnykh Kultur [Directory of Pests of Fruit and Berry Crops]. BelEn, Minsk. 264 p.

Koltun, N. E. 2016. Structure of phytophages dominance in the intensive type apple orchards in different by resistance to scab cultivars. Plant Protection, 40: 230–237. [In Russian]

Koltun, N. E., Supranovich, R. V., Mikhnevich, R. V. and Grebneva, Yu. N. 2016. The efficiency of the insecto-acaricide Craft, WE against sucking pests in seed orchards. Сrop Farming and Plant Growing, 2: 32–35. [In Russian]

Koltun, N. E., Yarchakovskaya, S. I. and Mikhnevich, R. L. 2017. Dominant phytophages structure in honeysuckle, cranberrybush, sea buckthorn and red chokeberry stands in Belarus. In: A. V. Smykov (Ed.). The Ways to Improve Efficiency of Gardening. Works of the State Nikita Botanical Garden. Yalta, vol. 144, part II, pp. 178–181. [In Russian]

Kontschán, J. and Ripka, G. 2017. Checklist of the Hungarian spider mites and flat mites (Acari: Tetranychidae and Tenuipalpidae). Systematic and Applied Acarology, 22 (8): 1199–1225.

Kontschán, J., Kiss, E. and Ripka, G. 2019a. Rediscovery of three rare spider mites in Hungary (Acari: Tetranychidae). Növényvédelen, 80 (6): 249–252.

Kontschán, J., Kiss, E. and Ripka, G. 2019b. A new species of Tetranycopsis is described and the genus Mesobryobia (Acari: Tetranychidae, Bryobiinae) reported from Hungary for the first time. Systematic and Applied Acarology, 24 (10): 1964–1970.

Kovalev, Y. V. 2020. Insects and mites that damage spruce (Picea spp.) in the plantations of the Central Botanical Garden of NAS of Belarus (Minsk). In: V. A. Ostapenko and A. M. Konovalov (Eds.). Topical Issues of Zoology, Ecology and Nature Protection. Issue 2. Materials of the Scientific and Practical Conference with International Participation Dedicated to the 105^th Anniversary of the Birth of A. G. Bannikov. April 24, 2020. ZooVetBook, Minsk, pp. 62–64. [In Russian]

Livshits, I. Z. and Mitrofanov, V. I. 1971. [Mites of Bryobia C. L. Koch, 1836 genus (Acariformes, Bryobiidae)]. Trudy Gosudarstvennogo Nikitskogo Botanicheskogo Sada, 51: 1–112. [In Russian]

Maksimovich, Ya. V. and Brechko, E. V. 2020. Harmfulness of red spider mite (Tetranychus urticae Koch) in soybean crops cultivated in different agro-climatic zones of Belarus. Zashchita Rastenii, 44: 179–190. [In Russian]

Maksimovich, Ya. V., Trepashko, L. I. and Nemkevich, M. G. 2017. [Soya pests dominating system in different agroclimatic zones in Belarus]. Сrop Farming and Plant Growing, 1 (4): 30–33. [In Russian]

Marić, I., Marčić, D., Petanović, R. and Auger, P. 2018. Biodiversity of spider mites (Acari: Tetranychidae) in Serbia: a review, new records and key to all known species. Acarologia, 58 (1): 3–14.

Marčić, D., Marić, I., Medo, I., Petanović, R., Ueckermann, E. 2020. New records of spider mites for Serbia and the Balkans, Europe. IOBC-WPRS Bulletin, 149: 23–24.

Migeon, A. and Dorkeld, F. 2025. Spider Mites Web: a comprehensive database for the Tetranychidae. Retrieved 28 July 2025 from http://www1.montpellier.inra.fr/CBGP/spmweb

Mitrofanov, V. I., Strunkova, Z. I. and Livshits, I. Z. 1980. [New species of the Tetranychoidea (Acariformes)]. Zoologicheskii Zhurnal, 59 (10): 1571–1575. [In Russian]

Mitrofanov, V. I., Strunkova, Z. I. and Livshits, I. Z. 1987. Opredelitel Tetranikhovykh Kleshchei Fauny SSSR i Sopredelnykh Stran (Tetranychidae, Bryobiidae) [Key to the Tetranychid Mites (Tetranychidae, Bryobiidae) of the USSR and Adjacent Countries]. Donish, Dushanbe. 224 pp. [In Russian]

Petrov, V. M. 1971. [On the study of spider mite species structure and ecology in Latvia]. Vestis, 7 (288): 26–32. [In Russian]

Pritchard, A. E. and Baker, E. W. 1955. A Revision of the Spider Mite Family Tetranychidae. Pacific Coast Entomological Society, San Francisco, 472 pp.

Prokopovich, T. V. 2008. O vidovom sostave vreditelei gorodskikh zelenykh nasazhdenii [About the species composition of pests from urban plantings]. Proceedings of BSTU. Issue 1. Forestry, 16: 388–391. [In Russian]

Pryshchepa, I. А. and Dolmatov, D. A. 2015. Peculiarities of herbivorous phytophage complexes formation in protected ground cucumber crop. Сrop Farming and Plant Growing, 1: 30–36. [In Russian]

Radevich, S. Y. 2016. [The population structure of spider mites (fam. Tetranychidae) in the greenhouse agrobiocenosis of the Republic of Belarus]. Zashchita Rastenii, 40: 245–253. [In Russian]

Reck, G. F. 1959. Fauna Zakavkazya. Opredelitel Tetranikhovykh Kleshchei [Fauna of the Transcaucasus. A Key to the Tetranychoid Mites]. Academy of Sciences of the Georgian SSR, Tbilisi. 152 pp. [In Russian]

Sautkin, F. V. 2013. [The complex of arthropod phytophagous pests of Sorbus L. in the conditions of the plantings of Belarus]. In: V. D. Poliksenova and V. D. Tikhomirov (Eds.). Modern Problems in Botanical and Mycological Research. Belarusian State University, Minsk, pp. 303–306. [In Russian]

Sautkin, F. V. 2021. Arthropodous phytophages—pests of robinia trees (Robinia s. l.) under conditions of Belarus. Proceedings of BSTU. Issue 1, Forestry. Nature Management. Processing of Renewable Resources, 2(246): 138–148. [In Russian]

Sautkin, F. V., Hardzei, D. V., Morozov, O. V. and Buga, S. V. 2012. Complex of phytophages—lowbush blueberry pests during initial cultivating period in Belarus. Plodovodstvo, 24: 204–210. [In Russian]

Sidliarevich, V. I. 1965. [The importance of predatory mites and bugs in reducing the numbers of Metatetanychus ulmi in Belorussia]. Proceedings of the All-Union Scientific-Research Institute of Plant Protection, 24: 240–247. [In Russian]

Sidliarevich, V. I. 1966. Vidovoi sostav, ekologiya i biologiya khishchnykh kleshchei (Gamasoidea, Phytoseiidae) v plodovykh sadakh Belorussii [Species composition, ecology and biology of predatory mites (Gamasoidea, Phytoseiidae) in orchards of Belarus]. In: B. E. Bykhovskii (Ed). Pervoe Akarologicheskoe Soveshchanie. Abstracts [The First Acarological Council]. Nauka, Leningrad, pp. 188–189. [In Russian]

Strunkova, Z. I. 1988. K tetranikhofaune Kirgizii [To the knowledge of tetranychofauna of Kyrgyzstan]. Izvestia Akademii Nauk Tadzhikskoi SSR. Otdelenie Biologicheskikh Nauk, 4: 32–37. [In Russian]

Torchyk, U. I. 2020. [Theoretical and practical aspects of the introduction of coniferous decorative forms in Belarus]. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. Biological Series, 65 (2): 212–219. [In Russian]

Wainstein, B. A. 1960. Tetranikhovye kleshchi Kazakhstana (s reviziei semeystva) [Tetranychoid mites of Kazakhstan (with revision of the family)]. Trudy Nauchno-Issledovatelskogo Instituta Zashchity Rastenii Kazakhskoi Akademii Selskokhozyaistvennykh Nauk, 5: 1–276. [In Russian]

Walter, D. E. and Krantz, G. W. 2009. Collection, rearing, and preparing specimens. In: G. W. Krantz and D. E. Walter (Eds.). A Manual of Acarology. 3ʳᵈ ed. Texas Tech University Press, Lubbock, pp. 83–96.

Yarchakovskaya, S. I. and Mikhnevich, P. L. 2016. Dominant phytophages in red chokeberry plantations in Belarus. Сrop Farming and Plant Growing, 5: 29–30.