Spider mites are tiny 8-legged arthropods
in the family Tetranychidae, and are more closely related to ticks and
spiders than insects. Less than 0.5 mm long, they are just barely visible
with the naked eye and are best seen with a 10x hand lens. Several species
of spider mites occur on cotton in the Midsouth, the most important are:
Tetranychus
urticae (twospotted spider mite), T. desertorum (desert spider
mite), T. turkestani (strawberry spider mite) and
T. cinnabarinus.
While spider mites have always caused sporadic problems in Midsouth cotton,
in recent years spider mite outbreaks have become more widespread.
