Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 May 2012
The ‘clover’ mite, Bryobia praetiosa Koch, has long been known to be a complex of closely related species or biological races differing greatly in host range, life-history, and habits. Morgan and Anderson (1957) reviewed the problem and described the form occurring on fruit trees in British Columbia as a new species, B. arborea, to be known as the brown mite, and these authors (Anderson and Morgan, 1958) also published a detailed study of the life-histories and habits of this species and of the true clover mite, B. praetiosa. Although the presence of Bryobia mites on fruit trees in Eastern North America, including Ontario, has long been recognized, they have seldom received more than casual mention and no extensive study of their biology in this area appears to have been undertaken. The species has little economic importance in Ontario (Putman and Herne, 1959).