Notes on flax spider mite, <em>Tetranychus moutensis</em> (Acari: Tetranychidae), a herbivore of New Zealand flax, <em>Phormium</em> species (Hemerocallidaceae)

Abstract

The tetranychid mite associated with New Zealand flax, Phormium tenax (Hemerocallidaceae) was first mentioned by Cumber (1954) in a paper about the insects and mites associated with New Zealand flax. He reports that Dr F.J. Newhook found the mites in 1949 at the Phormium Research Station, Paiaka near Shannon and that the mites were common. They were initially identified as Septanchus or Tetranychus species. The mites were rediscovered in 1969 in a flax plantation on the Moutoa Estate, near Shannon in southern North Island. The mites were abundant and caused a skin irritation on many workers cutting flax leaves. This rediscovery led to the formal description and naming of Tetranychus moutensis (Manson 1970).