Vasates quadripedes

Vasates quadripedes
Galls on sugar maple
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Arachnida
Subclass:	Acari
Order:	Trombidiformes
Superfamily:	Eriophyoidea
Family:	Eriophyidae
Genus:	Vasates
Species:	V. quadripedes
Binomial name
Vasates quadripedes Shimer, 1869

Vasates quadripedes, the maple bladder-gall mite, is an eriophyid mite in the genus Vasates, which causes galls on the leaves of silver maple (Acer saccharinum), red maple (A. rubrum), and sugar maple (A. saccharum).^[1] The gall is rounded, sometimes elongate, and has a short, thin neck. Typically, galls are 2–3 millimetres (0.079–0.118 in) in diameter, and may be numerous on the upper surfaces of leaves.^[1] They have an opening in the lower surface. At first they are yellowish-green or bright red, later they become dark red and black.^[2]

In Britain, the mite affects introduced silver maple. The species is relatively new to Britain, being first recorded in London in 2002.^[3]

References

1. "Maple Bladdergall Mite". Maine Forest Service. April 2000. Retrieved 21 May 2013.
2. Margaret Redfern & Peter Shirley (2011). British Plant Galls (2nd ed.). Preston Montford: Field Studies Council. p. 23. ISBN 978-1-85153-284-1.
3. Brian Wurzell (2002). "The maple bladder gall of the gall mite Vasates quadripedes new to Britain". Cecidology (British Plant Gall Society) 17 (1): 31–35.