Red berry mite

Red berry mite is a microscopic invertebrate that can cause of uneven ripening of blackberries.

Save to My scrapbook
Red berry mite damage on blackberry fruits
Red berry mite damage on blackberry fruits

Quick facts

Common name: Red berry mite, blackberry mite, ‘red-berry’ disease
Scientific name: Acalitus essigi
Plants affected: Blackberries
Main symptoms: Uneven ripening of fruit
Most active: April-September

What is red berry mite?

Red berry mite is a microscopic (<0.2mm) whitish mite that sucks sap from flowers and fruit of blackberries, causing uneven ripening. It does not affect other cane fruits.
 

This mite is one of the gall mites, also known as eriophyid mites. These are minute animals usually less than 0.2mm long when fully grown. They have elongate bodies and two pairs of legs, unlike other mites which have four pairs. Their size means they can usually only be seen with the aid of a microscope. For most species their presence is readily detected by the distinctive abnormal plant growths induced by their feeding activities. The red berry mite is unusual for these mites in that it doesn’t cause galling.

There are many species of eriophyid mite which are usually host specific this means that each species of mite will only feed on a single, or several closely related, plant species.

Eriophyid mites feed by sucking sap but while doing so secrete chemicals into the plant tissue that converts some of the normal (parenchyma) plant cells to

meristem tissues which can give rise to a range of growth forms. These then grow to produce the gall. The mites can then suck sap from plant cells lining the gall structure, which are invariably more nutritious than unaffected tissue, but often do not cause serious damage to the plant. The damage to fruit caused by red berry mite is an exception.

Symptoms

Red berry mites overwinter under bud scales and become active on the foliage during the spring. When in bloom the mites move onto the flowers and developing fruits.

The first fruits to develop usually ripen fully but later fruits show increasingly patchy ripening, with some parts of the berries remaining hard and red or green. The patchy ripening is sometimes referred to as ‘red-berry’ disease.

Control

There are no suitable controls available to home gardeners for the mite and so the damage has to be tolerated. Heavily affected canes can be cut to ground level as soon as the problem is noticed and disposed as diseased material. Consider replacing canes with persistent problems of red berry mite.

Partly ripened berries can be used for cooking, making jam or wine.

Join the RHS

Become an RHS Member today and save 25% on your first year

Join now

Gardeners' calendar

Find out what to do this month with our gardeners' calendar

Advice from the RHS

Get involved

The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.