The Panicle Rice Mite, Steneotarsonemus spinki Smiley, a re-discovered pest of rice in the United States

Authors: Hummel, Natalie; CASTRO, BORIS - Dow Agro Sciences; MCDONALD, ERIC - Animal And Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS); PELLERANO, MIGUEL - University Of Santo Domingo; Ochoa, Ronald - Ron

Submitted to: Crop Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/22/2009
Publication Date: 4/18/2009
Citation: Hummel, N.A., Castro, B., Mcdonald, E., Pellerano, M., Ochoa, R. 2009. The Panicle Rice Mite, Steneotarsonemus spinki Smiley, a re-discovered pest of rice in the United States. Crop Science. 28(7):547-560.

Interpretive Summary: Panicle Rice Mite is a new rice pest in the Americas that is affecting U.S. rice greenhouse research programs and rice fields in the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central and South America. It represents a threat to the rice industry of the U.S. and to rice production of the Americas as a whole. The panicle rice mite was described in the late 1960s from specimens associated with eggs of a planthopper collected in Louisiana, but it was not until the 1970s that the mite became a major pest on rice in Asia. Hundreds of mites present per plant cause chlorosis and necrosis of the leaf, seed sterility, and carry spores of rice fungal pathogens between plants. This paper reports the recent movement of the mite in the U.S. and updates information about its ecology, biology and fungal interactions. This information is important to taxonomists, quarantine programs, and to persons involved with the rice production, integrated pest management and control.

Technical Abstract: The panicle rice mite (PRM), Steneotarsonemus spinki Smiley, was reported in 2007 in the U.S. in greenhouses and/or field cultures of rice (Oriza sativa L.) in the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, New York, and Texas. PRM had not been reported in rice culture in the U.S. since the original type specimen collected in Louisiana in association with a delphacid insect in the 1960s. PRM is the most important and destructive mite pest attacking the rice crop world-wide. It has been recognized as a pest of rice throughout the rice-growing regions of Asia since the 1970’s. Historical reports of rice crop damage dating back to the 1930s also have been speculatively attributed to the PRM in India. In the late 1990s PRM was reported in Cuba, and quickly spread throughout the Caribbean and Central America. Rice crop losses of up to 90% in the Caribbean have been attributed to the PRM since first reported. The PRM attacks rice plants by feeding on the inside of the leaf sheath and developing grains. Damage associated with PRM infestations in rice include plant sterility, partial panicle infertility, and grain malformation. However, it is difficult to characterize the damage caused solely by the PRM because the mite is commonly reported interacting with several rice plant pathogens including Sarocladium oryzae and Burkholderia glumae. The purpose of this article is to review the literature regarding the PRM in response to its re-discovery in the U.S. We also summarize findings from countries where the PRM has historically been a significant pest of the rice crop. This article examines the taxonomic ranking of the PRM and includes a key to the U.S. species of Steneotarsonemus, its current distribution, damage to rice plants, its association with plant pathogens, host plant records, life history, survival under extreme temperature conditions, and current management strategies. Our hope is that this article will stimulate research on the biology and management of the PRM in the U.S.