Florida Agricultural Experiment Station


 There are usually a few of these insects on peas and as the
hot dry weather of spring comes on they multiply so rapidly
that they kill the vines in a few days.
 The life history and remedies are so similar to those of
the garden aphid (see cabbage plant-lice, page 144), which also
is common on peas, as to need no restatement. The lice in the
bud have better protection than those on cabbages and it is
necessary to use strong pressure in order to force the buds open
so that the liquids can reach the aphids.
 RED SPIDERS
 Another pest that becomes a serious menace to peas in dry
spring weather is the mite Tetranychus telerius. Either the
spider or the aphid or both usually destroy the late winter-
planted crop of peas.
 Peas when attacked become dry, mealy or cobwebby" in
appearance, cease to grow, wilt down and soon die. So rapidly
does an infestation develop that in a few days from the time
damage is first noticed the vines are dead.
 This pest is not a true insect but belongs to the spider
class of animals and to a subdivision distinct from the large
garden spiders, being more closely related to red bugs."
Members of this group are often called spider mites" and
also spinning mites from the habit many of them have of
spinning a silken web over the host plant or a part of it.
" Spinning mites" would be the most nearly correct popular
name. The name red spider is misapplied as these pests are not
true spiders and are not usually red; they are often yellow and
sometimes green.
 The red spiders are usually round in outline, small, and
have eight legs when full grown. This characteristic at once
serves to distinguish spiders from insects, which never have
more than six legs.
 Altho they are troublesome out of doors only in dry
weather, they may be troublesome thruout the year in green-
houses, on house plants and in other places sheltered from rain.
 Life History.-The egg hatches in from 3 to 5 days. The
young mites require about 10 days during warm weather for
growth and the adults are about 4 days old before they begin
to lay eggs. Between 2 and 3 weeks is the time usually re-
quired for a generation but it has been found to be as few as
10 days and as many as 35.
 These mites spin irregular strands of silk all over the host