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The prune mite

The prune mite
The prune mite

Latin: Carpoglyphus lactis.

Whitish, with an oval body, about 0.4 mm long. Its mouth parts are pointed, conical protrusions on the body. Each leg ends in a small claw, which sits on a patch of skin. Prune mites occur on substrates containing sugar by bacterial degradation of lactic acid, acetic acid, or succinic acid. It is typically found in cracks and folds in dried fruit, especially prunes and figs. It can also be found in honey bee hives. Its development takes place over a number of phases, as with the other mites. First, eggs that are attached to the substrate with a stem. Next, a six-legged larval phase, two or three 8-legged nymphal stages and finally adult males and females. Generation time is 9 days during optimal conditions at 25 ° C and 85% relative humidity.

Prune mite
Prune mite

A female mite can in 20 days lay 278 eggs and this explains how it is possible for a prune mite population to increase its number of individuals a hundred times within just 16 days. The prune mite itself does no real damage other than to discredit whatever it lives in as this gradually becomes disgusting and unsalable. Its presence is also an indication that the substrate may contain large amounts of the earlier mentioned bacteria and their metabolic products, which can also lead to significant changes in the taste and texture.

Prunes can be kept mite free when the water content is below 17% and when they are placed in a well ventilated a room where the humidity is below 50% RH and the temperature is at least 20 ° C. Prune mites do not reproduce at temperatures exceeding 35 ° C and multiplies slowest at 5 ° C. At 0 ° C reproduction is probably stopped.
A single package of dried fruit may be saved by a stay in the freezer for a few days, followed by thorough rinsing with warm water and it should be eaten immediately after this treatment. Jam cooking with a preservative may be the solution when it comes to large parties mite infested fruit. Prune mites in visible amounts are unlikely to be accepted by consumers.

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Henri Mourier
Biologist at Statens Skadedyrslaboratorium
Author of:
"Pests in House and Home"
"Bed Bugs - Bites, Stings and Itches"
"Food Pests"
"Husets dyreliv" (Insects Around the House - Only danish)
"Skadedyr i træ" (Timber Pests - Only danish)
"Stuefluen" (Common Housefly - Only danish)
Latest posts by Henri Mourier (see all)
    Food Pests
    Introduction
    An old problem
    Competition for food
    Pests can ruin stored goods
    Why not just eat the insects
    Some insects are unhealthy to eat
    Allergy to pests
    Transmission of infectious diseases
    Where do pests come from?
    Synanthrope species
    (1) The house dust mite and the sugar mite
    (2) The firebrat and the silverfish
    (3) The German cockroach and the forest cockroach
    (4) The rust-red flour beetle and the confused flour beetle
    (5) The merchant grain beetle and the saw-toothed grain beetle
    (6) The cigarette beetle and the drugstore beetle
    (7) The rice weevil and the granary weevil
    (8) The pharaoh ant and the common black ant
    History of the dark flour beetle
    Pests in bird’s nests
    Mould fauna
    The Look and Behaviour of pests
    Insect appearance
    Internal
    Insect development
    Insect senses
    Behaviour
    Water and Moisture
    Temperature
    What insects live off and live in
    The Air
    Mites
    Bug Indentification
    The various species
    Mites
    The flour mite
    The sugar mite
    The common house mite
    The Lardoglyphus zacheri
    The prune mite
    The cheese mite
    The house dust mite
    The Cheyletus eruditus
    Silverfish
    The Silverfish
    The firebrat
    Cockroaches
    The German cockroach
    The Oriental cockroach
    The brown-banded cockroach
    The American cockroach
    The extermination of cockroaches
    Crickets
    Earwigs
    Booklice
    Butterflies
    The Mediterranean flour moth
    The warehouse moth
    Tropical warehouse moth
    The brown house moth
    The Indian meal moth
    Grain beetles
    The saw-toothed grain beetle
    The merchant grain beetle
    The rust-red grain beetle
    Flour beetles
    The yellow mealworm beetle
    The lesser mealworm beetle
    The dark flour beetle
    The confused flour beetle
    The rust-red flour beetle
    The bolting cloth beetle
    Furniture beetles
    The drugstore beetle
    The cigarette beetle
    Bostrychidae
    The lesser grain borer
    True weevils snout beetles
    The granary weevil
    The rice weevil
    The corn weevil
    Bean weevils
    The common bean weevil
    The coffee bean weevil
    Skin beetles
    The bacon beetle
    The dermestid beetle
    The leather beetle
    The khapra beetle
    The reesa vespulae
    Chequered beetles
    The red-legged ham beetle
    The red-breasted copra beetle
    The black-legged ham beetle
    Spider beetles
    The Australian spider beetle
    The white-marked spider beetle
    The golden spider beetle
    The smooth spider beetle
    Plaster beetles
    Flies
    The common house fly
    The lesser house fly
    Blowflies
    The grey flesh fly
    The cheese skipper
    Fruit flies
    Hymenoptera
    The common black ant
    The pharaoh ant
    Wasps
    Birds
    The domestic pigeon
    The house sparrow
    Prevention and control of birds
    Rodents
    The house mouse
    The yellow-necked mouse
    Mouse prevention
    Mouse control
    The brown rat
    The black rat
    Rat prevention
    Rat control
    Imaginary pests
    Niches of food pests
    A: The Waste Niche
    B: The seed niche
    C: The dead plant niche
    D: The sugary excrement niche
    E: The carrion niche
    Prevention and Control, Integrated Control
    A. Inspection of the company and its environment
    The environment
    The premises
    Examination of raw materials and food on site
    Sampling
    Laboratory methods for detection of pests in food
    B. Statement of the problem
    C. Prevention and control
    1. Proper organisation of the company
    2. Proper operation
    3. Exclusion, proofing buildings
    4. Packaging
    5. Non-chemical control measures
    6. Chemical control
    D: Effective monitoring and communication
    Practical information
    Index

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