The Spider Mite

This article talks about how a group of international scientists were able to decipher the genome of the spider mite. The spider mite is also the first known genome of an arachnid. This helps bring new light to the evolution of arthropods and to help stop the destruction the spider mite causes. The spider mite feeds on crops and plant juices. The spider mite likes over 1100 different plant species including tomato, strawberry, peppers, cucumbers, and corn. They bite into the leaves of the plants and completely suck them dry. Spider mite bites are usually spotted because they leave a yellow spot behind. The tricky part about these spider mites is that they are not affected by many types of pesticides. They also produce silk which they then wrap around the plant or its leaves. Hopefully now that they were able to figure out the genome of the spider mite they can create a pesticide to stop them. We may be able to use their silk for material in the future as well.