Mites- General information and links

Mites are probably the most dreaded pest of African Violet growers. We did some research to collect the best information available about these pests.

There are many different kind of mites, including some beneficial mites. The really dangerous mites are very small and require magnification to see and identify. If you can see a mite with your naked eye, it probably is not so dangerous,

Note: 10x to 15x magnification is ok to see mites.  30x is useful if you want a to differentiate between specific types of mites.

References: http://www.avsc.ca/pestsdiseases.htm
www.entomology.umn.edu/cues/Web/104CyclamenMite.pdf

Actually, magnification is only the start of the problem in seeing mites. Mites tend to run away form light, and so as you start trying to look for them, they are running away and hiding. It may be useful to take a leaf off a plant to so the  mites cannot run away.  

Primer on Cyclamen Mites-- Rutgers

http://www.rce.rutgers.edu/pubs/greenhouseipmnotes/2003/ghipmnotes13-08.pdf.

This is a wonderful link to the Toronto African Violet Society

This has excellent info on all pests including mites

http://www.vex.net/~jyd/TAVS/2002/05-2002-TAVS.htm