Family: Eriophyidae Mite species of the family Eriophyidae (Acari: Thrombidiforma) are the most injurious mites of olive trees. Two species, Oxycenus maxwelli Keifer 1939 and Aceria oleae Nalepa 1900 were collected and identified from Tunisia. They are serious pests, especially in nurseries and olive production crops (Çetin et al. 2010). Several species of eriophyid mites can transmit viruses or phytoplasmas (Paliwal 1980) but no microorganism transmission has been proved on olive tress. The microscopic size and cryptic behavior of eriophyid mites make monitoring and management very difficult (Navia et al. 2010).

Published as part of Chatti, A., Kreiter, S., Lebdi-Grissa, K. & Ksantini, M., 2017, Phytophagous and predatory mites on olive trees in Tunisia. Catalogue, description of one new species and key for identification (Acari, Eriophyidae, Tetranychidae, Tenuipalpidae and Phytoseiidae), pp. 233-254 in Acarologia 57 (2) on page 234, DOI: 10.1051/acarologia/20164152, http://zenodo.org/record/5401682