Grape Erineum mite, tiny spider causing blisters on grapevine

Grape blister mite

Erineum gall is a disease that is often encountered on trees, but the grape vine also falls victim and the distinctive gall growths appear on the leaves.

Tiny spiders nearly as small as a hair create colonies on leaves and buds of grapevines. This disrupts plant growth, and galls form.

This won’t reduce production, and it won’t change the taste of grapes, either.

  • Scientists call these species of mite Colomerus vitis (“vitis” means grape vine). They’re even smaller than houseplant red mites: ¼th of a millimeter!

Symptoms of Grape mite

Grape blister mite coloniesOften green and in some cases pulling towards red, this is a benign affliction that isn’t cause for alarm…

These are actually mites and ticks that are invisible to the naked eye. They form colonies on the underside of leaves.

As they sting the plant to feed, it create these galls or blisters.

On the underside, a velvety layer appears that is usually white or pink but can also turn to red brown.

Treating erineum mite

  • Grape erineum mite treatmentIt isn’t really necessary to treat it because erineum mite disappears on its own and it won’t reduce the harvest in any manner.
  • Nonetheless, you can apply curative care with a sulfur-based spray, or organically with predators such as Typhlodromus.
  • But these mite-killing predators are difficult to find in stores, mostly because the impact of erineum mite is insignificant.

Images: Pixabay: Hans Braxmeier; Public Domain: megachile