Oak Mites? - Ask Extension
I just purchased a new home and saw these on the leaves in the trees behind the house. The leaves pictures and rash appear to line up with oak itch mi...
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Oak Mites? #852375
Asked October 06, 2023, 12:20 PM EDT
I just purchased a new home and saw these on the leaves in the trees behind the house. The leaves pictures and rash appear to line up with oak itch mites. Is that what’s pictured on the leaves? Any treatment? Do they return year after year - as in, is the tree infected such that I should remove it?
Franklin County Ohio
Expert Response
Dear Justin
I don't believe you have oak itch mites.
The leaf you show is not an oak. Is there a chance that it is a hackberry?
If so, you might have hackberry galls.
Hackberry nipple galls caused by a psyllid – a tiny
plant-feeding insect. The galls themselves are a plant response to the feeding of the larvae. The leaves form a protective covering over the insect as it matures. While the galls don't affect the tree dramatically, the galls can be unsightly.
The best management strategy is to collect and remove the leaves from beneath the infested plant in the fall. Doing this helps break the disease cycle.
All the best,
Roxanne
https://ohiodnr.gov/discover-and-learn/plants-trees/broad-leaf-trees/hackberry-celtis-occidentalis
https://www.botanicgardens.org/blog/oh-gall-strange-growths-leaves
I don't believe you have oak itch mites.
The leaf you show is not an oak. Is there a chance that it is a hackberry?
If so, you might have hackberry galls.
Hackberry nipple galls caused by a psyllid – a tiny
plant-feeding insect. The galls themselves are a plant response to the feeding of the larvae. The leaves form a protective covering over the insect as it matures. While the galls don't affect the tree dramatically, the galls can be unsightly.
The best management strategy is to collect and remove the leaves from beneath the infested plant in the fall. Doing this helps break the disease cycle.
All the best,
Roxanne
https://ohiodnr.gov/discover-and-learn/plants-trees/broad-leaf-trees/hackberry-celtis-occidentalis
https://www.botanicgardens.org/blog/oh-gall-strange-growths-leaves
Roxanne:
Thanks for the response! Soon after doing yard work (working under the tree, picking up a lot of those leaves), a family member and I developed a rash that resembled what I was seeing online with oak itch mites. It seemed to line up. I’m not entirely sure what the trees are (I just bought the house). The big tree pictures below is one of them with the galls.
I also included a picture (the one with some red mulch) that has some of the vine that we cleared. We originally thought that vine was the culprit until the doctor could let explain the odd rash pattern, until we discovered the mite possibility.
Assuming they’re those mites, the yard is rather unusable for me and my pet, so I was trying to figure out what they were, what I could do, whether there was anything I could do to make sure they don’t return, etc.
In case it’s helpful, I attached a few more pictures of the tree. I was also in a nearby park and found a few leaves with falls on them.
Justin
Dear Justin
I am pretty sure it is a hackberry and those are galls.
However, you might have chiggers or another type of mite in your lawn.
If so, and the infestation is significant, you may have to use an insecticide. See fact sheet below.
https://entomology.ca.uky.edu/ef630
All the best,
Roxanne
I am pretty sure it is a hackberry and those are galls.
However, you might have chiggers or another type of mite in your lawn.
If so, and the infestation is significant, you may have to use an insecticide. See fact sheet below.
https://entomology.ca.uky.edu/ef630
All the best,
Roxanne
