Saturday Morning With Jack Tame

The tiniest critters can be the biggest pain in the you-know-what when it comes to your body and your garden. The mere fact that they are sooo small does not help to discover them in time.   That kind of goes for most of the members of the Order ACARI – a huge range of critters such as Bird mites, Follicle mites (we all have them in our eyelashes), chiggers, scabies mites, ticks and —of course— plant mites.   A week or two ago I discovered the very first Acari on Julie’s Frangipani bush in the glasshouse. Just a few innocent little acari, known as two-spotted spider mites with the elegant scientific name of Tetranychus urticae.   Literally a couple of days ago I discovered this:   Massive “spider webs” made from the smallest and softest silk on the planet. All strands very close together, keeping the inhabitants safe from whatever may be mite predators.  Spider mites are often a real pain in the warmer areas of the garden – especially the glasshouse, tunnel house, and very sheltered