抄録
Results obtained from a study of mouthparts and the digestive system of Steneotarsonemus spinki SMILEY by using scanning and transmission electron microscopy and physiological staining techniques prove it as an important pest of rice plants. The cheliceral stylet of the mite can puncture the soft surface or epidermis of the rice plant and suck the juices. When the mite population is large in the paddy field, it can also transmit sheath rot disease of rice.
In the second crop season of Taiwan, heavy sterility of rice plants is possibly due to the large spread of this mite. Light and transmission electron micrographs of the mite's digestive system are also shown.
Index descriptors (in addition to those in title): Ultrastructure, Acrocylindrium oryzae SAWADA and Spiroplasm citri.
