Significance

• The mite's Latin moniker is Bryobia praetiosa Koch. They are smaller than ticks and spiders but are very much related to these arachnids. Although they can't infest your home as bed bugs or fleas do, they can appear in great numbers--upwards of 250,000 was reported in one case, says University of Missouri Extension--and leave behind a red stain when their bodies are crushed.
  
  

Features

• Clover mites have strangely long front legs given their overall size and length of their hind limbs. They're plant feeders, obtaining nutrition by drawing out the juices of the plants they feed upon. They love clover and grass and also enjoy dining on trees and small shrubs. Lawns that are extremely well-fertilized have the most trouble with clover mites.
  
  

Life Cycle

• Female clover mites produce eggs that do not require fertilization. As in many mite species, males do not exist. Mites deposit their eggs, which are red, in highly protected landscapes. Hatchlings appear in spring and fall, and these mite babies are practically clones of the mother with matching genetic material. Development progresses via the stages of larva, protonymph, deutonymph and finally adult. Generations number as many as six annually.
  
  

Nonchemical Control

• To deal with a clover mite problem permanently, prevention is far preferable to chemical control after the fact. Make sure the foundation of your home is free of weeds and grass along a swath of not less than 18 inches. Flower beds and shrubs, such as roses and marigolds or juniper and spruce, in this "dead" zone are O.K. because clover mites aren't attracted to them and have difficulty scaling flowers and shrubs. Gravel is another good choice.
  
  

Chemical Treatment

• A chemical solution, like an insecticide or miticide, is only a temporary fix if you don't also employ physical measures. You can use boric acid (at 20 percent concentration) or diazinon (at 0.5 percent), says University of Missouri Extension. Use a soaking spray on your house's foundation and several feet up the outside walls. Also cover a swath up to 20 feet wide outward onto the lawn grass. You'll probably need as much as 4 gallons per 1,000 square feet. If mites have taken over the interior of your home--something that's very unlikely to happen--you can use synergized pyrethrins in spray form.