Morphological damage to tomato leaflets by tomato russet mite (TRM), Aculops lycopersici (Massee), was examined by tissue sectioning. Upper and lower epidermal cells were destroyed by mite feeding. A thickened layer of callous tissue formed adjacent to the parenchyma in regions of epidermal cell death. Underlying parenchyma cells were not damaged, probably due to the short stylet length of TRM. Epidermal cell damage was most prominent near the leaflet mid vein, extending laterally toward the margin. Studies suggested that as mite density on a tomato leaflet increased, the feeding activity of each individual mite was accelerated.
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Royalty et al. (1988) studied this question.