Bulb Mites

How to identify it

• Adult females are about 1/32 inch long, white or transparent, smooth and shiny, with reddish-brown legs.^[1]
• They gather where the roots meet the bulb; a hand lens helps tell them from other mites there.^[2]

Where it lives

Found worldwide on flowering and edible bulb crops.^[1]

Biology and life cycle

Females can lay up to 700 eggs, which hatch in 5 to 27 days into tiny six-legged larvae.^[1]

Damage and signs

• Hosts include hyacinth, iris, lily, narcissus, tulip, dahlia, freesia and gladiolus as well as garlic and other vegetable bulbs.^[1][2]
• On garlic, plants yellow with brown leaf tips, stands are poor, roots are weak and the basal plate can separate from the bulb.^[2]
• The mites worsen root rots and let in fungi such as Fusarium, Pythium and Rhizoctonia.^[1][2]

Health risk

None to people or pets.^[1][2]

Control

Prevention

Handle and plant bulbs gently, since mites enter through the slightest injury; avoid saving bulbs from an infested garlic crop to replant.^[1][2]

Sanitation

Where bulb mites hit part of a bed, dig up and discard the bulbs and replant fresh ones the next fall.^[1]

Traps and physical control

As a last resort, a prized bulb can be soaked in 110 degree F water for 30 minutes, though this often weakens it.^[1]

Related profiles

• Bulb Flies
• Gladiolus Thrips

Common questions

Why are my garlic plants yellowing with brown tips?

Bulb mites at the base of the bulb are one cause; check where roots meet the bulb.^[2]

Can I save infested bulbs?

Usually discard them; a hot-water soak can rescue a prized bulb but weakens it.^[1]

Sources

1. NC State Extension, “Bulb Mites (PDIC Factsheet).” content.ces.ncsu.edu/bulb-mites (accessed 2026-10-16)
2. University of Maryland Extension (Home and Garden Information Center), “Garlic Bulb Mites.” extension.umd.edu/resource/garlic-bulb-mites (accessed 2026-10-16)
3. iNaturalist, “Rhizoglyphus echinopus taxon page (order and family).” www.inaturalist.org/taxa/262703 (accessed 2026-10-06)