Purple Mite

How to identify it

• Adults are purple and virtually microscopic, shaped like a tiny cone with four legs, with five ridges of white wax down the body.^[1][2]
• Infested leaves look dusty from white cast skins and mite wax, visible with a hand lens.^[1][2]

Look-alikes

Where it lives

Found on camellias in North Carolina and Florida, where it has also turned up in Spathiphyllum greenhouses.^[1][2]

Biology and life cycle

Most eggs are laid along leaf veins and hatch in about 6 to 8 days at 72 degrees F.^[1][2]

Egg to adult takes about 10 to 12 days, from about 7 days in midsummer to 13 or 14 days in January.^[1][2]

Damage and signs

• Saliva and feeding turn leaves purple between the veins, then russeted and bronzed on both surfaces, and damaged leaves eventually brown and drop.^[1][2]
• Typical hosts are camellia and tea, but it has been collected from bell pepper, Spathiphyllum and viburnums.^[1][2]

Health risk

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

Control

Prevention

Populations decline during rainy periods and with frequent overhead watering in greenhouses.^[2]

Pesticides

Eriophyid mites are susceptible to carbaryl; NC State notes most home landscape products labeled for mites should work.^[1]

Related profiles

• Spider Mites
• Tea Scale
• Cottony Camellia Scale

Common questions

Why are my camellia leaves turning bronze and dusty?

Purple mites are a likely cause; look for white cast skins with a hand lens.^[1][2]

Sources

1. NC State Extension, “Purple Mite (PDIC Factsheet).” content.ces.ncsu.edu/purple-mite (accessed 2026-10-16)
2. University of Florida IFAS Mid-Florida Research and Education Center, “A New Pest of Spathiphyllum! Calacarus carinatus: Purple or Ribbed Tea Mite.” mrec.ifas.ufl.edu/lso/ERIO-MITE/Erio-mite.htm (accessed 2026-10-16)
3. iNaturalist, “Calacarus carinatus taxon page (order and family).” www.inaturalist.org/taxa/386956 (accessed 2026-10-06)