Straw Itch Mite

Pyemotes tritici is ovoviviparous, this means that the embryos fully develop inside the female, emerging from the birth canal as adults. Males are born after a gestation period that is two days less than that of the females, the males help the females to emerge and copulation takes place as soon as the females are born. In fact any unmated female is unable to copulate later in life. Fewer than 10% of the offspring are male, although the proportion rises under conditions of gross overcrowding. On average, each female produces about 250 offspring, but after mating with about fifteen females, male fertility rates decline.