Phoresy is dispersal by hitching a ride on another animal. The broad mite is the classic cannabis-relevant example: UF/IFAS describes it clinging to the legs of whiteflies and some aphids, which carry it to new plants.
In practice
Phoresy explains broad mite outbreaks on plants nobody touched, and is one reason whitefly and aphid control matters in rooms with a broad mite history. Sticky cards can carry hitchhikers too, so dispose of old cards outside the room.
Don't confuse with
- Aerial dispersal: riding air currents, not animals.
- Parasitism: feeding on the host, which phoresy does not.
Polyphagotarsonemus latus, a microscopic tarsonemid mite whose toxic feeding twists, glazes and stunts new growth; often mistaken for calcium deficiency or heat stress.Small white-winged sap-sucking insects of the family Aleyrodidae, mainly Trialeurodes vaporariorum and Bemisia tabaci, that fly up when disturbed and coat leaves in honeydew.Small soft-bodied sap-sucking insects of the family Aphididae that cluster on stems and leaf undersides, excrete sticky honeydew and multiply rapidly by live birth.A coloured card coated in non-drying glue that catches flying insects, used mainly to monitor pest trends: yellow for gnats, whiteflies and aphids, blue for thrips.Pests spreading on air currents; spider mites gather at plant tops and drop on silk threads to be carried by wind or fans.
