The mite Brevipalpus yothersi, pictured under a microscope, is the anti-star of citrus farming—it serves as both host and vector of Cilevirus leprosis, the virus that causes citrus leprosis. Knowing which plants it inhabits is essential to preventive management in orchards. Researchers identify the invertebrate species by examining its reproductive system under a microscope and the species of virus it carries is determined by molecular analysis.
Image submitted by Augusto Hiller Ferrari, an undergraduate researcher in biology at the Sylvio Moreira Citrus Center
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