The Ultimate Guide on How To Get Rid of Clover Mites

Nature teaches us to be both enamored and a bit afraid of brightly-colored insects and animals, and clover mites are no exception. These bright red arachnids look like tiny little specks of cayenne pepper, creating a spicy, poisonous vibe around these little critters. But, the truth is, there isn’t much to fear, and we’ll teach you how to get rid clover mites in no time at all.

What are Clover Mites

According to the University of Florida, clover mites are “one of the larger plant-feeding mites found in the landscape. It often becomes a pest indoors after heavy rain, [hot temperatures], or a change in the season, which stimulates massive numbers to enter buildings. The mites appear as moving dark spots to the naked eye, crawling around walls, windows, and doors.”

Essentially, clover mites are small arachnids (the same family as spiders, which can also infest a home) that are typically found outdoors on shrubs, trees, weeds, grasses, and lawns. They bite and feed on the sap of these plants. But, they can also become pests indoors. Other names for clover mites include:

• Red spiders
• Red spider mites
• Red mites
• Brown mites
• Window mites
• Red velvet mites
• Rain mites
• And more.

What do clover mites look like?

The most widely noticed clover mites are tiny red bugs (they’re actually arachnids, same as spiders, though treatment options differ). However, the red bugs are the nymphs or immature mites, while adult clover mites are generally brown. While they are larger than other mites, clover mites are under .5 millimeters long. They have oval-shaped bodies, as well.

The clover mite is an arachnid, which means that it has eight legs. However, in the case of these arachnids, their two front legs closest to their heads are much longer than the other legs. This is a feature that helps identify clover mites from chiggers, as well as chiggers’ strawberry-shaped bodies. The two are totally different types of arachnids, so it’s important to understand the factors of clover mites vs chiggers.

Clover mite bodies contain a red pigment that gives them their cayenne pepper-like hue. As they get older, however, they’ll darken to a reddish brown. They’re often confused with ticks, and this Ticks vs Chiggers guide will clear up the differences.

Clearly, these bugs are easy to mix up as bumblebees and carpenter bees, and that can be the challenge when dealing with them.

What do clover mites eat?

Clover mites feed on the sap from plants. They are no blood feeders and they do not bite humans. They have mouth parts that do allow them to bite and feed on lawn grasses, ornamental plants, shrubs, trees, and other plants in yards, gardens, or wild areas.

As mentioned, clover mites do not bite people and suck blood like chiggers. Chigger nymphs travel indoors on pant legs and shoes, climb up clothing, and bite humans so they have enough energy to mature into adults. Once they mature, they leave, making a chigger infestation uncommon. These insect pests are often mistaken for bed bugs because they frequently bite in bed.

Where do you find clover mites?

Before you can eradicate clover mites, you have to know where you find them. Generally speaking, clover mites are an outdoor problem. You’ll find them on the plants that they eat (mentioned above) most often, though they can travel on pants legs and shoes as someone travels through an infested lawn. However, if they’ve made it inside a home or are crawling up the house’s foundation, it’s probably for one of the following situations that attract clover mites and other pests into your home:

• The weather is getting colder so they’re heading inside for shelter
• Heavy rain has them looking for shelter
• There are plenty of houseplants inside to feed on
• Moisture levels in the home are too high
• They’re looking for a place to lay eggs (wall voids and other hidden places are great for this)
• The exterior walls have cracks, crevices, and worn weather stripping that the mites can use as entry points to travel inside easily

Once inside, the most common places to find clover mites are around houseplants, walls, doors, curtains, furniture, windows, and window sills, among other places. As the infestation booms, clover mite populations will jump, and homeowners will feel like they’re finding them everywhere.

Are Clover Mites Dangerous?

Clover mites are harmless to humans. However, it can be hard to control clove mites, as large populations can propose some challenges.

For one, clover mites can impact houseplants and outdoor plants, and even a lawn. As they suck the saps from these plants, they can cause them to wilt or wither and lose color and vigor. Healthy lawn grass can typically handle mites, but some plants’ sensitivity won’t allow them to recover.

Also, clover mites are renowned for causing red stains on a variety of surfaces. Their bodies contain that red pigment, and as they’re crushed, they stain everything. The challenge is that these soft-bodied mites are extremely easy to crush, which means a red stain could wind up almost anywhere without the homeowner even trying to crush the bug.

How to Prevent a Clover Mite Infestation in Your Home

Before you start seeing a lot of clover mite activity in your home, it’s a good idea to take some preventative measures. The following are some of the best ways to prevent clover mites from causing an infestation in your home:

Seal Up Cracks and Crevices

The cracks and crevices in your house’s foundation, around the windows and doors, and even around electrical wires that pass through exterior walls provide perfect entry points for clover mite invasions. Seal these up with silicone caulk, weather stripping, and other means to prevent clover mites from entering the home. This one of the most effective ways to deal with a clover mite problem.

Create a Perimeter Barrier

The common clover mite likes to use plants to travel into the home, so be sure to cut back any tall grass, weeds, or bushes that might touch the house. Also, rake back 12 or so inches of mulch from the edge of the foundation. Fill the space with pea gravel to discourage mites from readily walking up the house.

Don’t Over Fertilize Lawns

Lawns that receive too much fertilizer tend to hold onto too much moisture, giving pests like our red nemesis the perfect opportunity to thrive. However, well-fertilized lawns are able to handle clover mite infestations without much issue, so be sure to check the label directions to determine how much fertilizer to use.

Keep the Grass Short

Overgrown lawns allow for clover mite infestations, as well. Keep grass cut to the recommended height (usually 3 to 4 inches, depending on the season). This will allow enough moisture to be retained in the soil without creating a damp, moist mat of grass that will attract clover mites.

Apply a Miticide in Early Spring

Adopting a miticide-based control program is a great way to reduce clover mite populations throughout the year. These insecticides kill most mites on contact, but also provide residual protection throughout the year, making these some of the best clover mite killer products on the market.

Treating a Clover Mite Infestation

Getting rid of clover mites once they infest a home can be a chore. These mites can lay their eggs in almost any crack and crevice throughout the home, and this can lead to large booms in populations seemingly overnight. However, there are some steps you can take to handle the infestation.

Use Insecticides

While you can handle a clover mite infestation without an insecticide, they can hasten the battle’s end. You can spray a pyrethroid insecticide from a local home improvement store in every crack and crevice in the areas you’ve noticed a few clover mites, especially where they’re likely to lay eggs.

Use a Vacuum Cleaner with a Soft Brush

For those who want to get rid of clover mites but also want to avoid crushing them or using a spray, go after those arachnids with a vacuum cleaner equipped with a soft brush attachment. Vacuums allow the user to remove these bugs while the soft brush prevents smearing red stains all over the furniture or curtains. Clover mite removal has never been so easy.

Just be sure to empty the canister into a sealed bag to prevent these pests from making their way back into the home.

Use Sticky Traps

You can also use sticky traps anywhere that you’ve seen clover mite activity for another spray-free alternative. These traps snag their legs as they walk across them, holding them in place until they eventually die. Traps do lose efficacy over time, as they will become clogged with bugs, dust, and other contaminants, but they can be a helpful trick for getting rid of clover mites in combination with other methods.

Use a Powder or Dust

You can also use a powder like boric acid or diatomaceous earth to control mite populations. Sprinkling a fine powder of these substances where the bugs are likely to crawl can be effective, as both of these powders will dehydrate the insect and cause them to die.

Keep in mind that diatomaceous earth is generally safer for humans and pets than boric acid, but DE is only effective as long as it stays dry. If you use boric acid, it’s best to keep children and pets away from treated areas.

How to Get Rid of Clover Mites Outside

If you can get rid of clover mite populations outside, you can prevent them from coming in. But what gets rid of clover mites? Here are some helpful tips for getting rid of clover mite infestations outside.

Apply a Perimeter Treatment

Use a product like Reclaim IT to apply a treatment to the lawn and foundation around the home. This insecticide is a bifenthrin-based broad-spectrum chemical designed to control over 70 types of insects, making it effective against our little red friends.

Generally speaking, this spray concentrate is mixed with water in a pump sprayer, but some attach to a garden hose and allow the user to treat an entire yard quickly and easily. Just be sure to read the label and use these chemicals responsibly, as misuse can be extremely detrimental to the environment and your local ecosystem.

Note: Reclaim IT can be used in different dilutions for other species, such as termites, so it’s a good product to keep on hand.

RiddaBugs suggests hiring a professional service for insecticide application. These pros know exactly how much chemical to use and where to use it to avoid unfortunate consequences or misuse.

Get Out the Hose

This is probably the easiest home remedy for clover mites. Clover mites are soft-bodied arachnids, and they can be easy to kill with a garden hose. If you see them climbing your foundation, hose them off with a stream of water. This method to get rid of clover mites naturally will kill them, avoid the worrisome red stain, and keep them out of the house.

Maintain the Lawn and Yard

Another important clover mite control method is to maintain the yard and lawn. Be sure to use the right amount of fertilizer, keep plants and branches from growing up against the house, remove leaf litter, and keep the lawn at an appropriate length. This will allow clover mites natural predator species like birds to find them easier while also reducing suitable mating areas.

With these changes, the population of many types of pests should drop, and this also gives natural predators a chance to pick them off more easily.

FAQs

Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about clover mites, along with answers to clear up any confusion.

What kills clover mites instantly?

A pyroid aerosol will kill them on contact. These sprays knock them down and affect their central nervous systems, providing instant results. But, if you can stand the red stains, you can also smush these bugs extremely easily.

What keeps clover mites away?

Maintaining the lawn and using a miticide insecticide should keep these red pests away. It’s best to apply the miticide in early spring, as many can last for several months and prevent a problem ahead of time.

Will clover mites get on humans?

A clover mite can hitch rides on humans, but you can rest assured that they do not bite people or pets. These bugs are only interested in feeding on plants; they’re not bloodsuckers like bed bugs or chiggers. 

What does clover mite feeding damage look like?

Clover mite feeding damage on house plants causes plants to become discolored. Yellow and brownish colors are the most common discolorations.