Climate has a significant influence on mite development.
High rainfall causes spider mite populations to decline.
Actively feeding rust mite produce a broad spectrum of fruit blemishes and discolorations. On grapefruit, early season rust mite attack causes the rind to become thickened and leathery, taking on a gray or silvered cast. Affected fruit are referred to as 'shark skinned' or 'buck skinned' and generally don't develop to normal size. On oranges, the predominant damage is russeting which frequently appears earlier in the season than on grapefruit, but has the same injury patterns. Mite feeding causes water loss from the fruit and the resulting concentration of sugars make fruit sweeter to the taste.