Vasates quadripedes, a gall mite (not so very) new to The Netherlands

Vasates quadripedes (Shinier) (Acari: Eriophyidae) is reported from The Netherlands for the first time. This originally North American species has been met on ornamental Acer saccharinum from around 1995 till now at four places scattered over the country. According to the literature, the species emerged between 1997 and 2002 in four other European countries (Poland, former Yugoslavia, southern England and Hungary). It is surprising that such a wingless, narrowly oligotrophic species, bound to an exotic plant rarely growing in dense stands, emerged in Europe in five widely disjunct regions in less than ten years. Possibly, the strong degree of deuterogyny in this species has played a role in its rapid expansion, because it enables the species to hibernate on the trees. This results in plant material that leaves a nursery in early spring already being infected. References of this mite to Acer pseudoplatanus as an alternative host plant probably stem from a confused statement in Batchelor (1952) and should be disregarded for the time being.