[2] The genus includes several species that are among the most important economic pests in the flat mite family.

[3] Some Brevipalpus species are made up mostly of female individuals that reproduce via thelytoky, producing offspring without fertilization.

Male individuals occur but often become feminized by Cardinium bacteria that colonize their bodies.

Damage on grapefruit, for example, takes the form of circular, discolored lesions on the fruit which darken as they become necrotic.

On pistachio, Brevipalpus damage appears as scabby blotches on the leaf petioles, stems, and nuts.