New records of Eriophyidae and Tenuipalpidae mites (Acari: Prostigmata) on bougainvillea plants in South Africa

Abstract

Bougainvillea plants, native of Brazil, are cultivated in home gardens in South Africa. Vittacus bougainvilleae (Keifer) (Eriophyidae), Brevipalpus californicus s.l. (Banks) and Brevipalpus yothersi Baker (Tenuipalpidae) are recorded for the first time in this country infesting bougainvillea plants. The bougainvillea rust mite, V. bougainvilleae, was detected in the Western Cape Province during the summer season. Infested plants showed symptoms of leaf rolling, as well as leaf and flower drop. Brevipalpus californicus and B. yothersi were detected in Mpumalanga Province during winter and late autumn causing no obvious damage.

Revised description of the blueberry bud mite, Acalitus vaccinii (Acari: Trombidiformes: Eriophyidae), and a key to all Eriophyoidea on Vaccinium

“…Symptoms included red blistering on buds, production of small leaves and fruit, as well as malformed flowers (Craemer 2018). Further surveys by the South African Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) also confirmed blueberry bud mite infestations in other locations within the Mpumalanga and North West provinces (Ngubane-Ndhlovu et al 2018) Acalitus vaccinii is part of the superfamily Eriophyoidea, casually referred to as eriophyoid mites. Eriophyoidea contains three families, namely Eriophyidae, Diptilomiopidae and Phytophtidae.…”

Three new species of eriophyoid mites (Acari: Eriophyoidea) from Dabashan Nature Reserve, Chongqin City, China

“…The most obvious character of this genus Vittacus is: dorsal opisthosoma flat with transverse thickened bands; opisthosoma typically divided into broad dorsal annuli, and narrow, microtuberculate ventral annuli. At present, this genus has only 9 species worldwide (Abou-Awad & Nasr 1986;Abou-Awad & El-Banhawy 1991;Keifer 1969;Liu et al 2021;Ngubane-Ndhlovu et al 2022;Wei & Kuang 1997;Xue et al 2005Xue et al , 2010Xue et al , 2013 (Table 1).…”

“…At present, this genus has only 9 species worldwide (Abou-Awad & Nasr 1986; Abou-Awad & El-Banhawy 1991; Keifer 1969; Liu et al . 2021; Ngubane-Ndhlovu et al . 2022; Wei & Kuang 1997; Xue et al .…”