Phytoseiid Mites (Acari: Mesostigmata) of the Azores Islands 

Abstract

The fauna of phytoseiid mites (Phytoseiidae) is still scarcely known in the Azores archipelago. A survey was conducted in the islands of Pico, Faial and Flores where phytoseiid mites were collected from native, cultivated and invasive plants. Twenty-two species were collected, nine of which represent new records for the Azores. Five new species, Neoseiulus petraeus Ferragut sp. nov., Phytoseius azorensis Ferragut sp. nov., Typhlodromus (Typhlodromus) atlanticus Ferragut sp. nov., T. (T.) floresiensis Ferragut sp. nov. and Typhlodromus (Anthoseius) septemporosus Ferragut sp. nov., are described and illustrated. We provide complementary morphological information for four known species, additional features for the separation of Typhlodromina tropica (Chant) and T. subtropica (Muma & Denmark) and the redescription of Amblyseius elongatus (Garman). A key to separate the phytoseiid species of the Azores is also included.

Description of Neoseiulus hexaporus sp. nov. and a redescription of Neoseiulus mumai (Acari: Mesostigmata: Phytoseiidae) from Florida citrus groves

“…nov. belongs to the paspalivorus species group of Tseng (1983), which is distinguished by having a long, and narrow dorsal shield with marked shoulders at level of setae z4 , and a subrectangular ventrianal shield in the female. Previous studies included a total of 19 species in this group (Schicha 1981, Chant and McMurtry 2003, Ferragut and Navia 2017, Kreiter et al 2018, Döker et al 2021). Neoseiulus hexaporus sp.…”

“…The paspalivorus species group was defined primarily by having a large, rectangular female ventrianal shield, and a dorsal shield with marked shoulders at the level setae z4 (Tseng 1983, Chant and McMurtry 2003). This group consisted of a total of 19 valid species which were reported from various geographical regions of the world (Schicha 1981, Zannou et al 2006, Lofego et al 2009, Ferragut and Navia 2017, Kamran et al 2019, Kreiter et al 2020, Liao et al 2020). This group can be considered a species complex, with some species differing by relatively subtle morphological characteristics related to the length of dorsal setae, leg chaetotaxy in particular of trochanter and femur I, femur and genu II, and the presence/absence of macrosetae in legs (Zannou et al 2006, Ma et al 2020, Döker et al 2021).…”

Complementary description of Neoseiulus neoparaki (Ehara) (Parasitiformes: Phytoseiidae), a new record for Sakhalin Island, Russia

“…Although the original description is quite detailed, it does not include several important morphological characters regarding the chelicera dentition and leg chaetotaxy. These two features are frequently used to delimitate Neoseiulus species (Zannou et al, 2006;Ferragut and Navia, 2017;Doker et al, 2023). Therefore, in this study, N. neoparaki is redescribed and illustrated based on adult females.…”