Typhlodromus (Anthoseius) recki Wainstein, 1958

Kreiter, Serge, Amiri, Karima, Douin, Martial, Bohinc, Tanja, Trdan, Stanislav & Tixier, Marie-Stéphane, 2020, Phytoseiid mites of Slovenia (Acari: Mesostigmata): new records and first description of the male ofAmblyseius microorientalis, Acarologia 60 (2), pp. 203-242 : 231-232

Typhlodromus (Anthoseius) recki Wainstein

Typhlodromus recki Wainstein 1958: 203 .

Typhlodromus (Typhlodromus) recki, Chant 1959: 62 .

Typhlodromella recki, Muma 1961: 299 .

Typhlodromus (Neoseiulus) recki, Ehara 1966: 18 .

Anthoseius (Amblydromellus) recki, Kolodochka 1980: 39 .

Anthoseius recki, Swirski & Amitai 1982: 58 .

Amblydromella recki, Moraes et al. 1986: 171 .

Amblydromella (Aphanoseia) recki, Denmark & Welbourn 2002: 308 .

Typhlodromus (Anthoseius) recki, Ueckermann & Loots 1988: 18 , 21; Moraes et al. 2004: 344; Chant & McMurtry 2007: 155.

For same reasons than the previous species, this species belongs to the rhenanus species group.

This species is commonly found in uncultivated areas and sometimes in crops in Europe, mainly on plants of the family Lamiaceae . However, no data on its biology were available until recently. Five populations of this species collected in South of France have been studied. Their abilities to eat Tetranychus urticae as well as their fecundity were assessed in lab experiments. Differences between the five populations have been observed. The fecundity rates (number of eggs/ female/ day) ranges between 0.5 and 1.4. The number of eggs T. of urticae consumed per female and per day ranges between 8 and 18. When the amount of prey is important in first days of the experiment, predation rates higher than 40 eggs consumed per female per day have been observed ( Tixier et al. 2016). The number of prey consumed for some of the populations herein tested is quite similar to those reported for some predatory mite species used in biological control, such as Neoseiulus californicus , for example. Such results emphasize the potential capacity of that species to regulate T. urticae . Furthermore, as this species is endemic of Europe, such results open new insights for using endemic biodiversity to limit side effects of biological control within international exchange rules. However, additional studies are clearly needed to determine optimal rearing conditions, prey ranges and predation behaviour in field conditions ( Tixier et al. 2016).

This is the first mention of that species for the Slovenian fauna.

World distribution: Algeria, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Caucasus Region, Cyprus, France, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Moldova, Morocco, Portugal, Russia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine.

Specimens examined: 4 ♀♀ in total. Parecag (aasl 72 m, lat. 45°29’06”N, long. 13°37’41”E), 1 ♀ on Fragaria sp. ( Rosaceae ), 11/VII/2018; Škofljica, Gumnišče 15 (aasl 305 m, lat. 45°58’15”N, long. 14°34’17”E), 1 ♀ on Carpinus betulus L. ( Betulaceae ), 18/VI/2019; Bled, Lake (aasl 478 m, lat. 46°22’4”N, long. 14°05’06”E), 1 ♀ on Ulmus minor L. ( Ulmaceae ), 21/VI/2019; Spodnje Škofije-Purissima (aasl 50 m, lat. 45°34’21”N, long. 13°46’31”E), 1 ♀ on Capsicum annuum L. ( Solanaceae ), 11/VII/2019.

Remarks: The description and measurements of the adult females collected agree with those provided by Ferragut et al. (2010) for specimens from Spain and by Ferragut (2018) for specimens from the Azores Archipelago.