Phytoseius finitimus Ribaga, 1904

Farazmand, Azadeh, Jalaeian, Mahdi, Kamali, Hashem, Saboori, Alireza, Tixier, MarieStéphane & Kreiter, Serge, 2023, Phytoseiidae (Acari: Mesostigmata) in four provinces of Iran, Persian Journal of Acarology 12 (1), pp. 21-58 : 38-40

Phytoseius finitimus Ribaga, 1904

Phytoseius finitimus Ribaga, 1904: 178 ; Chant 1959: 108; Moraes et al. 1986: 214; 2004: 252; Duso & Fontana (2002): 127; Chant & McMurtry 2007: 129.

Phytoseius (Dubininellus) finitimus, Wainstein 1959: 1365 .

Phytoseius (Pennaseius) finitimus, Pritchard & Baker 1962: 223 .

Pennaseius finitimus, Schuster & Pritchard 1963: 279 .

Phytoseius (Phytoseius) finitimus , Denmark 1966: 16.

Phytoseius dubinini ( Beglyarov, 1958) : 116 (synonymy according to Pritchard & Baker 1962).

This species is mainly reported in Mediterranean countries, and is especially frequent in Israel,

Greece, Italy and South of France. It has been observed mainly on shrubs. A big confusion between P. finitimus and Phytoseius plumifer (Canestrini & Fanzago) has existed for a long time and a tentative solution has been proposed by Duso and Fontana (2002). We herein follow these authors and do not considered valid the synonymy between these species indicated in Moraes et al. (2004). Phytoseius finitimus has been reported on grapevines and fig tree orchards in several countries in Europe. It seems to feed on P. ulmi ( Duso and Moretto 1994) and various eriophyid mites ( Rasmy and El-Banhawy 1974b), and it consumes pollen ( Zaher et al. 1969; Rasmy and El-Banhawy 1975). High relative humidities and very hairy-leaved plants or varieties seem to be very suitable for P. finitimus ( Rasmy and El-Banhawy 1974a; Duso and Moretto 1994).

Specimens examined – one ♀ and two ♂♂. Sistan and Baluchestan Province – one ♀ and two ♂♂, Konarak city, Kahir (29 m aasl, 60° 07′ 53′′ E, 25° 35′ 24′′ N), on Citrus limon (L.) Burman ( Rutaceae ), 17.IV.2018 .

World distribution – Algeria, Azores, Egypt, France, Greece, Iran, Israel, Italy, Montenegro, Morocco, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Syria, Tunisia, Türkiye, USA. Precise distribution in Iran isdocumented in Kazemi et al. (2022).

Remarks – This species is widely distributed in Iran, almost in all provinces. It is however a new record for Sistan and Boulouchestan Provinces. All character measurements fit quite well with previous measurements published by Tixier et al. (2017). Our specimens do not fit at all the redescription by Duso and Fontana (2002) of P. plumifer (Canestrini and Fanzago) very often confused with P. finitimus .