Amblyseiella setosa Muma

Abo-Shnaf, Reham I. A. & De, Gilberto J., 2014, Phytoseiid mites (Acari: Phytoseiidae) from Egypt, with new records, descriptions of new species, and a key to species, Zootaxa 3865 (1), pp. 1-71 : 6

Amblyseiella setosa Muma

Amblyseiella setosa Muma, 1955: 266 ; Papadoulis et al., 2009: 65; Ferragut et al., 2010: 108. Amblyseius denmarki El-Borolossy , in Nasr & Abou-Awad, 1985: 245; Zaher, 1986: 103. (synonymy by Chant & McMurtry, 2007: 191).

Amblyseiella denmarki . — Chant & McMurtry, 2004: 187; 2007: 71; Moraes et al., 2004: 9. Amblyseius rusticanus Athias-Henriot, 1960a: 292 ; Muma et al., 1970: 54. (synonymy by Chant & McMurtry, 2004: 187; 2007: 73; Denmark & Evans, 2011: 55).

Female (holotype and one paratype of A. denmarki ).

Dorsal shield mostly smooth, with striae anterolaterad of s4; 437 [450] long and 250 [252] wide, with 16 pairs of setae. Setae j1 39 [39], j3 61 [65], j4 3 [3], j5 4 [5], j6 5 [8], J2 5 [8], J5 8 [8], z2 33 [33], z4 83 [83], z5 3 [5], Z1 8 [8]; Z4 86 [86]; Z5 101 [101], s4 109 [112], S2 66 [68], S4 40 [49], r3 22 [22], R1 39 [39]. All setae smooth, except Z4 and Z5, faintly serrate. Peritreme extending forward to level of j1.

Venter. Sternal shield smooth, with three pairs of setae and two pairs of lyrifissures. Distances between st1-st1 75 [75], st2-st2 75 [78], st3-st3 92 [92], st4-st4 94 [101]. Genital shield smooth, with lateral extensions; distance between st5-st5 85 [87]. Ventrianal shield pentagonal, smooth; 127 [127] long, 73 [78] wide at level of ZV2 and 99 [99] wide at level of anus; with one pair of pre-anal setae and a pair of pores. Seta JV5 91 [94]. Ventral setae smooth. Two pairs of metapodal plates.

Spermatheca. Calyx of spermatheca bell-shaped, 16 [16] long; atrium distinct.

Gnathosoma. Corniculi slightly convergent distally; basal width of corniculus 5, distance between bases of corniculi 8. Movable cheliceral digit 38 [38], with 1 [1] tooth; fixed digit 37 [38] long, with 3 [3] teeth.

Legs. Macrosetae sharp-tipped: Sge II 39 [39], Sge III 60 [60], Sge IV 96 [101], Sti IV 68 [68], St IV 75 [75]; chaetotaxy of genu II 2, 2/1, 2/0, 1; genu III 1, 2/1, 2/0, 1.

Specimens examined. Holotype female from mango leaves, at Ismailia governorate, April 1978; one paratype female from citrus leaves, at Gharbia governorate, November 1978 (coll. M.A. El-Borolossy).

Previous records from Egypt. Gharbia, Ismailia and Qualyubia governorates ( Zaher, 1986); unspecified governorate ( Nasr & Abou-Awad, 1985).

Remarks. Chant & McMurtry (2004) stated that A. setosa was probably a senior synonym of A. denmarki . On page 71 of Chant & McMurtry (2007) both of those names were used, suggesting that they could be distinct from each other; however, on page 73 they mentioned that an examination of the types indicated that they could be synonyms, and on page 191 of the same publication, they were considered synonyms, as concluded after an examination of the type specimens.

Amblyseiella setosa was originally described from the holotype female, five paratype females and two paratype males collected in the USA. The original description was reasonably detailed, including illustrations, but provided only measurements of the idiosoma.

According to Nasr & Abou-Awad (1985), A. denmarki was first described in an unpublished MSc thesis (El- Borolossy, 1979). Nasr & Abou-Awad (1985) mentioned the name of this species (indicating El-Borollosy as the author) in a key to the Egyptian Amblyseius . That constitutes the original description of the species, despite the fact that no information was then provided about the type specimens. Zaher (1986) provided a detailed redescription of the species, with illustrations and setal measurements, mistakenly mentioning Zaher & El-Borollosy [sic] as the authors.

Measurements of the females examined are close to those reported by Zaher (1986) for a single female, except the longer and wider dorsal shield (500 and 330, respectively, according to that author). Measurements of specimens examined fit the corresponding ranges given by Ferragut et al. (2010).